Balancing Rock & Orris Falls

There's a treasure hidden in the woods of South Berwick Maine, and it's one I've lived a town over from my entire life without ever knowing it existed. That treasure is called the Balancing Rock, a marvel of nature you can see for yourself with just a short hike from a parking area off Emerys Bridge Road.

Our first time out in these woods my wife and I learned a valuable lesson - that is, muggy summer afternoons are not the ideal conditions in which to hike these trails. I can only remember a few times in life that mosquitoes chased me out of a place, but this was one of them. We made it to the rock, but after a few quick pictures and a whole lot of swatting we retreated to the car - leaving any other treasures these woods had to reveal for another day.

Deciding that the rock would probably look better in the snow anyways, we planned a return trip with friends this past January. Our group soon reached the rock and, trusting that having balanced for thousands of years it could hold on just a little bit longer, we took turns posing underneath it.

Photo by Barry McKay

In the few years we've been coming here this conservation area has seen steady improvement. Most recently it was the parking lot being extended to hold more than its previous capacity of three cars, and prior to that Eagle Scout Brian Couture put benches at the more picturesque spots of this trail, including one at Balancing Rock that allows you to just sit and marvel.

From here we backtracked a few hundred feet to the main trail, then continued northwest for another half-mile until finding a sign for the next historical spot in these woods, Littlefield Homestead.

This farmhouse and barn were built in 1860 by Daniel Littlefield, but don't go looking for what you see on the sign, that structure is long since destroyed.

Photo by John Egolf

What remains of the homestead are some retaining walls, foundations, and a well, all of which I spent time wandering through and contemplating sticking my head into. You can bet that if there's so much as a cubbyhole anyplace I'm exploring, I'm gonna try and stuff myself into it.

Photo by John Egolf

Just past these ruins is the Littlefield Cemetery, final resting place of Daniel, wife Mercy, and daughters Henrietta and Eunice. Littlefield died in 1891, three years after Mercy, leaving the property to their son Orris.

From the cemetery you are only minutes from Orris Falls, described as a ninety foot gorge cutting through the earth. Coming by this direction you will approach the falls from the top, and although I wouldn't describe them as gushing - at least not on the day we went - they were strong enough to where we could hear them before we could see them.

Once arriving, the challenge then became finding the best vantage point to admire them from. We walked a little ways beyond and bushwhacked our way toward its base, then with some stone-hopping were able to get close enough to see them from below. This was a good spot to watch the water cascading down, but we concluded that the best view was actually from back on top, where if you climb down from the sitting bench area you can peer right over the fall's drop.

That was our last planned stop, but on the return hike we spotted one more family cemetery in the woods, nearby the parking lot.

Our final tally that day was a tick under three miles, and with very few hills this was an enjoyable hike with a couple of great payoffs. For an even easier hike you can go just out to the rock and back - only a one mile round trip - but whatever your ability, a visit to the Orris Falls Conservation Area is a great addition for anyone's to-do list. There's an adventure in these woods for everyone.

Links:
Where to Park

Exploring Burlington's Landlocked Forest

Surrounded on all sides by neighborhoods and highways, Burlington's Landlocked Forest is described as "an oasis of forest, wildlife, and natural beauty" by the organization that maintains this 250 acre patch of woods. But despite what its name says, this property is not entirely landlocked, and in fact is open to hikers, mountain bikers, and runners of both the 2 and 4 legged variety. In addition to those groups it's also a good place for anyone with a taste for the weird, for explore these woods long enough and you'll eventually find yourself wandering through an old vehicle graveyard.

Privately owned until the 1950s, this property initially did become landlocked when Route 3 was extended south through Burlington, cutting off access to the land. The state paid a fee to the owners for this inconvenience, then a series of legal challenges followed as attempts were made to regain access and develop the land. Wetlands and drainage issues caused those attempts to be rejected, and in 1985 the town paid $810,000 to acquire the land by Eminent Domain.

Fast forward to 2009, when after all attempts to develop the land were exhausted, the town gave permission for a group called Friends of the Landlocked Forest to create trails throughout the woods. Subsequent improvements came in the way of boardwalks that were built over muddy parts of the trails, done in two separate phases.

Now jump all the way to 2020 when my wife and I visited this forest. My lackluster research regarding where to park led us first down a dead-end road with no access, then to a small trailhead with only streetside parking, which we made do. Save yourself this trouble and look for a kiosk at the intersection of Grimes and Turning Mill Roads, a spot that everybody but us had figured out was the ideal place to park.

The first curiosity we came across was this hole I'm standing in, which we speculate was an old foundation. But sometimes a hole is just a hole, and given the lack of any rock wall outline we could very well be wrong.

There was a moment when this day almost went from really good to really great, as we saw signs pointing us to what was called a paint mine. We followed them and spent time looking for any tunnels or holes in the ground, but whatever once existed of this mine we believe it's long gone. All we found was an overgrown hill that may or may not have been a scrap pile.

With 13+ miles of trails there are plenty of options to choose from, and my only suggestion would be to stay more to the east whenever possible. To the west gets you right up close to Route 3, and it's tough to believe you're enjoying a peaceful walk through the woods when the rumbling of 18-wheelers is all you hear.

As with most hikes, walk long enough and you're bound to come across something unusual, and on this day it was a bunch of car parts. First there was a steering wheel hanging from a tree, followed by a car seat bolted to a log, then suddenly we were finding tires at almost every turn.

There's a vehicle boneyard in these woods, and by the way parts are strewn all about it's one that teenagers both young and old have been playing in for quite some time. I don't think a single vehicle is in the same condition, or position, it was when first discarded out here. From a previous life I have firsthand knowledge of the effort required to tip a car over, and I can only imagine the muscle it took to flip a hunk of steel such as this one.

I'm sure some people are horrified these cars are rusting away out here, but I'm not one of them. Each one has a story to tell. Someone felt pride as they drove them off the lot for the very first time. They washed and waxed them on a sunny day, changed their own oil, maybe even experienced a first date in a few of them - or maybe a first something else. Even a bumper sticker such as this one had meaning to whoever first slapped it on. I find beauty in that, wondering about all the forgotten memories each of these vehicles hold.

And if I'm to be perfectly honest, we also get a kick out of posing with each of them.

An hour later we were back at our non-rusted car and starting for home. I had told my wife that morning we were probably going to be walking a mile or two at most, but by the end of our day we had chalked up nearly 6.5 miles. Not a grueling hike but a good one nonetheless, and one we hadn't planned on doing. But we had still come prepared with plenty of snacks and water, because we both learned a long time ago that things like this tend to happen, when you're out having fun and you just don't want an afternoon to come to an end.

Links:
Friends of the Landlocked Forest 
Where to Park

The Abandoned Movie Set of Patriot's Day

In 2013, terrorist brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev detonated homemade bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring hundreds more. In 2016, the movie Patriot's Day starring Mark Wahlberg and Kevin Bacon was released, recounting this disgusting attack. Much of the filming took place at a former naval base in South Weymouth Massachusetts, where the neighborhood and downtown sets that were created for this movie remain standing today.

The South Weymouth Naval Air Station opened in 1942, and during WWII it served as home base to blimps that would patrol the coast of New England for German submarines. Following the war it was downgraded to a parking lot for decommissioned aircraft, but in the 1950s the base was retrofitted with three runways and given new life as a training center for reservists. Blimps went away, jets came in, and operations continued until 1996 when, after a farewell airshow to 100,000 spectators, the base was closed. Much of it has been razed since then, but two of the towers still stand out in the woods.

The set is visible from the road that borders the base, aptly named Patriot Pkwy. From there it's just a five minute walk to the fake neighborhood. This area is open to the public, so you're liable to come across plenty of joggers, dog-walkers, and otherwise friendly people out enjoying their day. Fencing was put up to keep the movie set off-limits, but both times I've been there the gates have been wide open, allowing us to stroll right in.

Depending on which angle the house was filmed at, it was built either to be just a facade or to have some sides and depth. This one - which some local artist mistook for a canvas - would have been used for only a straight shot.

While a house like this was built for a corner shot, and does a pretty good job convincing you someone could actually live there.

Come around the backside and you'll see it's just a front and one side, however.

Almost every house has at least two floors, accessible by either ladder or stairs, so that someone could appear in an upstairs window. Such as my daughter and I.

Front

Back

From a distance things look pretty well built, but upon closer inspection the tricks of keeping within budget are evident. What looks like a brick stairway is just wooden construction with a fake brick layering.

Details large and small went into making this a believable set. Power lines run the length of the street, then abruptly end once out of camera shot.

The second part of the set stands about a thousand feet away, and consists of several business fronts for the downtown scenes. As with the neighborhood, both vandals and Mother Nature have not been kind, although one of the two doesn't know any better.

Green screens at the top of each building allowed them to be given different business names and used for more than one scene.

There's a part in the movie where Mark Wahlberg walks into a bar amidst all the chaos, and before leaving grabs a bottle of liquor and takes a swig. My wife was hoping to re-enact that scene, but unfortunately she forgot the whiskey.

Another thing about this bar, they proudly accept both Vista and BankMaster credit cards.

It was less than six months between the first and second time I explored here, and in that period the condition of the set has drastically deteriorated. There's a reason they put fences around places like this, but those chain walls have failed to keep out the handful of troublemakers who've wreaked havoc here. At this rate, a time will come when this becomes more of an eyesore and less of a novelty, and when that happens the town will be forced to take it down. I worry that day will happen soon - so visit the abandoned movie set now, while you still have the chance.

Slayton Tower, Melrose MA

We plan most of our trips out in advance, but sometimes it's fun just to take off blindly for a place you know very little about. This was our visit to the Slayton Tower, where we made the three hour round trip based on not much more than seeing a picture of it online, and thinking it looked pretty cool. We did know it was located on a golf course, but whether it would be locked from entering, or whether the property itself would be off limits to the public, we had no idea.

Slayton Tower is located at the Mt. Hood Memorial Golf Course in Melrose, Massachusetts, but the first thing we learned is that this is actually the Mt. Hood Memorial Park and Golf Course, and that a public trail system surrounds the course. We parked just north of First Pond, where a kiosk told us how to skirt around the greens to reach the tower. Since this was December and no golf was being played - plus the fact we somehow took a wrong turn and ran out of trail - we cheated across the grass and after about fifteen minutes found ourselves climbing the high point of the park, where the tower came into sight.

But before climbing up there were a few things we wanted to check out first. In a nearby sitting area is a memorial plaque and bench honoring Major Doak A. Weston USAAF. In 1945, the B-25 bomber Weston was piloting began breaking up in mid-air. Heroically, Weston was able to keep the plane aloft long enough for his entire crew to escape by parachute, then he sacrificed his own life by crashing the plane upon this very spot, purposely away from a nearby school and houses.

As evidence that not all humans have a soul, Weston's memorial was defaced with spraypaint several years ago. Happily, it has been perfectly restored.

We also found what we believe are remnants from the days this land was privately owned - this pair of fireplaces sitting in the trees about fifty feet from each other.

Then it was on to the tower. The front gate was open, although a padlock indicated it must be locked at certain times. Round and round, we climbed our way to the top.

During WWII Slayton was used as a lookout tower for German U-boats in the Boston Harbor. Today, if your camera has a decent zoom, you can get a pretty good picture of the city's skyline.

This is a tempting time of year to stay sprawled out on the couch with a Netflix lineup and thick blanket, but when you have such cool places to explore as the Slayton Tower, it's a little easier to get outside and brave the cold during these winter months here in New England.

Photo Courtesy of a Nice Young Lady With Her Two Boys

Links:
Mt. Hood Park Website

The Raymond Oven Cave, Raymond NH

In the north part of the town, about 100 rods from the principal road leading to Deerfield, near the summit of a hill about 100 feet high, is a natural excavation in a ledge, called the Oven, from the appearance of its mouth. It is a regular arch about five feet high and of the same width, extending into the hill about fifteen feet, and terminating in a number of fissures.

- 1849, Gazatteer of New Hampshire

This 170 year old description of a cave hidden within a cliffside in Raymond, NH was more recently popularized in Clay Perry's 1946 book, Underground Treasures of New England". But when I first began my search for it, not a single clue to its location existed online. In fact, the only place that offered any information on it whatsoever was the letters section of the 1998 Northeastern Caver, Vol 29 No 3, in which the author had been told the cave was thought to be lost to construction. This was only a rumor, but with nothing else to go on I back-burner any further thinking about it. Then I was sent a picture by a talented fellow explorer named Chris, showing me that the cave actually did exist, and I was challenged to see if I could find it.

My first attempt started by identifying the principal road in the Gazatteer's description. From Raymond to Deerfield the obvious choice was Route 107, and I hoped this had been the case in 1849 as well. Next, Google then told that 100 rods equaled a third of a mile, so I took a drive looking for any cliffs within sight of the road, and start by exploring those. I spent an enjoyable afternoon in the woods that day, but the only interesting thing I came across was this abandoned motorcycle frame.

After looking again at Chris' picture, it seemed as if the cave had been formed by a waters flow. The Lamprey River runs parallel to Route 107, so for my next attempt I focused on undeveloped areas along the water's edge. A couple of weekend searches turned up several cool finds, but nothing that involved me crawling underground.

I wouldn't call this log cabin elaborate, but somebody put a good deal of effort into building it, even furnishing the inside with some rudimentary decorations.

My wife had joined me on this search, and the look on her face at this moment is one of both humor and disbelief. She had leaned over the well to have a peek inside, when her sunglasses dropped off her head and fell in. The good news was that it wasn't a real well - the glasses were just sitting there on the ground - but the bad news was that "man-eating spiders" prevented her from reaching inside to get them. Always the hero, I brushed aside a couple of daddy long-legs and retrieved the glasses for her.

By now we'd exhausted this section of town, so the next search was focused around a rocky ledge I'd pinpointed using Google Earth - north of 27 and west of 107. I parked where a trail followed power lines toward this ledge, then spent yet another afternoon scouring the woods. Again I came up empty, but this time I was so convinced I had the right area that I returned a week later with friends to do it again. We still didn't find it, but my camera got a good workout with all the other treasures we did come across.

Deeper in we found a few structures that I assume are used by hunters.

As we wandered the remains of a frisbee golf course, there was a very impressive stone picnic table.

But by the end of the day I was forced to admit that, although these woods held an abundance of cool things, this wasn't the right location for the cave, either. Back to Google Earth I went, and looking to the east this time I found a rocky location that was exactly a third of a mile from 107. The following weekend we were back at it, my sixth attempt to locate the Raymond Oven.

This ledge was separated from the road by a large marsh, leaving no direct route to reach it. We parked in a neighborhood on the opposite side, and after a 1.5 mile hike we found our second homemade cabin in the woods of Raymond.

When we reached the ledge our group of 5 split up, and the race was on. For all my frustrations and chasing dead ends in the weeks leading up to this point, my good fortune changed and I was the first to stumble upon the cave.

As with most legends, there was some exaggeration when it came to the Raymond Oven. As you can see by how I'm sitting in the opening, it is probably half that height of the five feet described in the 1849 Gazatteer.

But it did go in a ways, and we each took turns crawling inside and having a look.

It was great day out in nature spending time with friends, and pretty cool to chase down something as historical and yet little-known as this. Our friends from WeRmudfun documented the adventure on video, so click on this link and join us as we find and explore the Raymond Oven, one of the great treasures of New Hampshire, hidden within its woods.