Williamstown trust buys 55-acre Sheep Hill farmIn November, the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation completed a seven-year project with the purchase of the 55-acre Rosenburg farm, a former dairy farm with steep and dramatic fields that provides a scenic gateway into Williamstown.
The western boundary of the property is formed by Bee Hill Road, a town-designated scenic road which offers panoramic views to Mount Greylock, the Hoosac Range and the town center over the steep hillsides of the farm. Other assets of the property include a typical New England farmstead, with picturesque barns, an 1830s farmhouse and lush meadows. The land has an historic connection to downhill skiing, as this was the site of the first Williams College ski hill as well as one of the region's earliest mechanized rope tows. The Rural Lands Foundation plans to open the property to the public for year-round recreation and create a rural heritage and nature education center, as well as examine opportunities for some sort of agricultural component, as the former owner of the property wished. The property, known locally as Sheep Hill, abuts the WRLF's 20-acre Fitch Memorial Woodlands and access trails to the Taconic Crest Trail. The acquisition brings to six the number of properties owned by the WRLF.
One of those properties, a 35-acre parcel on Berlin Mountain, was the site of a trail project undertaken by Peter Jensen and his talented crew at Openspace Management. Dubbed a "mini-Stevens Glen," an expertly engineered wooden platform was built high above Haley Brook, affording hikers an unimpeded view of a small but attractive waterfall. The trail leading to the platform now boasts a wooden bridge, eliminating a muddy stream crossing. The Foundation gives its great thanks to Peter, and to the Fields Pond Foundation, which funded a major portion of this project. Both the Sheep Hill property and the new waterfall trail will be formally dedicated later this spring.
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