Property Description	491 acres | Established 1942
Seventeenth-century settlers referred to this once wild, inhospitable landscape of tree-clad granite ridges as Rocky Woods. The reservation features over six miles of former woods roads and footpaths through rolling hills of white pine and red oak that are part of both the Neponset River Watershed and the Charles River Watershed. Rocky ledges and glacial erratics are evidence of glaciers that receded some 10,000 years ago. The area's high water table forms wetlands throughout the reservation. All four ponds on the reservation were created to provide water for fighting fires. Bullfrogs and painted turtles live in the ponds and visitors can enjoy catch-and-release fishing from these shores. Recent landscape renovations have created a scenic meadow, grassy common areas, sandy shorelines, and plantings of ornamental shrubs. Future plans include creating a visitor center and improved children's play area. In the 1700s, Rocky Woods was common land divided into woodlots from which residents could haul out trees for cordwood and building timber. By the 1800s, a network of logging roads had been cut that were also used to transport high-grade granite excavated on-site. By the late 1920s, Dr. Joel Goldthwait began buying parcels of land that were eventually donated in 1942 to establish the Reservation.
Trails
6.5 miles of trails. Moderate hiking, strenuous in places.
Green Dogs: Sharing The Trail - Dog Walking Program
Except on Sunday afternoons from noon to closing, dog walking at Rocky Woods and Fork Factory Brook is permitted by dogs and walkers sporting a Green Dogs program permit. For more information, click here or contact Mike Francis, Superintendent, at mfrancis@ttor.org or call 508/785-0339. Green Dogs is an experimental pilot program developed to help keep trails open for multiple kinds of visitors and encourage responsible dog-walking. Those wishing to walk their dogs at another nearby Trustees property may wish to explore Noon Hill and Shattuck Reservation.
Facilities
Restrooms, handicapped-accessible fishing platform, picnic tables, terrace, picnic pavilion.
Literature
Printed trail maps are distributed free from bulletin boards in parking areas. Please understand that supplies periodically run out. You may also download trail maps from this web site or mail order trail maps in advance of your visit.
Property Acquisition History
Original acreage a gift, with endowment, of Dr. Joel E. Goldthwait in 1942. Additional land given by Moses Ellis in 1942. Additional land given between 1946 and 1961. Additional land given by Krist E. Apog in 1964 and 1972; William F. Spang in 1977; Robert E. Linnell in 1980; Misses Mary and Dorothy M. Corcoran in 1981; and Robert Fanger and Michael A. Miller in 1983.

E-mail:
seregion@ttor.org

When to Visit:
Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. Sign at entrance indicates time gates are locked. Allow a minimum of 2 hours, 3 hours if also visiting adjacent Fork Factory Brook.

Admission Fees & Permits:
Trustees members free. Nonmembers: adult $4, child (12 and under) free. Fees collected by ranger on weekends and holidays; honor system applies at all other times.

Regulations / Advisories:

How to Get There:
From I-95, take exit 16B and follow Route 109 west for 5.7 mi. through Westwood and into Medfield. Take right hairpin turn onto Hartford Street in Medfield. Follow for 0.6 mi. to entrance and parking area on left. From intersection of Routes 27 and 109 in Medfield, take Route 109 east. Bear left onto Hartford Street and follow for 0.6 mi. to entrance and parking area (100 cars) on right.

Road Map:

To main entrance

Rocky Woods & Fork Factory Brook Trail Map (PDF 884K)