Two Rod Road Properties

Year Acquired: 1971-2012

Size: 31.5 acres combined

Miles of Trails: 1 mile of trail on Land Trust land

Features: Wetlands, upland forest, small stream.

Overview

The Two Rod Road properties are located north of the Town’s Punkatasset Preserve. Both properties are part of Estabrook Woods, Concord’s largest area of conserved land, with a total of 1,700 acres of contiguous open space. These woods have extremely high ecological significance, as they provide primary habitat for rare species. The area also serves as a large wildlife corridor with habitat for many species of birds, amphibians, and insects. The Land Trust obtained these properties through acquisition and donation, dating back to 1971 and most recently in 2012.

Trails: Level rocky terrain, some wet areas.

Entrances/Parking: The properties are located on the northeast side of Two Rod Road and are accessible from the Town’s Punkatasset Preserve. Parking is available along Monument Street for the Punkatasset Preserve between houses #851 and #873.

Explore the Land

The Two Rod Road trail from Punkatasset Preserve runs along the west side of the Hutchins Land for almost half a mile. A small half-loop trail begins at the south end of the property and returns to Two Rod Road further north, for a distance of another half a mile. This is a woodland walk typical of the Estabrook Woods landscape, with overstory oaks, birches, and white pines; a rock-strewn terrain with poorly-draining pockets; and numerous stone walls marking property lines. A short but charming segment of the loop crosses into and out of private land, traveling along a small stream.

History of Preservation

Hutchins Land was purchased by the Land Trust in 1971 from the estate of Gordon Hutchins. This 16.5-acre property began the Land Trust’s stake in the larger Estabrook Woods. Over the course of nine years, Chandler and Barbara Gifford and their son Peter donated 15 acres of fields and woods to the Land Trust. Peter started the process in 2003 with a gift of almost three acres adjacent to his house. This was followed in 2004 by a gift from Chandler and Barbara of almost 7 acres, with a life estate. Chandler, or “Tinny” as he was known, was a Land Trust board member for 17 years, eight of those as Chair. Finally, in 2012, the senior Giffords donated an additional five acres, including a large part of an open field along Monument Street and a wildlife corridor back to Estabrook Woods.

Both the Gifford Land and the Hutchins Land are part of the Estabrook Woods, which is part of 1,700 acres of open space in Concord and neighboring town Carlisle, known as Estabrook Woods. In the 1960s, two Harvard University professors coordinated with landowners in the two towns to acquire a large portion of forest for teaching and research in the environmental sciences. With the help from the Town of Concord, the Land Trust, and citizen donations, Harvard assembled 672 acres in the center of the Woods, now part of the University’s Concord Field Station within the Museum of Comparative Zoology. In the 1990s, a campaign was launched to create a buffer of protected land around Harvard’s acres. Through the efforts of many organizations, including the Land Trust, an additional 400 acres of open space was permanently protected. As the result of those efforts, Harvard committed to conserving its property for education and research. Today, the Woods are recognized as the largest, most ecologically important, natural area in Concord. It is contiguous and remote forest; a mosaic of rocky uplands – erratics, calcareous rocks, eskers – and varied swamps, ponds, and vernal pools. Estabrook Woods supports a biodiverse population of plants and wildlife, and exhibits strong resiliency in the face of climate change, according to data from the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program. The Land Trust’s Chamberlin Woods also connects to the larger Estabrook Woods.