Ben Farnsworth Road
Ben Farnsworth Road is off North Mason Road, approximately one mile beyond the transfer station. It is an easy walk with only a few wet spots and slight inclines.
Although the first part of the road is now developed, continue to the last house on the road to park and begin your walk. Be careful not to block the trail when parking. The first part of the walk is about 1/2 mile along a slight incline to a hilltop. Much of the trek is under a canopy of mountain laurel which towers over either side of the road. The scenery quickly changes at the crest of the hill to open areas adorned with beech and oak trees of impressive size. The nuts of these trees are great wildlife forage.
If you take a left at the first fork, you enter Dupaw-Gould Road, which goes straight through to Mason Road. It can be rough walking at times, but there are cellar holes a short distance from the fork and plenty of stone walls to admire. Laurel is high in many areas and there are a fair amount of large hardwood trees. Trails from this road are mostly on the west side and generally dead-ended.
To stay on Ben Farnsworth Road, bear right at the first fork. Easy walking for 3/10 of a mile leads you to beautiful old foundations and a majestic stand of maple trees. (One of these had a girth of 133 inches on May 30, 1994.)
A mile into the road will bring you to the wetlands behind the airstrip. A narrow trail here backtracks west to Mason. An abundance of berry bushes promises great fall birding. Continue 2/10 of a mile to the next trail for yet another access point to the airfield on the right and another brook, easily crossed for the final stretch of 3/10 of a mile to Mason Road.
The curious walker will probably find that this two or three mile stretch can easily fill the better part of a morning or afternoon. Do take time to linger and enjoy it!
(From Our Place, July 1994)