Horse Pond Conservation Trail

     While I was looking at the different Yarmouth Trails I noticed that Horse Pond connected to Sandy Pond to its southwest and to RJ Syrjala to its southeast. I had already figured out how to connect the two when starting out at Sandy Pond. There is a small parking area just south of the Police Station on Higgins Crowell Road. The trail starts by leading east passing a dirt road, that leads to a watershed, and heads toward the pond. The trail loops around and stays to the north of the pond with 3 paths that will bring you down to the water. The third of these has a small sandy area, but mostly the pond is surrounded by woods or private homes. The trail heads south still following the pond and becomes a wide dirt access road that brings you to Buck Island Road. Across the street is a cranberry bog. This bog is east of the cranberry bog that connects to the RJ Syrjala trail. There is another bog to the north of the Syrjala bog on the north side of Buck Island and on the east side of West Yarmouth Road. There are always people and their dogs walking this bog. I had noticed a couple of trails heading into the woods on the other side of the road and wondered if these also connected to Horse Pond. I decided to try and find out. I followed the access road north by another watershed and into smaller trails. There were a lot of smaller sub trails to pick from. I tried to head towards the northeast and where I thought West Yarmouth Road and that bog would be. I passed two small ponds a long the way. I came to a wide path that split three ways, heard a car and headed east where I came out right where I had intended.
       I have a good sense of direction and I knew that these woods had Higgins Crowell to the west, Buck Island to the south, West Yarmouth to the east. I saw trails that led north, that would be left for another day. My car was toward the southwest. One thing I didn’t put into the equation was all the different trails.
I first realized I was going the wrong way when I was on the opposite side of one of the ponds I passed earlier. I was circling back towards West Yarmouth Road. I saw a smaller trail but that led to a small neighborhood I hadn’t seen. I had to get to the other side of that pond. I went back to the trail that brought me to the West Yarmouth Bog. I took a narrow trail and did end up on a bigger trail I remembered I had been on. I was thinking I was heading in the right direction until I saw a paved road with two water stations. How can I be lost when I know where I am !! I kept trying to head southwest hoping to see Horse Pond. I ended up behind Mattakesse Middle School which is just north of the Police Station. I followed a trail south that brought me to the dirt road, with the watershed, I had passed over in the beginning. Wow, it was real good to see my car.
       The next day I went back but parked at the West Yarmouth entrance. I kept going west  on a wide trail disregarding the many trails to the north and south. I passed the two water stations on the paved road I had seen the day before. The trail leads to Bayberry Golf Course and heads south from there. I looped back around, not straying to far off the main trail. The north side trails will also lead to the golf course and we know the south trails will eventually lead to Horse Pond with many different paths to choose from.
       This morning I went back to the trail I have done the most…Callery-Darling….Very nice sometimes not having to wonder where you are !!

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Ratings 1- the cellar  2- shoddy  3- tolerable  4- worthy  5- wicked good

Accessibility - 5  easy to find, just south of  Police Station
Parking - 3- small area
Length-   2- Horse Pond itself is .92 miles -- 5   with all the connecting trails it can be as long as you’d like
Degree of Difficulty-  3 -easy with some hills , can be confusing
Dog Friendly- 4
Good for Family- 2 -   nothing extra
Trail Markings-  2- easy to get lost with so many sub trails
Trail Maintenance-   4-.
Variation - 5 -  Can connect to many trails
Scenic  - 2 - A ways back from pond, woods mostly

Beach -   very small sandy area by the end of the pond

What I like - Challenging trying to find the connecting trails
What I don’t like- Pretty much all woods

Overall Rating-    32 or 35  out of 50