Paskamansett Woods
Donor: Granted to DNRT by Gary and Jo-Ann Bouchard as part of Open Space Residential Design (OSRD) development.
Acreage : 11.2 acres
Location : Chase Road | View Google Map
Year Acquired : 2015
Access Point : Parking area and trailhead is located on east side of Chase Road, just south of intersection with Old Westport Road and across from Gene Street.
Volunteer Steward: Carol Flack
Please note: There is no access through the “Gidley Farm” entrance on Tucker Road. A small trailhead near Idlewood Avenue is the only public access off Tucker Road and requires parking on Idlewood Avenue and then carefully crossing Tucker Road (see map). The Chase Road entrance is by far the best entrance. The vast majority of the trails (as well as the stone bridge) are on privately owned land and open to the public only by the generosity of the owners. Please be respectful and please do not go past the pond into the laneway between the fields! Please refer to the map. If a trail is not marked on the map, do not take the trail!
Description
The 11-acre Paskamansett Woods Reserve, along with a trail easement on a portion of Gidley Woods, provides trail access from Chase Road to the historic “Kings Highway” granite bridge over the Paskamansett River. Paskamansett Woods includes a pine-dominated woodland and a small man-made pond that provides excellent wildlife habitat. DNRT acquired the property in 2015.
Gidley Farm and Gidley Woods are privately owned and maintained as an active farm and a wildlife preserve. DNRT holds a Conservation Restriction on 45 acres along both sides of the Paskamansett River, and the farmland is permanently protected with an Agricultural Preservation Restriction. The owners, who are 12th generation Tucker-Gidley descendants, generously allow visitors to use the marked trails, which lead from Paskamansett Woods across the bridge (with same rules as DNRT trails).
