For the first hike of the spring, Michelle and I decided to head out to the Quabbin Reservoir and hike out to the former town of Dana, which was razed in 1938 to make way for the reservoir. The town, however, is not under water, and it is about a two mile hike in from the closest gate at the reservation. The picture above is what the center of town looks like today, 67 years after the townspeople were forces out of their homes. This site includes more information on Dana.
While none of the buildings remain, there are still foundations and cellar holes along the road into town, and around the town common. While most of them were built with field stones, one near the town common included a terrace that was lined with these smaller stones.
From the center of town, we continued another 3/4 mile southwest in hopes of finding an old plane wreck that is out in the woods south of the road. I found it once when I was walking out here about 15 years ago on a tip from David Knott, but wasn't able to locate it today. We ended up stopping at an inlet where we saw a half dozen or so wood ducks and a pair of blue herons. Earlier, we had been joined by a couple of hawks that circled us quite close to the ground while we were in town.
The trail head is located at gate 40 on rte 32A, about 6 miles north of Hardwick Center. Total Distance Hiked: 5.3 miles.
Posts
