          
 | Property Description | 439 acres | Established 1983 | The East Branch of the Swift River links all three tracts of Swift River Reservation. The Nichewaug Tract includes extensive rocky ledges, a moist ravine, open fields, a beaver-dammed swamp, vernal pools, riverside habitat, and forest edges along woods roads. These habitats support many small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, and birds. In the late eighteenth century, much of the Reservation was cleared for farms that conducted small-scale agriculture, subsistence livestock grazing, and fuelwood collection. In the nineteenth century, population growth and new local industries (saw and wool mills, a box company, a tannery, and a hat company) placed greater demand on the area's natural resources. The forest was largely cut, sparing trees only on steep, rocky hillsides, on ledges, and in wetlands. Several reclaimed fields in the Slab City Tract re-create the open setting around the Avery Williams farmstead as it may have appeared around 1890. After farm abandonment in the early twentieth century, the forest returned only to be decimated by a major hurricane in 1938. Today most of the Reservation's white pine and mixed hardwood forest date to this hurricane and its associated cleanup. |
| | Trails | | 7 miles of trails and woods roads. Moderate hiking, strenuous in places. |
| | Literature | | Printed trail maps are distributed free from the bulletin board at the trail head. 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. |
| | Hunting Advisory | | Seasonal hunting is permitted at this property subject to all state and town laws. Click here for further information. |
| | Property Acquisition History | | Land purchased in 1983 and 1985. Endowment given anonymously during the Centennial Campaign. |
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Telephone:
978-840-4446 E-mail:
central@ttor.org When to Visit:
Year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. Allow a minimum of 2 hours for Nichewaug Tract, 1 hour for Slab City Tract, and 1 hour for Davis Tract. Allow additional time of also visiting North Common Meadow or Brooks Woodland Preserve. Admission Fees & Permits:
Free to all. Regulations / Advisories:
Dogs must be kept on a leash at all times.Dogs must be under voice control or kept on a leash at all times.Seasonal hunting is permitted. See details below left. How to Get There:
There are three entrances to this Reservation. To Nichewaug Tract: from intersection of Routes 122 and 32 south of Petersham center, take South Street 0.9 mi. Turn right onto Nichewaug Road and proceed 0.6 mi. to entrance and parking (6 cars) on left. To Slab City Tract: from intersection of Routes 122 and 32 south of Petersham center, go south on Routes 122/32 for 2 mi. to Connor's Pond. Entrance and parking (6 cars) is on the right across the pond's dam. To Davis Tract: From intersection of Routes 122 and 32 south of Petersham Center, go south on Route 122/32 for 3.3 mi. Turn right onto Nichewaug Road in Barre (becomes Glen Valley Road in Petersham) next to Penn Valley Country Store. Entrance and parking area (8 cars) are on the right 0.4 mi up road in former gravelpit. Road Map:
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