CHALLENGE AWAITS IN THE GREENBELT
Old schoolhouse, abandoned airport among sights on Roxbury, Woodbury route
In this week’s Nature column, Peter Marteka visits Roxbury Land Trust’s series of preserves and easements known as The Greenbelt in portions of Roxbury and Woodbury.
The Bottom Line: A combination of on-road and off-road trails through the woods past the farm fields of Good Hill Farm with its abandoned airport to a preserve with an old one-room schoolhouse and an interesting stone sculpture.
Difficulty Level: Easy to moderate. Total Mileage: There are 3-6 miles of trails in addition to road walks. Visit http:// www.roxburylandtrust.org/Greenbelt.pdf for a map of The Greenbelt.
Directions: Route 317 to the Woodbury/ Roxbury town line. The parking area is located just east of the Good Hill Farm buildings. Park at the kiosk. Be careful pulling out of the lot as sight lines are difficult.
Pet-friendly? Leash and clean up after
your pets.
It all began as a challenge.
According to the Roxbury Land Trust, the 720-acre Greenbelt began when Rebecca Miller asked the trust to purchase a 20-acre parcel. If they did that, she would donate another 100 contiguous acres. From that, the Greenbelt grew and has become a destination for hikers looking to explore the forests, look out over active farm fields and visit a 19th-century one-room school house.
The trailhead begins at the Good Hill Farm and its red barns, silo and a seemingly out-of-place telecommunications tower. The trail passes through an old apple orchard before entering the deep woods. Visitors can also take a mile-long loop trail around the farm marked with red blazes. The 3.3-mile (6.6 miles out and back) blue trail runs through the woods along the Roxbury/ Woodbury border to Painter Hill loop trail, a moderate to at times difficult climb along some ridges.
Approximately halfway up the trail, visitors can take an old woods road once known as Hoop Hole Road to Tophet Road and the trust’s Widmark Preserve. The
Good Hill Schoolhouse, which served students through eighth grade, was in operation from the mid-1800s to early 1900s.
I initially walked past the schoolhouse, which resembles a cabin with its worn and unpainted wood siding and stone chimney. I had imagined a white clapboard building with a bell on its roof. Visitors can peer through the windows and get a glimpse of the desks and stone fireplace. Don’t miss the stone sculpture dedicated to the memory of Jean Widmark, the property’s original owner, and a neat wooden bench.
Visitors can continue up Tophet Road to a couple of more preserves, including the Styron Preserve, which has some trails snaking through a field. The return trip along Tophet Road showcases much of the 476-acre Good Hill Farm Preserve purchased by the trust in 2003 and 2004. The trust notes the farm is on the State Register of Historic Places as one of “200 important state agricultural properties.” Areas actively farmed are closed to the public.
There are sweeping views of cornfields, hay fields and cows grazing near the barn along Tophet Road and Upper Grass Hill Road across Route 317. A farm stand is filled with pumpkins, sweet corn and fresh eggs — a nod to Good Hill’s still active heritage.
An abandoned airport with an aluminum hangar sits on top of the hill at the junction of the roads. A few old planes sit in the hangar with a trio of old Cessnas swallowed up by high grass and weeds, their flying days long over.
It’s hard to believe The Greenbelt of Roxbury and Woodbury was started with a simple challenge. But from that challenge a large part of the towns’ agrarian roots have been preserved for generations to come and explore.