At the end of April, I had the opportunity to visit Annett Wayside Park in Rindge, New Hampshire in the southwest part of the state. This tiny park within a 1,494 acre protected state forest has an easy 1/4 mile stroll option to the edge of a reservoir. My family has enjoyed this trail many times. As a lesser known destination, it offers a peaceful and quiet alternative to the more publicized nearby trail systems and it certainly offers a treasure hunt of interesting sights in the spring!
The walk to to the pond started from a spacious parking and picnic area with a pavilion dedicated to the Civilian Conservation Corps who built the structure in the 1930’s. Although the trail to the pond is well-trodden, the trail around the pond is strewn with wear from the snowy winter. It is still very walkable and takes less than an hour to circumnavigate the pond.
This inlet becomes a stream which leads into vernal pools just around a small bend. There are trees filled with holes from all sizes of birds from titmouse to pileated woodpecker. Beavers and deer left their marks on the trees as well. Along the far shore, we spotted mallards and a wood duck.
I was able to find frog eggs in the vernal pools, surrounded by water striders, whose shadows make visible their almost transparently slim frames.
Before leaving the Park, I decided to look again from the vantage point Aaron took to seek out wildlife. I was thrilled to see this pickerel basking in the shallows! I confess to the readers that I thought this was a juvenile pike but my husband questioned my identification. He held that pickerel were more common. After an exhaustive search…we found this site which proved this is indeed a pickerel!
This park is a hidden gem tucked away on Cathedral Road in Rindge. It lies a few hundred yards from the entrance to southern New Hampshire’s famous landmark Cathedral of the Pines. Anyone visiting the area would find a wonderful dichotomy of nature in the cultivated profusion of wildflowers cared for at the Cathedral, combined with the wild, pristine beauty of Annette Wayside Park.
My question for you , do you have a favorite memory of sighting or catching a fish?
