Today decided to explore another hidden treasure of MA South of the city in Easton:
It is primarily a spot for disc golf jockeys but there is a wonderful walking pond for dog walkers and endless miles of trails with plenty of technical elements to satisfy your trail runner’s desires.
The area was originally owned by the Ames family and was acquired by the State of Massachusetts in 1971 and turned it into a state park. The Ames Mansion still sits there and used to do tours inside before COVID hit. Oh the interior of it was the setting of a recent movie flick: Knives Out
Running along you will encounter Pud’s Pond:
Then Upper Leach Pond:
Last but not least Leach Pond, here is an animation:
Near Leach Pond you will find a stone lodge that was used as a filming location for Martin Scorsese’s film “Shutter Island.”
From the pond walk the Northwest trail will lead you to the area where you will see trail elements like wooden boardwalks, scrambles and large boulders.
From there took on the Granite Hills Trail followed by Ridge trail with a slight detour into the Morse Loop ultimately traversing the NEMBA trail before reconnecting back on to the Northwest trail leading me back to the pond walk.
Moyle’s Quarry pictured above was the site where in the 1830s the facing stone for Canton railroad viaduct was extracted.
9 miles later I am done, I have completed the Borderlands State Park Loop trail:
To end the day on a high note why not explore another vestige of the Ames’ family wealth. Ames Shovel Works manufactured the shovels used in the construction of the transcontinental railway as well as aiding the U.S. Army for every conflict between the American Civil War and the Korean War. Unfortunately nowadays most of the area has been redeveloped. As a nod to this history a brewery decided to open up shop within a shovel factory building.
They offered outdoor seating with heat lamps and it was windy day so opted to sit inside and I ordered a 4 beer flight since it was hard to make up my mind with the abundance of darker beer options which I love:
- PB CRUNCH (Milk Stout)
- TWEED (Irish Red Ale)
- PARKER’S PORTER (Porter)
- CHOC O’CLOCK (Imperial Chocolate Stout)
