Medfield Rhododendron Reservation

This is a sleeper of a nice woodland tucked away in the heart of Medfield. It is pretty dry and nice woodland, not as wet or buggy as you'd imagine (the region surrounding it is otherwise a vast wetlands).

The trails are a little tricky, but expansive and the red loop has a nice hill challenge if you can find it. The summit lacks a dominant landscape view like Blue Hill or the Bluff head on Moose Hill. Overall it's a very pleasant conservation with low foot traffic and peaceful quiet for large parts of the day including after hours (4-7).

Visited the grove Difficult to find.
The Rhododendrons do not look very well. They need help.

There's a small parking lot for 2-3 cars on Woodbridge road with a tiny sign that explains access to the protected rhododendron's. There road leads you adjacent to private property and the trail is overgrown with poison ivy, large ferns & high grass. It didn't feel safe being that it wasn't well-worn. I recommend long pants in the summer for this trail. It's a relatively short hike to the fenced-in rhododendrons. They all appeared to be in bad shape, so I think it's wonderful that people are protecting them and trying to help the grove rebound. Perhaps in a few years this will be a more worth-while adventure. Apple maps sent me to a swamp on the other side with no trail access but Google maps got me to the right place. I was able to see the rhododendron's in bloom and I am grateful for that.

Trail to the rhododendron grove is short, but has poison ivy, many wet areas, and many large fallen trees. The grove has only a few straggling bushes, with no blossoms even during peak rhododendron season. A sign from 1999 says it is being restored, but the fencing that was apparently installed then to keep deer out is now in disrepair.

I was here a few years ago, and saw the rhodos completely bare of flowers when the rhodos around our neighborhood were flowering beautifully. Went back last week and it was again a dismal sight, a few sparse and sickly rhodos, in a space poorly maintained, and at the end of a path long abandoned. The path has fallen trees blocking it at multiple points, and weeds encroaching on the path everywhere. It feels like the Trustees are intentionally trying to keep visitors away, but then those that do make it to the rhodo enclosure discover it more likely a case of negligence than something intentional. The enclosure itself is fallen in one part by another fallen tree, meaning the wildlife will have no trouble nibbling on the few rhodos that remain, and decreasing the likelihood this stand will stand for the next generation. Not worth a visit, but worth a plea to the Trustees to please preserve this space for all to enjoy.

Stop River looks like a little stream but with the beaver dams under the Causway Street bridge, there is enough water even during a summer draught to comfortably paddle all the way to Devil's Foot. I love this area - a great deal of solitude in the middle of suburbia.

Very wet trail, trail is hard to follow in some places and is overgrown with poison ivy. The Rhododendrons are in rough shape. Restoration is in progress, but not much to look at right now.