Snowshoeing at Mazurenko Farm, North Andover, MA

[box style=”rounded” border=”full”]Location: Mazurenko Farm, North Andover, MA
Date: January 4, 2014
Distance: 1.56 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 59 feet
Our Hiking Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes round trip
Trail Blaze: Green (Reas Pond & Scout Trails), Red (Locust Trail), & Orange (Ridge Trail)
Difficulty: Easy
Trail Map[/box]

With nearly two feet of fresh snow on the ground, Addie and I decided to hit the trail this weekend with our friends Sara and Kate. Continuing our quest to check out local trails, we explored Mazurenko Farm in North Andover, MA. This 104 acre conservation area abuts Reas pond, and includes two fields that are still used for farming.

As we were strapping on our snowshoes in the parking lot, we caught sight of several teenagers playing ice hockey on Reas Pond. It made me nostalgic for my high school hockey playing days… when Addie gets a little bigger, I will have to get her a stick and teach her how to play pond hockey!

We followed the Reas Pond Trail to the Scout Trail, hiking first along the shore of the pond and then wetlands. The setting sun cast beautiful light on the densely packed hardwood trees. Having skipped her afternoon nap, Addie tuckered out early on, so Kate and I gave her piggy back rides for most of the hike. She seemed to think this was quite lovely. I suppose I would too if someone carried me around.

When we reached the intersection of the Scout and Locust Trails, I consulted the trail map. Addie took the opportunity to make a snow angel.

We had meant to swing left onto the Ridge Trail earlier, but we’d missed the fork. After getting our bearings, we turned left and followed the Locust Trail to an open field. The sun was just beginning to dip below the hill, and the view was so beautiful, we were all glad we had missed the first turn. As we admired the view, Addie chomped down a Honey Stinger. It seemed she had worked up quite an appetite from rolling around in snow.

We turned left and followed the edge of the field until the Ridge Trail dipped back into the woods.

We bounded along between the pine trees of the Ridge Trail, especially enjoying the downhill moments. The one drawback – a good portion of the trail was littered with stray branches covered in prickers. Our thick outer layers protected us, but I did get my mittens snagged on one. We had to duck to avoid quite a few branches. Though it was not so much an issue on this hike, I would imagine it would not be very fun to hike this trail during the summer.

The Ridge Trail brought us back to the Reas Pond Trail, completing our loop around Mazurenko Farm. To celebrate our successful hike, we plopped on a bench and popped M&Ms – Addie’s favorite trail snack. It was a fun hike – easy yet beautiful.

Directions to the trailhead:

We parked in a small lot next to Reas Pond off of Rt. 133 in North Andover, MA (GPS Coordinates – 42.714441, -71.10032). There is another lot on the other side of the farm off of Bradford Street in North Andover, MA  (GPS Coordinates – 42.71705, -71.091201), a bit after the lot for Carter Hill.