Conant Land and Old Morse Road (57 acres)
Access: Town Hall; Rockland Road; and by trail from the Transfer Station.
Parking: Rear lot at Town Hall off Westford Street.
The town acquired the Conant land as a multi-use parcel, parts of which were developed for the fire station (1985)(1) and the Carlisle Town Hall (1997)(2).
The rolling wooded land has wetlands, stonewalls and several notable sites including Fishtail Pond(3) and the large ledge outcropping called Castle Rock(4). Carlisle students studying natural history frequently visit the Conant land for art and nature studies. In 1997, this was the site of an exhibition of site-specific artworks inspired by the natural environment - several artworks are still visible as you wander through this hidden wilderness in the center of town.
The trail, which starts at the left rear corner of the parking lot behind the Town Hall, crosses the center of the parcel from east to west before joining a north-south trail. Along the way a marked trail forks left to Castle Rock, and continues to Rockland Road, which you can follow back to the Fire Station and Town Hall. The north portion skirts ridges and crosses streams and wetland before entering private land, (permission required) and continues onto the Old Morse Road Trail at the Transfer Station. Old Morse Road runs parallel to Lowell Street through private property and eventually reaches Curve Street at the Cranberry Bog.
Old Morse Road was formally designated in 1780 and probably served as a route to and from George Robbins' mill on the Great Brook in the mid-17th century.
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