Whitney and Thayer Woods
Video
Review
This is a tricky property to review, mostly because it's so unlike any other park I've been to. The trails pass through private property in some places, and at one point one of the trails actually diverges into Mass DCR's Wompatuck State Park. Because of this, the property sometimes can feel a bit disjointed, particularly along the rail trail and bike paths.
There are lots of different ways to hike through these woods, some of which are marked as trail loops (and others that aren't). The signage is a little less clear than at other Trustees properties, so there were a few points where I found myself going down a trail I didn't intend to. At one point, I even lost the trail entirely! I was able to find my way eventually, but I did send an email to the property managers to let them know about that section of the trail. Some sections of the trails were tougher than others, and one section leads the hiker through a rock feature, but there should be no danger to the average day hiker.
The rocky landscape offers tremendous opportunity for the amateur geologist; Bigelow Boulder, Ode's Den, and Rooster Rock are all accessible along the same short trail. I even found a geocache tucked away behind a natural feature.
The park itself is very well-maintained and the sections passing through the deepest parts of the wood are very close to silent of any artificial noise. With that said, there are sections of the trail (particularly along Turkey Hill Lane, which leads to the adjacent Turkey Hill and Weir River Farm properties) that are near property that is having construction done on them—I was taken out of the moment pretty abruptly and found it a little difficult to get back into my natural headspace. That side of the property featured more accessible parking and a dog field.
There are two separate parking lots for the park, one at either end of the trails and both situated adjacent to MA state route 3A. The lot I chose had ample parking and a much more natural-feeling trailhead than the other.
Final thoughts
The Whitney and Thayer Woods are large and diverse, offering many different types of recreational activities. I personally would stay away from the Turkey Hill/Weir River Farm area (mostly the western end of the park), but perhaps it was just a particularly bad day then.
- Hikeability: 7/10
- Accessibility: 7/10
- Naturality: 5/10
- Scenery: 8/10
- Difficulty: 3/10
More information
You can read more about Whitney and Thayer Woods on the Trustees of Reservations website.