HENRYS SAWMILL SITE LETTERBOX

LOCATION: Concord, MA Estabrook Woods, Middlesex County

ESTABLISHED: May 14, 2002, Placed by Doc Science and GJourneys

TIME: Fifty minutes to one hour round trip

TERRAIN: Moderate, some rocky trails. A bit of poison ivy!!

MAP: No trail maps available, except for the New England Orienteering Club map #33, which has a scale of 1:15000. Estabrook Woods is a beautiful 900-acre tract that is owned by Harvard University and the Town of Concord.

From the green in the center of Concord (Monument Square), to the right of the Colonial Inn, take Monument Street 1.6 miles to a very small parking area on the left-hand side of the road by mailbox # 873. (On the way there, you will pass the North Bridge Parking Lot at 0.5mile.) Park in the designated areas, and do not block any driveways.

Walk a short distance down the gravel driveway that starts at mailbox # 873. This will bring you to the Punkatasset sign. (Brown) At this sign there is a fork with two trails leading off. Take the left hand fork to the base of Punkatasset Hill. In this area, ignore a right trail and two left trails.

Continue on the main trail, and you will see Hutchins Pond on your right. Mid-way down Hutchins Pond, pass a wee pond on the left. Take the next LEFT TRAIL by tall pines. Follow this rooty trail uphill through tall pines and spruces. At the top of the hill, the trail passes through an old stone wall.

The trail continues through a small hemlock grove; ignore the trail coming in from the left. Continue ahead by a large fallen pine tree. Go downhill through a wet, mucky area (made by beavers). Cross a small brook on stepping stones.

Take the first RIGHT trail part way up a small hill. (Small trees have fallen across the trail entrance.) You will be walking on a trail that follows an esker. Go through a stone wall. Just past a few hemlocks, find a dead cedar tree on the left with barb wire coming out of it.

From here, go 45 paces downhill on the trail; look for a broken off hollow pine tree on the right, lying at the bottom of a two-forked pine tree. Look for your treasure in this area. Stamp in!! Replace the wood carefully.

You are in the area that was the site of Henry David Thoreau and his fathers sawmill. There was a small mill pond Thoreau Pond, flowing into Thoreau Brook, which you will see at the bottom of the hill. He and his father manufactured pencils in Concord. In the spring, bloodroot blooms at the top of the hill. Notice the old stone walls that marked the early settlers pieces of land and enjoy this beautiful area.

Return the same way that you came in; this is a large tract of land and the trails are not marked. People often get turned around and come out on a different street!

Read the Waiver of Responsibility and Disclaimer before setting out.