I had a meeting off Cape the day I was going back to finish Bell’s Neck. My friend I was going with told me she should be ready to go about 12:30. Looking at the map I could tell that the north trail wouldn’t be as long as I wanted to walk. I could do the south side again but I might not have had enough time. Looking at the trail map of Harwich I saw their were smaller trails very close to Bell’s Neck.
If you didn’t know there was a north trail at Bell’s neck you would walk right by it. The trail is narrow and goes up and down hills, some very steep. The steepest ones have an alternative path that leads around them. I always take the hills since my main reason for doing this is losing weight. The trail heads down to the water and up to the power lines and the Rail Trail. The trail loops back and can be made longer by going down the dirt road that cuts the main trail in half. Just about 2.5 miles.
Going back out to Great Western Road I took a right and headed for Lothrop Ave. and Coy's Brook Woodland. It was easy to find the parking area just past the big blue water tower. There are two trails at Coy’s Brook. The outer one is a mile hike that leads down to the opposite side of the Bell’s Neck marsh and around through the woods, past the water tower and back to the parking area. The second trail is a shorter loop that also loops back to the outer trail.
Further down Lothrop Ave is Lee Baldwin Memorial Woodlands which has a short boardwalk and sitting area and a 800 ft trail. The trail goes into the woods where there is a fenced in grave site with two headstones, one broken, with fresh flowers. I could read 1832 on it but not much more. Still time for one more.
To get to DeFulvio Sanctuary Boardwalk I had to keep going down Lothrop on to Rte 28. There was a sign on the north side in between two buildings. I thought it was a driveway because it brought you by a house and a business, but more signs led to the boardwalk. !37 ft and wheelchair accessible to a great view of the other side of herring river and marsh. I saw a couple of trails leading into the woods from the small parking area. No time though. I had time to get a coffee on the way back home take a shower and pick up my friend by 12:30. I was pretty proud of myself. Then a text from her at 11:45. OH OH !! She would be ready at Noon. No coffee, quick shower and just a little late. Phew!!
Four Conservation Areas in Harwich in one morning. I rated Bell’s Neck in my last post. The rating below is for the other three.
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Ratings 1- the cellar 2- shoddy 3- tolerable 4- worthy 5- wicked good
Accessibility - 5 - International hiking signs.
Parking - 4 - Coy’s Neck and Lee Balwin have plenty. I think The Balwin on is bigger than the trail. The DeFulvio is small.
Length- 2 - All 3 don’t add up to my minimum 3 mile jaunt.
Degree of Difficulty- 3 - Easy when the paths are wide and tough hills on the narrow paths.
Extras- 1- Nothing extra
Trail Markings- 4 Not too necessary
Trail Maintenance- 5
Variation - 2 see length
Scenic - 4 - Great at DeFulvio - Ok at Coy’s Neck - Not real good at Baldwin
Worth Returning - 3 Maybe
Beach - no
Facilities - no
What I like - Good for days when time is a problem, nice views at DeFulvio
What I don’t like- Just too short
Overall Rating- 33 out of 50
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