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Water Glee, Part I: The Stony Brook Suite

We kept finding fantastic shallow stretches of river with generous beaches and flat boulders and crayfish and enchanting little footpaths..... and then realized it was all the same river! I can't vouch for the water quality, other than to say it looks fairly clear and we keep it far from our mouths. But I can absolutely attest to the Stony Brook's beauty and refreshability!

Rocky Brook Trail

Rocky Brook Trail
Stepping stones kick things off across the Stony Brook at a perfectly picturesque spot where you could happily spend the day stream stopping. But then you'd be missing the magnificence of the cascading streams weaving together pools by way of little waterfalls, the big stone wall that you actually tread along for a segment, the lookout perch and the intricate …

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Stony Brook at Greenway Meadows

Perfectly idyllic and picturesque with pebble beaches, an easy meandering pathway and the adjoining Greenway Meadows' playground, meadows and toilets. CONNECTING TRAILS: Stony Brook at Johnson Park School, Greenway Meadows, Iron Mike's Trail, within a block of Historic Overlook Park. TRAIL MAP DIRECTIONS AS A WINE.... For me, Rhone wines are marked by a free-spirited frontier quality wrapped in a …

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Stony Brook at Greenway Meadows

Ettl Farm Trail

Ettl Farm Trail
Just a hop down the Stony Brook from the Chauncey trail and yet it feels quite different. The beaches are shallower, the river more approachable, the woods denser and everything a degree more wild. Outcroppings of rock platforms repeat all along the shoreline like mini stages, or classrooms, as the case may be. I recommend parking at the end of …

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Kunkel Park & Pennington Loop Nature Trail

Two charming wooden archways act as portals between the wonderworld that is Kunkel Park - with its large sandbox, play structure, covered picnic benches and rolling meadows - and the Pennington Loop with several idyllic water crossings and a flat pathway through the tall, shaded woods connecting to Baldwin Lake. CONNECTING TRAILS Baldwin Lake trail TRAIL MAP DIRECTIONS As a …

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Kunkel Park & Pennington Loop Nature Trail

Thompson Preserve

Thompson Preserve
This farm preserve's native Black-eyed Susans and Wild Bergamot will tower over you in July, as though saluting you on your way to the stream beaches or dramatic old stone railroad bridge. The native flower prairie nests in the heart of the preserve, several pastures in. It acts as the gateway between level countryside and hilly woods with a huckleberry …

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Kate's Trail

A lollipop if ever there was one, this trail begins as an overlookable and usually overgrown narrow corridor between estates that opens to a cathedral of trees sheltering a broad and picturesque river and wetlands. I have yet to find my way back without bushwhacking. TRAIL MAP DIRECTIONS AS A WINE.... She'd be Malbec, with plenty to chew on including …

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Kate's Trail

Whatever Floats Your Boat!

Whatever Floats Your Boat!
If it floats, it's a boat. The savvy shipwright might add a leaf sail to make it faster, use flatter, broader pieces to prevent it from capsizing or embellish it with natural treasure to make it more splendid. Regardless, it's a bunch of lessons disguised as hours of giddy play. We sometimes use this as our riff on the please …

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