Went back this morning for all the side-paths. The azaleas were pretty much past, the rhododendrons were in a mixed state - some past, some in bloom, some just budding. The lady slippers are in full bloom, including one cluster of more than two dozen near the upper pond (I usually see them as solitary flowers). Unfortunately, the poison ivy is out too, so be careful if you wander off the main trails.

The map shows a long side trail on the southwest side, which doesn’t seem to exist anymore. At any rate, it’s overgrown with rhododendrons at both ends. If I need a machete to find the trail, it’s not a trail anymore.

On the southwest side, there’s an extensive ropes course, which you should probably avoid when it’s in use.

I should have mentioned that the whole 65 acres is surrounded by a 6ft chain link fence, with two locked gates at the north end. On the south end, there’s a gap large enough to drive a bike through, leading down to Rabbit Pond and the Missionary memorial marker (the school was originally the Andover Theological Seminary).

Went back today to try and find the trail south of Regency Ridge Road, out to the Sunset Rock Road extension. No sign of it, but behind a stand of small pines at the end of the Carter Lane pavement, I found a few Andover Conservation Commission trail markers, in the middle of the trackless forest. After a while, even these stopped, as if they had given it up for a bad job. Let me be clear: not only is there not a trail there, there has never been a trail there, just swamp, poison ivy, ticks, and mosquitoes.

I did bush-whack out to Sunset Rock Road, which is a clear track (not a residential road as indicated from the MassGIS import). It’s also overgrown and blocked with deadfall, especially at the northern end. In fact, there’s a large tree that seems to have been deliberately felled across the track. On the whole, this outing was an epic failure.

OTOH, I did go back to the Regency Ridge Road turn-around, and found the other trail-head. That trail appears abandoned (also blocked with deadfall in a couple places), and ends in the back yard of a newish house (and picks up on the other side, as I found yesterday). I don’t know if the trail crossed private property before, or if the yard encroaches on town land. In any case, it was a small and not very significant addition to the map, but I’m a completist.

I don’t know if it’s the speed at which the horse is going, or how the Garmin is positioned, but I never seem to get the best track logs on horseback. (Good, but not best.) There’s not a lot of extra space on the saddle, but I can try playing with positioning. And I just remembered that I have a belt clip for the phone.