Swan Pond

One of the large beaver-created lakes that is too far from houses to create trouble for humans.

Beaver here are free to engineer as they wish.

Another lake in formation by beavers. It is true that beaver dams kill trees, but they also created great habitat for water birds and other water-dependent critters.

Swan Pond is a typical mix of evergreens, hardwoods, and many types of shrubs.

The forests are mixes of pines, maple, and oak.

The old stone walls at Swan Pond remind us that this was once all farmland.

There is a an understory of small pines below the canopy.

Look for some impressive boulders, glacial erratics, left by the ice age.

The large lake is not accessible and has many very large houses on its shores.

Some areas of the forest have just towering pines overhead.

Swan Pond in North Reading is a water supply lake, but is also a large natural area with many other ponds, wetlands, and great walking trails. While the big lake is off limits at least one of the other ponds has spectacular beaver activity where these critters are creating their own ponds and lakes.

More Resources:

There are no links to Swan Pond on the North Reading town website, nor from any others. The trails are listed in AllTrails, but not featured. But this is a lovely place.