Another Cool Sunny Summer Day!

The weather is hard to improve upon of late!
Sunny, cool, with a light breeze.
Pretty amazing really.

If you are looking for somewhere to go out and hike you might want to check out www.hikeworcester.com


CASCADES WEST

After a two year period of examining the possibility of closing off Silver Spring Road (Howard Street) as it runs through Cascades West, including a meeting with user/hikers, discussion with Trust volunteers, discussion with Holden and Paxton and their public safety officers, and internal review, we have decided to move forward with making the road into a pedestrian recreational corridor that can be opened to address specific maintenance and public safety needs.

There would be one gate to the north close to Camp Street, and one gate to the south at the edge of the pavement in Boynton Park.

The reasoning is simple:

1. The road is only one lane wide for most of its length, posing a traffic problem.

2. Because the road sees extensive use as a recreation corridor, limiting vehicular traffic would promote user safety.

3. The road is neither plowed nor maintained by the towns, and remains impassable for much of the winter. It may appear passable at the lower end when the unpaved upper end remains blocked by snow.

4. Restricting vehicular access will assist in curbing illegal dumping.

5. Restricting vehicular access will eliminate "cruising."

6. Reducing vehicular traffic is very good for wildlife habitat.

7. You! We want your experience of the Cascades to be an enjoyable one!

This project will not happen until the end of July or the beginning of August and comments and thoughts can be directed to cascades@gwlt.org

Sadly, yesterday, when we went to post signs informing users, we had a new and pretty nasty illegal dumping to deal with, and while this was very unpleasant, it really drove home in an unambiguous way the undeniable need to better secure the conservation land from abuse so that we can all benefit.

Hopefully this will be a site improvement that everyone will come to enjoy in the long-term.


The Trailhead Conditions at Cascading Waters at 10:00 a.m. (elev. 630'):

Temperature is 66.6 degrees F and rising;
Humidity is 61% and falling;
Pressure is 30.00" and steady;
Skies are sunny;
Breeze is moving but not registering any mph;
The Cascades have minimal flow;
The Cascades Brook has minimal flow in both channels;
The USFS Fire Danger Class is LOW.


The National Weather Service Forecast:

Mostly sunny, with a high near 81. Light and variable wind becoming south around 6 mph in the afternoon.