1.2 mi. loop; single and cart track; parking near 663 Temple St.; dry (except for one spot) winding trail with views of cranberry bog, stream, and do a short walk off blue trail on the other side of bog to view the Marshfield Country Club course.
On a hot sunny day residents are lucky to be able to choose one of the many forested trails in town and enjoy its cool shade. Whiton Woods is a good choice as its 1.2 mile blue loop looks out on two ponds, a cranberry bog, and if you add another smaller loop, a golf course.
The trail entrance is to the right of the residence at 663 Temple Street, and there is parking at the trail head beside a turtle pond with room enough for 4 or 5 cars. Opposite that narrow gravel parking lot is a large working cranberry bog with lots of public trails also. Walking the trail clockwise, take your first left and make sure to follow the blue blazes. When you encounter a fork, make sure to follow the blue-blazed trail: the trails with no blaze lead to private property. The path ranges from single track to a wider cart track and passes over a single plank bridge and then a well-built footbridge. The single plank bridge is an area that can get muddy, so this trail is best on dry days.
Shortly after passing over the footbridge you will be facing an old non-working cranberry bog. If instead of taking a right to follow the blue blaze you take a left to do a loop around the bog, you will be next to the Marshfield Country Club’s beautiful course. Look for golf balls on the path! Returning to where you came out on the overgrown bog, take a left to follow the now wide trail to a beautiful working cranberry bog. Walking along its right bank, you will see an example of Yankee ingenuity – a 1950s-era Ford tractor engine repurposed as an irrigation pump! The blue trail will be straight in front of you, and then will meet up with the red blaze trail (red means middle or center trail) and you’ll take a left to exit the way you came in.
Conservation is in the process of making a connector trail between Whiton Woods and the recently purchased Simmons/Harrington Conservation property. The trail should be completed within a year, and the start of the trail is the second unmarked trail on the left off the blue trail as you walk clockwise. We will be reviewing the new trail as soon as it’s completed, so if interested keep an eye on this column!
Duxbury Trails:
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