Nashawtuc Hill

There are a variety of trails through CLCT properties and a number of access points. The spine of this open space is an abandoned railroad right of way. Its eastern end, on the left bank of the Sudbury River, offers views across wet French’s Meadow; its western end is where the railroad tracks once crossed the Assabet River at a ford. The railroad trail can be reached at a number of points – see the map for the most convenient access. Once on the main trail, a number of spur trails enable visitors to explore a variety of different landscapes.

At the western end of the trail, a walk through the Cameron Woods loops through a level flood plain featuring hemlock groves and ferns; sections of this trail are impassable during high water conditions. On the south side of the trail, the Simon Willard Woods, once part of a golf course of the original Concord Country Club, are now grown up in tall white pine and hardwoods. Proceeding east, the Brengle-Ham field is sunny upland. A path out to Egg Rock leads through a grove of hemlocks, mentioned in a story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, to the place where the Sudbury and Assabet Rivers meet to form the Concord River.

The Simon Willard Woods consists of approximately 26 acres of woodland and was purchased from the Garth family in 2000. The purchase was made possible by generous donations raised by a neighborhood committee working with CLCT. As part of this campaign, Marian Korbet donated a conservation restriction on 39 acres of her own land along the Assabet River.

The Field consists of approximately 7 acres just off Musterfield Road. Almost 5 acres were donated by William and Agnes Brengle in 1993, and the remainder was donated by the Ham family in 1992 and 1997. Photo curtesy of Molly Constable.

At the heart of Nashawtuc Hill’s open space lies a three acre parcel known as the “Woodlot”. This property was acquired in 2006 through generous donations from neighbors, CLCT members and the Shaw family.

More than 29 acres of flood plain were purchased by CLCT in 1961 from Alicia French
and stretch from the Nashawtuc Bridge to the Town of Concord's Egg Rock.

This property is a combination of two gifts of adjacent parcels in 1965. Three and one half acres were donated by Ruth F. Brooks and two and a half acres were donated by Mr. and Mrs. Reginald deK. Hudson. The land runs along the Sudbury River between Elm Street and Musketaquid Road.

The Shaw family has made several gifts of land over the years on Nashawtuc Hill. These include two 1 acre parcels donated by Walter Shaw in 1961 and 1965 and 5.3 acres of pasture land donated by Gordon Shaw in 2010.