Cedar Hill and Crane Swamp [April 2023]

The Crane Swamp Conservation Area is a 2,225-acre parcel of land located mostly in Northborough, MA that includes Cedar Hill, managed by the Sudbury Valley Trustees (SVT), and Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) land with a water treatment plant. Cedar Hill as well as the other hills in the conservation area are drumlins, formed by glacial activity, and the other main attraction is the 400-acre red maple swamp. Trails at Crane Swamp are part of a trail network linking it to neighboring towns, and I’d estimate there are around 4-5 miles of trails with loops of 1-4 miles possible to hike.

Eastern bluebird

We visited on a spring day in April 2023, and it was one of the last hikes we took before I got my stalker Garmin watch, so I don’t have watch data, but I’m pretty sure we did a 2.5 mile loop on the Cedar Hill and Crane Swamp Trails that takes you up to the top of Crane Hill and into the swamp down to the aqueduct where the MWRA treatment plant is. I’m guessing we were there for a little under an hour and a half, which is either a fairly moderate pace or a moderately fast pace stopping to examine every wildflower, bird, and skunk cabbage you encounter. I’ll let you guess how I hike.

Crabapple tree in bloom

The main trails were well signed and pretty well maintained and easy to follow. On this visit the skunk cabbage was abundant, wild violets and bluets were out, crabapple (I think) trees were in bloom, fiddleheads were unfurling, leaves had not quite emerged, and we had sightings of an American kestrel and an eastern bluebird. Looking back at photos, I think it might have drizzled on us a bit, but otherwise the hike was nice. The view from the top of Cedar Hill was what you might expect of a hill in the suburban northeast – lots of trees and some occasional buildings. Good for a quick outing, at least in the spring. That’s foreshadowing for a future post, if I ever get around to writing it. I am officially just about 2 years behind now, but I’m hoping I can start catching up with some quicker shorter posts. Here’s a start, at least.

View from the top of Cedar Hill