Snowshoeing at Harold Parker State Forest, Andover, MA

[box style=”rounded” border=”full”]Location: Harold Parker State Forest, Andover, MA
Date: March 19, 2013
Distance: 1.64 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 131 feet
Our Hiking Time: 1 hour 10 minutes roundtrip
Trail Blaze: Dark Green Rectangles
Difficulty: Easy

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Yesterday Addie and I walked around our yard, admiring the first signs of spring – plants beginning to shoot up from the ground, birds singing, and the last little piles of melting snow. Tomorrow is the first day of spring. All signs point to warmer weather. Yet, mother nature clearly isn’t ready for winter to be over, as we awoke to almost a foot of snow on the ground this morning. Well played Mother Nature, well played.

Though I am tired of shoveling, the latest snowstorm (which brought us our SIXTH! snow day from school this winter), gave us the perfect excuse to try out my new Tubbs Women’s Mountaineer 25 snowshoes that I bought in the end of winter (ha!) sales. Quick gear review: they are awesome! I felt like I was floating over the snow, even when I had Addie sitting on my shoulders!

Our friend Meg joined us for today’s adventure. After shoveling out the cars, we headed to Harold Parker State Forest in Andover, MA. Even though Addie is a rock star on her Tubbs Snowflake Snowshoes, she’s not quite ready to tackle steep inclines. The trails at Harold Parker are wide and gently rolling – perfect for a toddler’s pace, and with 3,500 acres of land, we had plenty of options to choose from.

Today we took a route we’ve hiked in the fall months – an easy loop around Brackett Pond. We were the first ones on the trail, and only met one other hiker during our trek. The loop follows an old, unpaved logging road for the majority of the hike. After the A23 signpost, there is a trail to the right that leads back to the parking lot. The trail blaze for this last bit of the hike is a dark blue-green splotch of paint. Sort of a rectangle, but not quite.

There are a few tricky spots on the trail, when it passes over water connecting Brackett Pond to smaller ponds. The first is a small dam between Brackett and Collins Pond. Though only a few steps long, it’s a fairly narrow passage over a very steep drop, and nothing to hold on to as you’re crossing. The second is a series of two dams, both which have narrow wooden planks across the top of the stone structures. We had an interesting water crossing today, as the first of the two planks was washed away. This forced us to hike a bit below the dam, and cross along a fallen tree limb. Luckily, the water was shallow, and there was a second downed tree we used to hold on for support.

For the most part, Addie enjoyed the hike. After about half a mile, she began falling dramatically into the snow, giggling as she rolled around. I had to bribe her with M&M’s to get up and keep going. Eventually her little legs got tired, so I scooped her up and gave her a piggy back ride until she was ready to hike again. At this point, she decided to be the leader, and made up a little game of stop and go. She’d walk a few steps and call out, “stop!” and then yell, “go!” and start walking again. It was cute, but made for very slow hiking. She finally tuckered out for good when we split from the logging road onto the trail, so I tossed her on my shoulders, where she promptly began giving me commands, “Hut! One! Two! Three! Four!”

It was a great last snowshoe hike of the season (yes, I know I am tempting mother nature with that statement). Hopefully, as the weather gets warmer, we’ll get back to Harold Parker to explore more of the trails, and even spend some time camping in the campground.

Click here to download a copy of the trail map!

Directions to the trailhead:

Though there are several entrances to Harold Parker State Forest, we used the entrance off of Rt. 125 in Andover, MA.

From I-93: Take exit 41, follow 125 north (toward Andover), for about 4 miles to the State Police Barracks (on right). Turn right on Harold Parker Rd. The trailhead parking is the first lot on your left (approximately .5 miles).

From 495N: Take exit 42A, travel east on Rt. 114 for 2 miles.  Take a right onto Rt. 125. Drive 3.8 miles to the State Police Barracks (on left). Turn left on Harold Parker Rd. The trailhead parking is the first lot on your left (approximately .5 miles).