June 1, 2019 – The Bradley Estate – Massachusetts

Somehow this blog posted before I finished it so I have deleted that, and here is the final blog posting…

Yesterday Shadow, Wilma, and I Adventured to The Bradley Estate in Canton, Massachusetts.  The Bradley Estate was inherited by Doctor Arthur Tracy Cabot before being acquired by his niece Eleanor Cabot Bradley in 1945.  It is a 90 acre property that includes the estate, fields, woodlands, and gardens.  The Estate is a popular location for weekend weddings.  It is owned and managed by the Trustees of Reservations.

We had a peaceful Adventure to The Bradley Estate.  We arrived to find the property almost empty from visitors.  There was as $5 parking fee, but yet our admission was free due to our Trustee membership!  I had researched the property ahead of time so had known that dogs were not allowed in the formal gardens, but were permitted on the trails.  We decided to head over to the front of the Estate to take some photographs.  There were flowers of varied colors along the paved road, many with unique shades.  I took numerous photos before soon arriving at the Estate.  The Estate was lovely with gardens on either side.  Although there were no “no dog” signs I decided not to venture too far adjacent to the property unclear of the forbidden boundaries.  Instead we then veered over to the trails and began on our hike.

I was quite pleased to find some more flowers along the trail, many adorning the rocks.  This provided quite the picturesque scene. There were Azalea’s, Rhododentron, wildflowers and more.  We wandered past what appeared to be a farm, and some fields before heading into the woods.  The trails were simple, but tranquil, birds chirping, and an occasional smells of fragrant flowers flooding the air.  There were several moments when the sounds of busy roads overtook the nature walk, however overall it was quite serene.  The trails were not labeled, and somewhat confusing but having studied the map before our journey I figured I was in the right general direction.  At one point we arrived at the back of the Estate, a nice surprise along the way.  This helped me to know we were on the right track to our trip home.

Throughout our hike Shadow and Wilma often trotted side by side seeming to be energized on this beautiful morning.   Some of my favorite parts of the trails were:  the colorful flowers along the path, the bright greens of spring, the tall ferns on the trail, and a rustic fence along the way.  So as you may guess this is yet another property I discovered through the Trustees of Reservations.  Although I was bummed that we could not explore the gardens, we definitely had a lovely Adventure to the Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate (Rating:  3).