Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary

Today I took the family to Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary in Natick MA (rt 16).  Broadmoor has 9 miles of trails that take you through forests, wetlands, old orchards, and various boardwalk crossings.    For the most part, the trails are fairly wide with very little elevation gain, and are the perfect little getaway for all levels.

After loading my youngest into my Kelty child carrier backpack, the four of us began our adventure.  From the nature center we followed the yellow trail along the banks of a wetland, and before long came across a boardwalk crossing where we stopped to look for wildlife.

Unfortunately there was nothing swimming in the waters at this stop, so we carried on and entered a small pine forest on the other side of the boardwalk.  The soft pine needle floor, and cool whispering breeze must have been too much for "bear bait" because she was out as soon as we crossed the bridge. Luckily I was able to grab a quick shot of her right before.

Through the forest and over a wooden bridge, we came to the highlight of the trip. Well hold on, let's back up a second! Of course the highlight of the trip is spending it with my family and getting to experience the new sights and sounds with my little girls, as well as having a nice peaceful stroll with my lovely wife!! (I'm no fool)!!  So now on to the second best part of the trip.  We've had heavy rains over the past few weeks and because of it, a usually slow waterfall was turned into a beautiful cascade of pounding water. 

 

Now not to get all sappy on you, but one of my favorite smells in the world is fresh water!  You know the kind of smell you get when you're sitting by a lake on a warm summer afternoon, and there's that gentle breeze that just ever so lightly scrapes along the waters surface and releases the essence of the lake into the air. Well that smell!! Anyways this waterfall was just perfuming the entire area with that sweet fresh water and we stopped to take it in for a while. 

After the falls we pushed forward a little longer until the skeeters started to get the best if us.  We decided to turn around and retrace our steps.  As we neared the nature center, we stopped at the main boardwalk that overlooks a large marsh.  It was here where a turtle popped its head up to say hello to "Lil Bug".

So there it is, Broadmoor! Probably one of the best places in the metrowest to introduce children (or anyone for that matter) to the great outdoors! 

Things to know: Broadmoor is a Ma Audubon property and charges an entrance fee to non- members. No dogs allowed. As with any wild area use insect protection! And carry in carry out!