Lucky 7 at Appleton Farms, Ipswich, MA
Posted by: 
bctrail
N 42° 38.700 W 070° 51.678
19T E 347415 N 4723073
Lucky 7 on a rural farm in Hamilton and Ipswich, Massachusetts.
Waymark Code: WM6GGM
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 05/31/2009
Views: 17
The setting for this Lucky 7 is the
Appleton Farms (658 acres) and
Appleton Farms Grass Rides (259 acres) properties of The Trustees of Reservations (TTOR) in Hamilton and Ipswich, Massachusetts (the town line cuts the property nearly in half). These two properties are administered, managed, and operated as a single unit, and their separation is little more than a technicality. Together they contain over 900 acres (nearly 1.5 square miles), and have more than eleven miles of trails. Originally established as a land grant to Samuel Appleton in 1638, it remained in the family for nine generations, and is one of the oldest continuously operating farms in the United States. It is one of my favorite places, and the Lucky 7 presents an opportunity to highlight many of the cool points of interest.
There are two visitor parking areas, one on
Highland Street just north of the Cutler Road intersection, and one at
the corner of Waldingfield Road and Route 1A. The Farms are open from sunrise to sunset, although there is a $3 daily entrance fee if you are not a member of TTOR. Be sure to get a trail map, either from the web sites above, or at the parking area.
All the following waymarks can be reached by trails on the Farms property. Those highlighted in
red (greater than 0.5 mile radius) don't qualify as part of the Lucky 7, which is centered at the
Pigeon Hill Pinnacle. A well planned route to visit all the waymarks will take you several miles, so plan for at least a half day. In addition to the waymarks, there are lots of other interesting things to see. There are also at least four geocaches here. Enjoy the Farms. Its a great place to visit.
Note that the five boundary line waymarks are cross-posted. The seven waymark codes shown in
green are the "official" qualifying waymarks (all in different departments).
The red-tailed hawk is my candidate for Farms mascot. He was watching me as I took photos of
The Old House. He was not the least bit nervous, since I was in HIS territory. I have since seen him in other parts of the Farm. To me, he represents the Farms, in many ways.
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