Sherman Marsh and Carolyn O’Brien Peninsula Preserve, Newcastle

This trail is an unexpected delight! You can park on the side of Dodge Road, slightly before you get to the trail, or you can pull into the trail (a worn old road), and park to the side. There is not very much parking at all, perhaps space just for one, maybe two cars.

You then follow an overgrown road that can be quite muddy in the springtime. At roughly .5 mile, you’ll come to a wooden sign pointing west for the Carolyn O’Brien preserve. (If you go in the direction of the sign, you’ll follow faded path to a brook, but it’s hard to see where it goes after that.) On the main road, just a few feet before the O’Brien sign, you’ll see a footpath headed on your right marked with an orange triangle. It heads up to a wonderful high ridge covered in juniper. You can take this footpath to make a two-mile loop, or continue on the road. 

If you do continue on the main road, you’ll walk another .6 or so miles before the road turns into the looped footpath. From here, the walk gets really lovely, with views over the marsh. 

Directions: Parking for the peninsula trail is a pull-off on Dodge Road, just a few hundred feet east of Middle Road, 0.8 miles from Route 1. Park just into the woods road, but do not block access. There’s limited room here—maybe enough space, barely, for two cars.