40 COPICUT WOODS: Miller Brook Loop

KEY AT-A-GLANCE INFORMATION

LENGTH: 3.4 miles

CONFIGURATION: Loop

DIFFICULTY: Easy

SCENERY: Highlights include ecologically rich wetlands, vernal pools, an abandoned farmstead, and a 150-year-old scenic cart path.

EXPOSURE: Mostly shade

TRAFFIC: Light

TRAIL SURFACE: Packed earth

HIKING TIME: 2 hours

SEASON: Year-round sunrise–sunset

ACCESS: Free

MAPS: Available online at www.thetrustees.org

FACILITIES: None

SPECIAL COMMENTS: Copicut Woods is linked to the 13,600-acre Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve.

WHEELCHAIR TRAVERSABLE: No

DRIVING DISTANCE FROM BOSTON COMMON: 56 miles

Copicut Woods: Miller Brook Loop

UTM Zone (WGS84) 19T

Easting: 328200

Northing: 4619523

Latitude: N 41° 42' 32"

Longitude: W 71° 03' 54"

Directions

From Boston, take I-93 to Exit 4 and join MA 24 south toward Brockton. Continue 33.4 miles. From MA 24, take Exit 7 to merge onto MA 79 south toward North Fall River/Somerset, and continue 4 miles to the I-195 east exit toward New Bedford/Cape Cod on the left. From I-195, take Exit 9 (Stanford Road) and turn left to pass under the highway. Stanford Road bears right and becomes Old Bedford Road. Turn left onto Blossom Road and follow it 1.3 miles. Bear right onto Indian Town Road and follow it 1.7 miles to the parking area on the left.

IN BRIEF

If those who eked a living from the earth in America’s early years interest you, and especially if you appreciate stonework, you will get added pleasure from this hike which explores the well-preserved woodland haunts of the Wampanoag and America’s first generations of English setters.

DESCRIPTION

Seizing on a concept promoted by the United Nations’ Man and Biosphere Program, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the City of Fall River, and the Trustees of Reservations joined forces in 2002 to create the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve. Six years later, Massachusetts is soon to have boasting rights to 13,600 acres of newly protected land. The vast tract that includes forest, old farmland, vernal pools, and a watershed that supplies drinking water to more than 100,000 people in the greater Fall River area will be run under a management plan designed to protect and foster biodiversity and environmental education while encouraging recreational use.

Five hundred and two acres of the land included in the bioreserve are owned and managed by the Trustees of Reservations. Named Copicut, the Wampanoag word for “deep, dark woods,” the property was farmed through more than one lifetime. Today successional growth has returned the land to an approximation of its original wooded state, but among the trees, blueberries, and other shrubs lie intriguing artifacts of human industry.

From the parking lot, cross Old Indian Town Road to the trailhead opposite. Enter at the green gate marked with the number 1 beside a sign for Copicut Woods, and begin hiking along the slender path that weaves southeast through beech and pine. Downtown Fall River is 10 minutes away by car, but here in the old winter hunting grounds of King Philip’s people, little but chattering chipmunks and red squirrels stirs the silence.

Ahead, after descending a slight grade, the trail reaches a paved road that appears to not have seen an automobile since all cars were black and American made. Continue across to pick up the trail where it resumes immediately opposite. This junction is marked with the number 2. From here, hike northeast alongside wetland shrouded by tangled understory. Sifting through the lovely monotony of tree parts, you will note the first of the property’s impressive stonework. No longer containing knot-kneed cows inclined to wander, the line of stacked stones, however mind dulling on the one hand, is a curiosity catalyst on the other. Representing hundreds, maybe thousands of hours of labor, the wall is nothing if not a collection of a man’s thoughts and choices of a century and a half ago. Shapeless rocks fighting for a resting place tell of the impatient hands that laid them, whereas geometric slabs fitted to orbs of character tell of pride and a man fully invested in his work.

Bending gently to the left the trail opens to an intersection marked number 3. Up the trail to the left is another gate beyond it Old Indian Town Road. Hike to the right to an intersection marked number 4. Here, cross the wide carriage road to reenter the woods on a newer, narrow path heading northeast.

Winding through wetland dense with brush, the path soon leads to a brook. A thick log outfitted with a handrail provides a precarious yet functional bridge over the gurgling waters. Keeping on high ground, the path dead-ends at a small kettle pond a few feet farther on. In fall, there may not be much to see other than flame-red maples, but during more lively seasons you might catch a glimpse of the flashy wood ducks encouraged to nest here.

From the pond, backtrack to the brook and pick up an unmarked path diverging to the east. Follow this recently cleared or reestablished route as it turns northeast. After meeting a stone wall to the left the path continues through a parting in another. This point marks a transition from woods of swamp oak to more ephemeral woods of white pine.

Ahead, the path runs into another route perpendicular to it. At this juncture, turn right and continue east on a moss-lined track bordered by a stone wall and a crowd of pines standing in an old pasture. Turning south, this path promptly leads to a brand-new post-and-beam shelter built by volunteers for the trustees.

Several paths radiate from this spot. One to the right leads to a junction marked number 5; choose the path lying between this path and the shelter and continue southeastward. A few feet along, this route passes a particularly remarkable stone wall assembled from impossibly massive stones. On the day of my hike, not far from this dazzling example of common utilitarianism taken to a high art, evidence of life and death pulled my attention back to the here and now. Looking to the ground, I noticed a ring of immaculate blue-gray feathers lying on a bed of leaves. Hours or maybe minutes earlier, having snatched a songbird from the air, a hawk had alighted here and plucked the feathers from its meal.

The path runs on its southeastern course past meadowland reclaimed by oaks, cedars, hickories, and beech until, in short time, it reaches a broad crossroads marked number 7. The expansive, grassy avenue running straight on ahead is Miller Lane, a cart path built 150 years ago. Stone walls straight as a plumb line and high enough to fence in spirited horses border the path on either side. The path’s time as a working road bearing farm traffic day in and day out is long over, but the energy of the draft animals hauling loads and the men who labored with them is still present. Taken in from a stone bench set opposite the lane, the crossroads has the feel of a stage between acts.

Take the wide path to the left of Miller Lane and hike eastward. Heading on a straight trajectory outside another stone wall, the path descends on a slight incline to another junction, this one marked 12. At this split, bear right onto a scrappy trail heading southeast. Paralleling another wall, this one less intact, the trail crosses meadowland giving itself up to opportunistic shrubs and saplings. Hollies and ancient fruit trees under assault by bittersweet vines stand over the bramble ridden grassland.

Continue on this unmarked trail as it meanders southeast down a gentle slope to a small stone bridge over a stream. Leveling out, the trail runs south through woods populated by the occasional shagbark hickory and more common holly and pine. After traveling through woods, the trail soon spills from the shadows into the path of a power line. This junction is marked number 11. Leave the woods, bearing right to head southwest over grassy ground.

Climbing an easy grade, the path arrives at junction number 10. The trustees have a sign for the Copicut reservation here near a plaque adorned with exuberant vines that reads “Miller’s Brook Conservation Area, in memory of Benny Costa.” This point marks the southernmost end of Miller Lane.

Hike to the right, heading north to follow the many footsteps trod down this impressive road. Packed solid by the weight of loaded wagons and the tonnage of cattle and workhorses, the path has the feel of permanence only wear can produce.

Built up so that it functions as a causeway between pastures and wetland, Miller Lane has a number of interesting structures incorporated into it. The first one you’ll encounter is an odd tunnel known as a “dry bridge.” Narrow but tall, this tunnel was built to enable livestock to wander from one pasture to another, perhaps to have ready access to water. Bearing northwest, the path, edged by mighty stone walls, soon leads to intersection number 9 characterized by a massive corner of stone. Bear left here, continuing north.

A bit farther along, the lane encounters Miller Brook. Here, an elaborate stone grate keeps the path dry despite gushing waters visible through parallel granite slabs. Beyond the brook the lane comes to another intersection, this one unmarked. Stay with the path and hike on, now shifting toward the northwest to reach an inconspicuous path to the left marked with number 8. Leave Miller Lane here.

Follow this new slender trail south through old pasture smothered in pine. From a pastured cow’s perspective the surrounding walls are even more impressive. Ignore divergent paths to reach a fork and continue to the left, heading south.

Trickling beneath tree cover this trail passes another trail on the left beside a birdhouse. Stay on track bearing right to head northwest. In a moment, the trail passes through a gap in a wall and arrives at an abandoned homestead. Lying silently in the grass, unseen at first, are several foundations. The place and the silence about it, both lovely and eerie, throbs with life.

From the wide-open junction to the north of the homestead, keeping marker 6 behind to the left, depart on the path heading west. A few hundred feet ahead on the right, this broad avenue passes the foundation of a barn. Farther still, the trail reaches junction 5, marking the path leading back to the post-and-beam shelter. Less than 0.13 miles later, the trail arrives at another familiar junction. The path to the right leads to the wood duck pond, and the one to the left leads back to the parking lot.

NEARBY ATTRACTIONS

If you would like to do some sightseeing after your hike, Tiverton Four Corners, Rhode Island, located just 11 miles away, is worth considering. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this rural village offers something for everyone, including antiques shopping, gourmet food, crafts, equestrian centers, beach access, and unspoiled open space excellent for hiking and biking. For more information visit www.tivertonfourcorners.com.

To get there, take I-95 east 1.2 miles and merge onto MA 24 south at Exit 8A. Continue 4.2 miles to Exit 6. Turn left onto Fish Road. Continue 1.4 miles and turn right onto Bulgarmarsh Road (RI 177). After 1 mile turn left onto Main Road (RI 77). Continue 3.4 miles to arrive at Tiverton Four Corners.