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Tahanto Nature Trail Network LbNA #40357

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:May 31, 2008
Location: Main St
City:Boylston
County:Worcester
State:Massachusetts
Boxes:1
Planted by:Tahanto Envirothon
Found by: killer caterpillar
Last found:Jul 21, 2016
Status:FFFFFFFFFFF
Last edited:May 31, 2008
Take Rt. 290 to exit 24 (Church St. Northborough, Boylston) Proceed NW towards Boylston. Church Street will turn into Central Street as you get into Boylston and will then change into French Dr.

Travel to the end of this road which is approximately 3.5 miles. A blinking light will be directly in front of you. Take a right not Rt. 70-Main St. Boylston. Follow this road approximately 2 miles to Tahanto Regional Middle/High School on the left. Park in the parking lot in the front of the building or in the parking lot in front of the gym. The trail starts behind the left side of the school. There will be a path through the trees on the left of the school and on the left of the fence attached to the school.

Follow the sidewalk that will bring you to the back of the school, passing the softball field on your left. With your back to the double door of the school, proceed straight in front of you towards the woods and towards the sign in the left corner of the woods. The trailhead should be directly in front of you.

You are about to leave the school area and enter the serenity of the Wachusetts Watershed area, which provides drinking water to the people of Boston and relaxation and beauty to the town of Boylston and other surrounding communities.

On your right you will notice a map of Wachusetts Reservoir and Washusett Watershed. On your left there is a stone pillar commemmorating the Tahanto Nature Trail, created by Sue Moore, Evnirothon coach for the occasion of the Wachusett Wastershed Centennial Celebration on May 14, 2005. Notice the chain linked fence on either side of the trail entrance, destroyed during the tornado miniburst of 1989.

Read the sign at the trailhead before you begin down the trail. Read the quote from Henry David Thoreau. Find Tahanto on the map and find the dotted line that indicates the Tahanto nature Trail that leads to Lord Cove on Wachusett Reservoir. Notice that Lord Cove is opposite Tahanto Point across the Reservoir.

As you enjoy the sights and sounds of nature, you will pass two interperative signs. The signs provide you with information to educate and enlighten you about nature on the trail. The sign on "Forest Stratification" discusses 5 forest layers - what are they?

As you reach the third sign about "Habitat Management," stop for your next clue. With the sign at your back, face the woods and turn right. Take about 10 steps - not too big, not too small- directly in front of you, you should find a clump of about 15 small trees. The letterbox lies within its roots.

Please replace the letterbox carefully.

Return to the trail. The sign about "Biodiversity" discusses the stability of an ecosystem. Do you think the ecosystem on the Trail represents a high or low diversity?

Proceed along the path. You will find other "signs of nature." One sign discusses Snag and Den Trees. What is the difference? The sign about the "Fallen Log' discusses microhabitats. What lives in them? At the end of the Trail is a sign on Lord Cove and Sawyers Mills. What river was here 100 years ago? The Tahanto Nature Trail now joins the DCR Watershed Trails. To your left, you can follow the trail to a beach peninsula. To your right, you will pass signs for a "Riparian Wetland" and "Cranberry Bog."

This is nature's bountry as well as that of Massachusetts. Remember you can enjoy the beauty of the Wachusett Reservoir but you can't go swimming there. People in Boston drink this water! It is part of our groundwater aquifers.