July 18, 2023. Got up super early and drove down to Hawley, MA to visit this bog before the bugs woke up. This gorgeous National Natural Landmark is owned by The Nature Conservancy and Five Colleges, Inc (Mount Holyoke, Smith, Amherst, UMass Amherst, and Hampshire Colleges), and the extended boardwalk is nicely maintained. Even with all the recent rain, none of the planks were submerged.
The bog itself is a mat of peet thirty feet thick floating on a lake formed by a deep glacial scar. It’s a rare remaining unspoiled New England bog.
After you walk the trail/boardwalk and back (just over a half a mile round-trip), you can check out the adjacent trail (not pictured here) which celebrates the history of Hawley. The parking lot is the same for both trails.
