Fen and Cobb Hill , Taylor Valley and Hemenway Ledges Trails. (Cobb Town Forest) - Map 7
Several short trails starting on Hemenway Road (formerly Sawyer Mtn Road). It features 350 feet of board walk for wetland observation and protection. Bear and moose sign have been found on this trail on several occasions. Marked with yellow flags and paint it follows up one side of the stream and back down the other. Characterized by old foundations, stone walls, a variety of wetland plant species, including showy lady slippers, yellow lady slipper, early coral root, loesels twayblade, moccasin flowers, purple fringed orchids, bog candles, northern green orchids, turtle heads, blue flag, rattle snake orchid and some exceptionally tall straight pines. The original name of this town owned property was the Cobb Town Forest because it was a gift to the town by Dr Gardner Cobb about 1960.
A photo album of flowers that are found in this forest in seasonal blooming sequence is viewable here.
The stunning bloom of showy lady slippers attracts hundreds of visitors in late June. The boardwalk is about .5 mile hike from Hemenway Road and provides unrestricted views of these beautiful orchids.
To find this area drive through Straffords upper village following Justin Morrill Highway. Take Taylor valley road on the right about 2 miles above the village. Follow this a mile to Hemenway road on the right. Follow this 1.8 miles to the kiosk on the left and parking on the right. This is the trail head.
The Fen Trail is about a mile easy hike and feature bears nests and marked trees. It crosses the fen on a board walk. A short side trail loops through the fen to provide views of the plant life in this unique habitat. The Cobb Hill Trail climbs steeply up Cobb Hill and connects into the Fen trail and is about .5 miles overall.
Half of the Cobb Forest is on each side of Hemenway Road. The East Loop (.8 miles) circles the east side of the Cobb Forest and starts below the parking area. One can hike either way around and return to the same place. The habitats are very different on this route and in season (late May) there are yellow lady slippers to be found. It is relatively level and is characterized by open hardwoods, tall mature pine, cattail wetlands and scrub fir areas. This route is inclined to be wet in certain seasons. At least 3 other orchids are found on this trail in season. They are Downy Rattlesnake Plantain , Spotted Coralroot and Helleborine.
The Taylor Valley trail starts on the Fen Trail and leads over the ridge into Taylor Valley to Taylor Valley Road. It intersects the road about 2 miles up just past Dow Road at a gate where there is a parking area. The trail is 1.25 miles and is characterized by hardwood forest , a small wetland and several cellar holes from a former community. Most of it follows old logging roads.
As of 7/11/21 The Hemenway Ledges Trail is well marked and is a rewarding loop.
The Hemenway Ledges trail is 1.9 miles long and starts farther up the same road. There is a smaller parking area beyond the gate just mentioned and saves considerable walking. Walk from here up to where the brook crosses the road through an exposed culvert and look for the trail on our left. The trail goes past an old cellar hole and follows along the hillside for a long level stretch through open hardwoods with very steep hillside on the right. It then climbs up to the ridge through some large boulders and past a steep section of cliff. On the ridge it doubles back along the rim of the cliff, There is a wetland off to the left at this point. At a large boulder it turns left and climbs to the high point of 1920 feet. From here it traverses down the back side to a log landing on the Chelsea branch which can be followed back to the beginning. There are several beeches where bears have fed and left tracks. Without the generosity of the Hemenway family the Taylor Valley trails would not be possible.