Above: Breakneck Hill offers great options for hiking. Just don’t take the trails off Woodland Road for now. (map image from Town website)
As most readers know, a severe storm swept through Southborough in late July, leaving damage in its wake. (So much so, that many believe it was a microburst. Though, I haven’t seen that officially confirmed.) So, though I missed it, it’s not surprising to learn that some Town trails were impacted.
In early August, the Stewardship Committee posted to their website:
Due to the recent storm damage and to ensure public safety, the Stewardship Committee has temporarily closed some of the trails within the Town Forest. between Walnut Drive and Woodland Road. A number of trees have fallen across trails, and some are leaning precariously. We are in the process of evaluating the damage and determining the best approach to take in order to clear the trails for public use. Thank you for your patience.
Last night, the committee met and discussed the status and how to proceed. I asked for an update and learned that two trails will remain temporarily closed.
One trail closure is already marked with signs at each end. That one is located in the Town Forest, with a trailhead on Woodland Road.
The second trail which shouldn’t be traversed has a trailhead on Woodland Road, across from Kidder, and heads into the Breakneck Hill Conservation land. A member of Stewardship plans to post a sign there this weekend.
How long the trails will be closed is unclear at this point. The Stewardship Committee is working with Public Works to evaluate what tree work is needed to make the trails safe. The next step will be investigating how to fund that work.
In the meantime, if you are looking for alternative trails, there is still plenty of available walking at Breakneck Hill. And there are other options.
Here’s the official trail map from the Town. And below are links to information on other specific trails:
The Sudbury trail has many trees down at the partridge hill road access…partridge hill road towed route 85
Joyce,
Thank you for noting this. As part of the Southborough Trails Committee, our members are walking the Sudbury Reservoir Trail to see what needs to be cleaned up. We have scheduled the morning of September 25th to ask volunteers to help us clear any places on the trail (with a Rain Date of October 2nd). A notice looking for assistance will go up on this site looking soon. We’ll also need help posting new Trail signs.