Shady forested hike plus wandering around the garden displays and the Butterfly House at Davidson’s Mill Pond park.
There were always a few short trails at this park but they weren’t in a loop, or that long, and the map showed a lot of fields… so we’d never gotten around to stopping by.
Somewhere along the way I noticed a new trail, Hidden Pond, was added to the map and also a butterfly house was marked in the center of the field.
We finally got around to checking it out this past winter. It was nice so we planned to swing by again when the trees were green.
For detailed hike directions visit our main “Davidson’s Mill Pond Park” page.
We hiked a loop around the perimeter, which took in Davidson’s Mill Pond and another pond, all within a shady forest. Hidden Pond had a lot of plank boardwalks.
Overall, a very enjoyable short hike. Back at the main paved path, we swung left instead of heading back to the car.
The path leads to the field in the center of the park, and a sign points everything out:
We wandered around the garden displays…
And then over to the Butterfly House:
This small tent is filled with plants and butterflies – some flitting around and others in the chrysalis stage or as plump caterpillars noshing on milkweed (the only thing they can eat).
Volunteers/master gardeners inside can explain about the butterfly’s life cycle, migration, and whatnot.
The monarchs are released into the park so there will likely be lots hanging around in the next few weeks (like mid-August).
Then they migrate to Mexico to bask on the beach and sip margaritas through tiny little straws all winter long.
The Butterfly House is open on weekends in the summer, and is a fun addition to a hike.
After this we wandered back over to the pond to check out the waterfall over the dam:
We then walked over to the Farrington Lake Trail right nearby to get in some more miles.
This trails runs right along an area that we like to kayak so it’s interesting to see it from another angle.
Combining the two parks equals about 4.5 easy miles, plus a little extra wandering around the fields.