Welcome Bent Water as a '23 NEMBA Regional Sponsor

Within eyeshot of the Manning St. terminus of the Mass Central Rail Trail in Holden is the main entrance of Trout Brook Reservation. The 660 acre parcel, along with the abutting White Oak LCS area, are a popular hiking and fishing destination. While less known for mountain biking, the rocky trails are frequented by locals and make up a respectable portion of the overall singletrack in Holden.

Trout Brook itself is fed from the north by a smaller tributary called Ball Brook. Travelers on the Bob Elms (aka “Blue Dot”) trail, so named for a beloved local scout leader, from either direction would typically begin descending into a soupy mess well before reaching Ball Brook. The stream-crossing itself being a patchwork of unstable, improvised bridges prone to being relocated by seasonal floods. This is where some local riders saw an opportunity.

Empowered by Wachusett NEMBA's local team initiative, Mike Wilander, Anthony Craig and Jason Magoon, all of Holden, hatched an ambitious plan to span nearly 100 feet of brook and bog in the spring of 2020. Not knowing where to start Wilander simply sent an email to Holden's conservation agent. The trio soon found themselves before the Holden Conservation Commission with their proposal. 

According to Craig “It took a while to cultivate a relationship with the agent and commission. Once we got approval... the project moved quickly.” After receiving the Commission's approval to proceed, the group headed into the woods with Wachusett chapter president Brett Russ and Holden Con-Comm agent Glenda Williamson to formalize their plan and make a decision about a persistently wet section of the existing trail. "The three of us were a bit torn about whether it was better to revitalize the original section of the trail or reroute around it" said Wilander. The group came to agreement on legitimizing a nascent trail which had emerged to bypass the difficult section. The Commission agreed with their plan and the project headed on to phase two.

Spanning Ball Brook required an application for "Request for Determination of Applicability" with Mass DEP. This is a formal process for determining whether or not a site is bound by the Wetlands Protection Act. Approval for the project was granted by the DEP in the fall of 2021. With that approval in hand and winter fast approaching a call went out to the Wachusett chapter for a work day.