QUICK TRAIL FACTS
- Preserve Size: 4 acres
- Trail Mileage: 0.7 mile in network
- Pets: yes
- Difficulty: easy to moderate
- Sights: Nonesuch River, Ricker Brook
From the trailhead for Thurston Monument, on Watson Mill Road, you have two choices. Head north to walk a 0.2-mile blazed trail and check out the rapids of the Nonesuch River (whose falls can be particularly thunderous and dramatic after a rain storm!). At the trailhead, you can read a bit about the history of the mill and the family that operated it.
Or, cross the road to walk a 0.5-mile blazed trail (new as of 2024, I believe?), to the banks of Ricker Brook to check out more glinting rapids on a slightly tamer, but still very charming, waterway. The loop brings you to short spur with a view of Ricker Pond. (There was a difficult stream crossing when I visited in March, 2025. Perhaps a bridge will be built one day?)
Directions: There is a small pullover on the side of the road, big enough for about two or maybe three cars, on Watson Mill Road, just about 400 feet past Nonesuch Road if you’re driving west. The address is 95 Watson Mill Rd.
