Saw Mill Hills LbNA #14883
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Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Jan 16, 2005 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Northampton |
| County: | Hampshire |
| State: | Massachusetts |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Planted by: | n6/6  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | MattyB |
| Last found: | Nov 11, 2023 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFFOFFFFFFaF |
| Last edited: | Jan 16, 2005 |
Time: 15 minutes, unless you decide to take Papa Bear’s loop.
Difficulty: Moderate. The last part of the trail is steep and the final part is not on a trail.
Directions to the trailhead:
From the north, take I-91 southbound to exit 20, turn slight right onto North King St for .1 miles, then right onto Bridge Rd. for 0.6 miles. Turn left onto Hatfield St for 0.5 miles, then right onto Locust St/MA-9 for 0.5 miles. Turn sharp left onto S. Main St for less than 0.1 miles, then right onto Pine St for 0.7 miles. Turn left onto Florence Rd for less than 0.1 miles. Turn right onto Ryan Rd for 0.3 miles. Then turn right onto Avis Circle. Between houses numbered 53 and 60 Avis Circle, you will see a sign for Saw Mill Hills Conservation Area. Here is where the story of the three bears begins.
From the south, take I-91 northbound to exit 18. Turn left onto Mt Tom Rd/Pleasant St/US-5. Continue to follow Pleasant St/US-5 for 1.1 miles. Turn left onto Main St/MA-10/MA-9. Continue to follow MA-9 West for 1.2 miles. Turn left onto Elm St. (Northampton High School will be on you left) for 0.5 miles. Elm St. becomes Nonotuck St. Stay on Nonotuck St. for 0.9 miles. Turn left onto Pine St. for 0.1 miles Turn left onto Florence Rd for less than 0.1 miles. Turn right onto Ryan Rd for 0.3 miles. Then turn right onto Avis Circle. Between houses numbered 53 and 60 Avis Circle, you will see a sign for Saw Mill Hills Conservation Area. Here is where the story of the three bears begins.
The Three Bears visit Saw Mill Hills
Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear went for a walk one day, while waiting for their porridge to cool. They headed for Saw Mills Hills Conservation Area taking the path between houses numbered 53 and 60. They walked along the ditch until they came to the entrance to the woods.
“Look at the blue blaze painted on that tree. Let's follow the path with the blue blazes,” said Papa Bear. The three Bears passed the remains of a tree trunk that had fallen in the way of the path but has since been cleared. They noticed a smaller path to the left marked by blue blazes and a blue sign saying Karl Davies Memorial Trail. (Note that the sign is not always in place. If there is no sign, look for a tree with multiple blue blazes and a rock cairn at the base).
“Karl Davies? Who’s that?” wondered Baby Bear.
“The forester who managed these woods for years. He was a friend to bears and other wild animals. Come on, let’s take his path,” Mama Bear started to climb.
Papa Bear started after Mama Bear and counted blazes as he hiked, beginning at the bottom of the hill and counting the tree with multiple blazes and rock cairn as blaze number 1.
Up, up the three bears climbed, with Papa Bear counting the blazes as they went. "Oops!" exclaimed Mama Bear. "You forgot to count the 2nd blaze. That one is old and faded but it still counts."
Baby Bear was huffing and puffing when he reached the sixth blaze. Baby Bear trudged about 20 steps more until the trail started to level off and then he collapsed on a baby bear sized rock next to the trail on the right. Baby Bear leaned back against a dead tree next to the rock.
“Lucky number 6. I need to rest,” panted Baby Bear.
“I’ll rest with you,” said Mama Bear. “But we need to find a place big enough for both of us to sit.”
“Over there!” said Baby Bear, pointing toward 325 degrees on his compass. “Two rocks for resting right next to each other, one baby bear sized and one mama bear sized.”
The Bears trudged several yards off the trail through the underbrush and collapsed on the rocks.
“Ouch, I just sat on something,” Baby Bear jumped up.
“A letterbox!” shouted all three bears at once.
Mama Bear and Baby Bear stretched out on the rocks and decided to take a nap while Papa went to explore the forest. Papa Bear followed the blue blazes, then took a right at a trail with white blazes, then a right at another trail where the white blazes ended. “If in doubt, stay right,” thought Papa Bear. “I must be making a circle.” And so he was. After descending a hill and turning right onto another trail, Papa Bear found himself back at the Karl Davies trail marked by the sign that is sometimes in place (or multiple blazes and rock cairn). He followed the blue blazes back to Mama Bear and Baby Bear. “Wake up,” said Papa Bear shaking Mama and Baby Bear. “Let’s go home and see if our porridge is ready. But first, let’s add our stamp, write a note and then put that letterbox back where we found it.”
Updated March 1, 2012.
Difficulty: Moderate. The last part of the trail is steep and the final part is not on a trail.
Directions to the trailhead:
From the north, take I-91 southbound to exit 20, turn slight right onto North King St for .1 miles, then right onto Bridge Rd. for 0.6 miles. Turn left onto Hatfield St for 0.5 miles, then right onto Locust St/MA-9 for 0.5 miles. Turn sharp left onto S. Main St for less than 0.1 miles, then right onto Pine St for 0.7 miles. Turn left onto Florence Rd for less than 0.1 miles. Turn right onto Ryan Rd for 0.3 miles. Then turn right onto Avis Circle. Between houses numbered 53 and 60 Avis Circle, you will see a sign for Saw Mill Hills Conservation Area. Here is where the story of the three bears begins.
From the south, take I-91 northbound to exit 18. Turn left onto Mt Tom Rd/Pleasant St/US-5. Continue to follow Pleasant St/US-5 for 1.1 miles. Turn left onto Main St/MA-10/MA-9. Continue to follow MA-9 West for 1.2 miles. Turn left onto Elm St. (Northampton High School will be on you left) for 0.5 miles. Elm St. becomes Nonotuck St. Stay on Nonotuck St. for 0.9 miles. Turn left onto Pine St. for 0.1 miles Turn left onto Florence Rd for less than 0.1 miles. Turn right onto Ryan Rd for 0.3 miles. Then turn right onto Avis Circle. Between houses numbered 53 and 60 Avis Circle, you will see a sign for Saw Mill Hills Conservation Area. Here is where the story of the three bears begins.
The Three Bears visit Saw Mill Hills
Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear went for a walk one day, while waiting for their porridge to cool. They headed for Saw Mills Hills Conservation Area taking the path between houses numbered 53 and 60. They walked along the ditch until they came to the entrance to the woods.
“Look at the blue blaze painted on that tree. Let's follow the path with the blue blazes,” said Papa Bear. The three Bears passed the remains of a tree trunk that had fallen in the way of the path but has since been cleared. They noticed a smaller path to the left marked by blue blazes and a blue sign saying Karl Davies Memorial Trail. (Note that the sign is not always in place. If there is no sign, look for a tree with multiple blue blazes and a rock cairn at the base).
“Karl Davies? Who’s that?” wondered Baby Bear.
“The forester who managed these woods for years. He was a friend to bears and other wild animals. Come on, let’s take his path,” Mama Bear started to climb.
Papa Bear started after Mama Bear and counted blazes as he hiked, beginning at the bottom of the hill and counting the tree with multiple blazes and rock cairn as blaze number 1.
Up, up the three bears climbed, with Papa Bear counting the blazes as they went. "Oops!" exclaimed Mama Bear. "You forgot to count the 2nd blaze. That one is old and faded but it still counts."
Baby Bear was huffing and puffing when he reached the sixth blaze. Baby Bear trudged about 20 steps more until the trail started to level off and then he collapsed on a baby bear sized rock next to the trail on the right. Baby Bear leaned back against a dead tree next to the rock.
“Lucky number 6. I need to rest,” panted Baby Bear.
“I’ll rest with you,” said Mama Bear. “But we need to find a place big enough for both of us to sit.”
“Over there!” said Baby Bear, pointing toward 325 degrees on his compass. “Two rocks for resting right next to each other, one baby bear sized and one mama bear sized.”
The Bears trudged several yards off the trail through the underbrush and collapsed on the rocks.
“Ouch, I just sat on something,” Baby Bear jumped up.
“A letterbox!” shouted all three bears at once.
Mama Bear and Baby Bear stretched out on the rocks and decided to take a nap while Papa went to explore the forest. Papa Bear followed the blue blazes, then took a right at a trail with white blazes, then a right at another trail where the white blazes ended. “If in doubt, stay right,” thought Papa Bear. “I must be making a circle.” And so he was. After descending a hill and turning right onto another trail, Papa Bear found himself back at the Karl Davies trail marked by the sign that is sometimes in place (or multiple blazes and rock cairn). He followed the blue blazes back to Mama Bear and Baby Bear. “Wake up,” said Papa Bear shaking Mama and Baby Bear. “Let’s go home and see if our porridge is ready. But first, let’s add our stamp, write a note and then put that letterbox back where we found it.”
Updated March 1, 2012.