Surrounded by private farmland, the Perkins Conservation Area is
a 110-acre parcel of meadows and mixed woodlands along the north
slope of Brush Hill with a bottom land tributary marsh feeding Back
River of the Lake Attitash watershed. It is managed by the
Conservation Commission of the Town of Merrimac, MA and has been
recently added to the Essex County Greenbelt
Association Protected Properties. The trail meets at the Jay
McLaren Memorial Trail on the eastern border of the area. The Open
Space Committee of the Town of Merrimac provides a
pamphlet with info and trail maps for their Perkins and McLaren
Conservation Areas.
The cache was placed along the area's Marshview Trail with three
contrasting access routes that all lead to a spectacular view above
a frontier overlook with the State of New Hampshire woodlands
looming as a backdrop on the far side of the marsh.
The Brush Hill Road trail crossing of the Jay McLaren Memorial
Trail is on a slow curve of a converted rail bed that draws you
away from civilization toward a frontier state line border crossing
above the marsh. The eastern end of Marshview Trail branches from
the rail trail just before the crossing to a narrow but level path
at the base of Brush Hill and just above the marsh to the cache.
Although this route is not the shortest at a little over a half
mile, it is the easiest of the three with most of the hike along
the rail trail with a 2.0 Terrain Rating.
The Brush Hill Road trail head for the Innis Trail begins as a
wide English hedge row along a hill crest. The path then enters a
thinned woods with grand views of the marsh as it descends to the
base of Brush Hill and ends at Marshview Trail very near the cache.
Although this route is all down hill, mostly straight, and the
shortest at a quarter mile, one must be aware that the return trip
is a relentless uphill trek with a 2.5 Terrain Rating.
The Highland Road trail head for Marshview Trail starts as a
slightly down hill tree lined farm lane along meadows to the marsh.
The trail turns and narrows to follow the contours of the land at
the base of Brush Hill and just above the marsh. The trail crosses
primitive wetlands on its way to the cache. This route is both the
longest at over three quarters of a mile and the most adventurous,
especially during thaws and rainy spells with a 3.0 Terrain
Rating.
We would enjoy reading within your online log which of the three
routes you chose to the cache and why.