The Batchelder Mill trails of East Concord have something for everyone. With several entry points, the main trail is handicap accessible.
On a recent hike before the snow arrived, I entered from the intersection of Curtisville Road and Frost Street, near Broken Ground School, and I walked the entire distance on the main trail from east to west in about 30 minutes. At the western end of the trail, there are remnants of a large dam and mill on the Mill Brook, where bricks were manufactured as early as 1734. The dam was one of the first built in the Concord area.
An observation platform has been constructed on the edge of what used to be the mill pond but is now a wetland dominated by cattails and high marsh grass with channels of open water.
Nearby there was a large beaver lodge and evidence of fresh beaver activity, with wood chips surrounding the teeth-scarred stumps of trees with sap oozing from the wood.
With anticipation of seeing the beavers in action, I came back to the observation platform at dusk and saw three beavers slowly swimming in the open water. One beaver came close to the shore and started to work on a downed tree. I silently left the platform and slowly moved toward the beaver, hoping to take a photo. I came close enough to hear him crunching on some branches with his chisel-like teeth. Another beaver in the middle of the marsh slapped the water with his tail, giving an alarm. The beaver I had been watching immediately dove back into the water and swam away.
A great blue heron glided low over the marsh grass and, his long stilt legs as landing gear, he settled in to the fishing spot.
If you venture off the handicapped trail, you can choose the red trail, the blue trail or the white trail, which crisscross each other. This section of the woods was lumbered several decades ago, and the trails are byproducts of where the logs were dragged after being cut. The result is a haphazard network of trails in many different directions. I found it helpful to use my compass to determine where a certain trail was taking me.
