Follow the Trail with Bill Reid,
The Last Green Valley's Chief Ranger
Migrating Marvels and Bird Identification
They returned to our forests and fields right on time. Despite the chilly temperatures in May, there can be no escaping the turn of the seasons and our annual trip around the sun. The earth warms, green leaves unfold to face the life-giving sun, and…
Ceremonial Lithic Stonework of Southern New England
It’s nearly impossible to walk in our region’s forests and not encounter surface rocks and stones. The Laurentide Ice Sheet, the principal glacial cover of much of North America during the Pleistocene Epoch, began to melt some 20,000 years ago. By 12,000 years ago it…
Outdoor Adventures with Ranger Bill — Enjoying West Thompson Lake
In The Last Green Valley we are fortunate to have several U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) project areas. I have hiked and paddled at each one and they provide an amazing resource for the public to enjoy. They were built in the last century…
Exploring April and National Arbor Day
“I picked one up and studied it – a delicate, luminous, fringed flower fallen from a red maple that grew alongside the trail. I looked out across the lake and spotted a stand of red maples, reddish-tinged trees that are always doing something red –…
Ranger Bill’s Outdoor Adventures – Tinkerville Brooke in Ashford, CT
One of my favorite hikes is Tinkerville Brook in Ashford, CT. It is one of many properties owned by Joshua’s Trust and was recommended to me by their executive director Mike Hveem. The first time I visited the property was with my wife Julie, and…
Exploring March and International Forest Day
I believe every month holds its beauty and wonders, but if we are honest March can be a greater challenge when searching for those bright spots. It is considered one of the dreariest months on the calendar. As we inch towards spring, the winter of…
How to Catch a Snowflake
“Silently, like thoughts that come and go, the snowflakes fall, each one a gem.” William Hamilton Gibson Wintertime tends to bring out the kid in me, or rather brings back so many snowy winter memories from long ago that remind me of when I was…
Exploring February: A Snow Moon, Black History Month & A Winter Walk Among Bare Trees
Today we’ll experience the full moon of February, called the Snow Moon since February is typically our snowiest month of the year. After a relatively snowless January, I am hopeful the Snow Moon brings a bit more of the white stuff. I enjoy tracking animals…
Outdoor Adventures with Ranger Bill – Old Furnace State Park
A beautiful 2.5 mile loop hike One of my favorite locations for a quick hike is Old Furnace State Park in Killingly. I have organized hikes there for TLGV and family outings and for good reason. With a location close to I-395 it’s easily accessible…
An Outdoor Adventure with Ranger Bill – Pixie Falls January 2023
If you’re looking for a nice winter hike to a unique location let me suggest the Blue-Blazed Nipmuck Trail in Ashford to Pixie Falls. The falls are created by Boston Hollow Road Brook as it drops about 40 feet in elevation, tumbling around rocks and…
Exploring January: Bald Eagle Month in The Last Green Valley
“The solstice past, the year tends toward Spring. But you would never know it. The old saying, ‘days lengthen, cold strengthens,’ is proved in January,” writes Hal Borland in “Beyond Your Doorstep: A Handbook to the Country.” Happy New Year The solstice Dec. 21 was…
Christmas Traditions in New England
“Most Americans observed Christmas – their modern descendants’ most lavish and commercialized holiday season – on a smaller scale, or not at all. Presbyterians, Baptists and Congregationalists, whose Calvinist heritage remained strong, traditionally ignored Christmas completely. It was a day when farmers slaughtered hogs and…