Sudbury Valley TrusteesConservation, Collaboration, and Community since 1953

In 1995 the Sudbury Valley Trustees and the Town of Wayland, with the assistance of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management, purchased one of the last large parcels of open space in the town: the Paine Estate.

To learn more about Wolbach Farm, the home of Sudbury Valley Trustees, please visit our Wolbach Farm page.

The Walkup Reservation is an island of protected land in a sea of commercial development. The property includes mixed hardwood and conifers and old pasture uplands, an open field with wet meadow, a wooded wetland with vernal pools, and a small pond.

The Turenne family purchased the 18-acre property only a few weeks before they turned it over to Sudbury Valley Trustees in 1990. An 1870s map shows that the property had been owned by the Newtons, one of the older families in Southborough.

Upper Mill Brook Conservation Area (60.6 acres) is a diverse property which contains both open and wooded swamps, deciduous woodland, a brook and several ponds, with beavers in residence.

While a basic tour takes about 45 minutes, additional extensions onto Wayland conservation land can add up to another 2 hours. The main trail is easy; however the extension to Claypit Hill Road is moderately difficult.

Download an Interpretive Trail Brochure, created as part of SVT's Youth Conservation Steward Program

 

Round Hill (38.6 acres) provides maximum reward for minimum effort.

The conservation area is comprised of the area extending from the beaver pond eastward to Route 3 , as well as the entire area south of the dirt access road that bisects Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Park, exclusive of the new soccer field and parking lot.

This lower portion of the conservation area is characterized by a large area of white pine/oak forest that may provide suitable habitat for interior-nesting birds.

Northwest Framingham retains more than 1,100 acres of open space valuable for wildlife, farming, and quiet recreation.

The Mt. Pisgah complex of lands is a region including parts of Boylston, Berlin, Bolton, and Northborough. The land is wild, rural, and quiet, with few roads through the surrounding area. Along with an extensive trail system, several beautiful vistas provide looks at the surrounding landscape.

The Linden Street access point offers sweeping views across the hay fields to the rising woodlands of Mt. Pisgah.

Straddling the border of Sudbury and Marlborough, lies 615 acres of public and private open space dedicated primarily to conservation. This includes the General Federation’s Memorial Forest and Wildlife Sanctuary, two tracts of Marlborough State Forest, and conservation lands owned by Town of Sudbury and City of Marlborough.

Its wetlands and clear streams, mosaic of oak and pine forests, and undulating terrain combine to provide habitat for a rich diversity of wildlife.

The Lyons-Cutler Reservation is located along the Allowance Brook adjacent to Sudbury Water District and other Town of Sudbury lands. The contiguous open space totals more than 340 acres, and is just upstream from the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

Hazel Brook Conservation Area (48.4 acres) rewards your senses almost immediately by the sound of the rushing waters of Hazel Brook, soon followed by the sight of a beautiful pond.

The Hamlen Woods (80.9 acres) tract encompasses open water, swamp, upland forest and the headwaters of Snake Brook, fed by a series of springs and draining from the wetlands. Outstanding natural features include many outcroppings of bedrock, mostly Westborough Quartzite, and a glacier formed kettle-hole.

In 1976 Mrs. Stephen Gray most generously gave about fifty five acres of land to SVT as a sanctuary for birds and wildlife. The land is almost entirely surrounded by residential development, its preservation as open space is, therefore, particularly valuable.

Recognizing that the watershed is one ecological unit, SVT has in recent years expanded its field of operations to include the Assabet and Concord rivers and is concentrating more attention on the vulnerable headwaters whose health determines the health of the entire river system.

Cowassock Woods and Ashland Town Forest are composed of a mosaic of mixed hardwood forest types, wetlands, vernal pools and stream corridors. Sixty to eighty year old mixed hardwood forests – mixed oak and oak/hickory forest types - are the dominant natural communities.

More than 2,225 acres of open space straddle the borders of Northborough, Westborough, Southborough, and Marlborough, making this site one of the most significant areas of open space in the SuAsCo River Watershed.

Brues Woods' (39.3 acres) upland trails pass through mature pines. Plank walkways carry the trail across Bridge Brook and through damp areas in the adjacent wooded wetland with its tangled under-story and fallen trees.

An interpretive nature trail can be followed through 6 stops along the trail with the downloadable brochure. A complete tour takes less than an hour over moderately easy terrain, with some briefly steep spots. Be prepared for mud.

Brues Woods' (39.3 acres) upland trails pass through mature pines. Plank walkways carry the trail across Bridge Brook and through damp areas in the adjacent wooded wetland with its tangled under-story and fallen trees.

An interpretive nature trail can be followed through 6 stops along the trail with the downloadable brochure. A complete tour takes less than an hour over moderately easy terrain, with some briefly steep spots. Be prepared for mud.

More than 2,225 acres of open space straddle the borders of Northborough, Westborough, Southborough, and Marlborough, making this site one of the most significant areas of open space in the SuAsCo River Watershed.

Cowassock Woods and Ashland Town Forest are composed of a mosaic of mixed hardwood forest types, wetlands, vernal pools and stream corridors. Sixty to eighty year old mixed hardwood forests – mixed oak and oak/hickory forest types - are the dominant natural communities.

Recognizing that the watershed is one ecological unit, SVT has in recent years expanded its field of operations to include the Assabet and Concord rivers and is concentrating more attention on the vulnerable headwaters whose health determines the health of the entire river system.

In 1976 Mrs. Stephen Gray most generously gave about fifty five acres of land to SVT as a sanctuary for birds and wildlife. The land is almost entirely surrounded by residential development, its preservation as open space is, therefore, particularly valuable.

In 1995 the Sudbury Valley Trustees and the Town of Wayland, with the assistance of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management, purchased one of the last large parcels of open space in the town: the Paine Estate.

The Hamlen Woods (80.9 acres) tract encompasses open water, swamp, upland forest and the headwaters of Snake Brook, fed by a series of springs and draining from the wetlands. Outstanding natural features include many outcroppings of bedrock, mostly Westborough Quartzite, and a glacier formed kettle-hole.

Hazel Brook Conservation Area (48.4 acres) rewards your senses almost immediately by the sound of the rushing waters of Hazel Brook, soon followed by the sight of a beautiful pond.

The Lyons-Cutler Reservation is located along the Allowance Brook adjacent to Sudbury Water District and other Town of Sudbury lands. The contiguous open space totals more than 340 acres, and is just upstream from the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

Straddling the border of Sudbury and Marlborough, lies 615 acres of public and private open space dedicated primarily to conservation. This includes the General Federation’s Memorial Forest and Wildlife Sanctuary, two tracts of Marlborough State Forest, and conservation lands owned by Town of Sudbury and City of Marlborough.

Its wetlands and clear streams, mosaic of oak and pine forests, and undulating terrain combine to provide habitat for a rich diversity of wildlife.

The Mt. Pisgah complex of lands is a region including parts of Boylston, Berlin, Bolton, and Northborough. The land is wild, rural, and quiet, with few roads through the surrounding area. Along with an extensive trail system, several beautiful vistas provide looks at the surrounding landscape.

The Linden Street access point offers sweeping views across the hay fields to the rising woodlands of Mt. Pisgah.

Northwest Framingham retains more than 1,100 acres of open space valuable for wildlife, farming, and quiet recreation.

The conservation area is comprised of the area extending from the beaver pond eastward to Route 3 , as well as the entire area south of the dirt access road that bisects Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Park, exclusive of the new soccer field and parking lot.

This lower portion of the conservation area is characterized by a large area of white pine/oak forest that may provide suitable habitat for interior-nesting birds.

Download an Interpretive Trail Brochure, created as part of SVT's Youth Conservation Steward Program

 

Round Hill (38.6 acres) provides maximum reward for minimum effort.

Upper Mill Brook Conservation Area (60.6 acres) is a diverse property which contains both open and wooded swamps, deciduous woodland, a brook and several ponds, with beavers in residence.

While a basic tour takes about 45 minutes, additional extensions onto Wayland conservation land can add up to another 2 hours. The main trail is easy; however the extension to Claypit Hill Road is moderately difficult.

The Walkup Reservation is an island of protected land in a sea of commercial development. The property includes mixed hardwood and conifers and old pasture uplands, an open field with wet meadow, a wooded wetland with vernal pools, and a small pond.

The Turenne family purchased the 18-acre property only a few weeks before they turned it over to Sudbury Valley Trustees in 1990. An 1870s map shows that the property had been owned by the Newtons, one of the older families in Southborough.

To learn more about Wolbach Farm, the home of Sudbury Valley Trustees, please visit our Wolbach Farm page.