noanet woodlands

A truly unique and beautiful hiking/walking experience in the town of Dover. Multiple trails, so grab a map...at the beginning...sometimes there are no brochures, so just be sure you remember where you have hiked and how to get back. Some rocky areas, so dress appropriately. Some amazing views at certain spots. Some wonderful photo ops as well, especially in summer and fall. Parking is available, but be forewarned...it's also parking for the playground and at times, it can be full. Love to walk here with friends and family when in the area..relaxing, calm, and serene. Always feel revived after a hike in Noanet Woodlands. You will too!

Not really. It is so quiet and peaceful I want token the place to my self. You can go miles and not see anyone or you can walk 20 yards and run into someone you knew 20 years ago. Great for dogs - especially those that love mud.

Miss Peabody owned this land, along with Powisset Farm. She was a delightful old woman who used lorgnets, loved Border Collies, and horses, and of course, farms. She donated Noanet Woodlands to the public. Would there were many more Peabodys around. Don't make them like that anymore.The Noanet Woodlands are beautiful - a favorite walk and cross country ski trail in the Winter. One of the most magical skies I took was through the familiar trails and beyond, through some hemlocks, and out to a fence, where a scene met my eyes that has remained imprinted on my memory. It was of a broad field with golden grasses rising above the snow, a copse of trees beyond, and a farmhouse. I had never seen it before, not in all my walks in those woods, and in fact, I have never seen it again.There are peaks there from which you can see the skyline of Boston. All the way from Dover??! Yes. It's beautiful. The lakes and the waterfall never cease to amaze me. All the stonework that went into that waterfall. One can imagine the mill wheel slowly turning and grinding. A lot of history in there. Why do I always have to ask for directions out? Three reasons: 1) I am not the swiftest at knowing where I am. Woods are woods, are woods.; 2) The trails could end up anywhere (which makes me worry). One could literally exit several miles from where one parked the car. It would be a long walk back by road, believe me. 3) the Hale Reservation abuts Noanet Woods, which increases the complexity, as you would have to have a Hale map in hand, along with a Noanet map in order to find your way out. (Hint: I never have a Hale map). But, I must admit, I love the adventure of never finding my car again. I once walked with my 15 year old nephew in those woods and told him to watch carefully as I could never find my way out. He cheerfully said, "don't worry, my Dad never knows where he is, but he says that if you just keep walking eventually you find the way back." I have no idea why this comforted me at the time, but it did - and we did find our way out! Hurrah!Go there. You'll like it. P.S., Horses poop too, not just dogs, and it is more likely that you'll step in horse poop than dog poop. If you step in either, the process of ridding yourself of it is the same. :-)

This is a wonderful, peaceful network of walking, hiking and mountain biking trails in the center of Dover, MA. A little oasis that features a few small ponds, soft earthen paths and a few very challenging rock climbs. The highest peak affords a beautiful view of the Boston skyline. A haven for dogs and horses (watch out for those piles of horse poop!)

Nice hiking space in the Boston area when you don’t feel like driving hours to the Berkshires. Based on the location, it was fairly crowded during the weekend and thus any chance of seeing wildlife is erased. A visit during the week may be more rewarding. There are many trails, almost too many and the trail numbering system is a bit confusing. I think more time was spent reading the map than enjoying the trails. As advertised, there is a distant view of the Boston skyline but it is pretty underwhelming. That said, it is still a nice woodlands area to easily hike around and get back to nature. The Trustees have good taste with their properties and we enjoy them all.There is a large parking lot and a single port-o-john. There is a map display and map box (which was empty) so I would recommend printing one before you head out. Also pack your insect repellant.

If you want to spend an afternoon out of doors, there is no better place than Noanet Woods. Very picturesque, and most of the trails are easy walking. Don't miss the high spot with a view of downtown Boston. Print out a map (in color) ahead of time or take a picture of the map at the edge of the parking lot, as it's very easy to get lost.

There are trails for hiking, mountain biking and horseback. Dogs allowed but not on all trails. Outhouses at parking lot with maps. Trails not well marked. You can spend an hour or most of the day. And it is free.

this spot is hard to find. Make sure to type Caryl park dedham street on gps. and take the 2nd parking lot ahead on the road. if you take the 1st parking, you might join the trails inbetween and get confused. in the 2nd you will find the board in the left corner of noanet woodlands. there are many trails and you can even grab maps below the board. we took the red trail and joined the yellow leading us to noanet peak and then joined the red back to exit. took us 1hr. it was easy but got moderate near the peak. this trail is most popular and you can get to see the dam site with the waterfall, the pond and the peak with boston skyline view in far distance. but still a very nice hike. the trails are well maintained even though unpaved and well marked. make sure to stay on track. no restroom,just the porto potty. bikes are allowed to certain point only,not to peak. overall a nice time in nature. just at 2-3miles is the Hale reservation,rocky woods again trustees property.you can take time to visit them also. also there's a farm on route to noanet,didnt go but looked good.

Wonderful area in which to walk, cross-country ski, mountain bike (not in spring). My family hikes there several times a year. The trails are varied and well marked, even in the snow. There are hills, ponds, a dam, A great place to spend an afternoon.

We went for a hike here on a beautiful Saturday, and although we had some problems finding it initially, we were very glad we did. You have to enter through Caryl Park, but there is parking for about 40 cars (although this Park is also home to tennis/basketball camps, so if it's a busy time for lessons, etc., the parking disappears quickly).There is a map of the available trails, and there are quite a few to chose from -- some that walk to ponds, one to a dam and one to the "peak." The loop to/from the peak is quick and not very steep at all, so it'd be great for folks of all ages/health levels and there is a view of the Boston skyline from there. Because of the recent rain a lot of the trails were flooded, but I imagine this is not an issue for most of the year.Regarding the "dog-friendly" aspect -- we did see quite a few dogs, all off-leash, but they were well-behaved and dog waste wasn't an issue as far as we saw. Hopefully people have just been better at picking up after their pets lately.Looking forward to returning with a picnic lunch sometime soon!

I'm there most nights after work. You can always count on lots of friendly dogs and nice people to run into. A million trails lots to see.

Marvelous trails for riding, hiking, and dog walking. Not too busy. Limited parking. Take a map -- there are 17 miles of trails and you could get lost (the trail marking is excellent). Recent improvements include marking several loops that are self-contained smaller hikes (say, 2 miles each). Beautiful trees and terrain, large ponds and waterfalls -- you won't believe you are surrounded by a (quiet) town. It is hilly if you go off the main trails -- the best way to get a view of Boston. Owned and well maintained by The Trustees of Reservations.

Located on approx. 600 acres of land the Noanet Woodlands offers 17 miles of trails good for walking, cross-country skiing, or snowshoeing. There are 4 trails that have colored markings and are very easy to follow. The trails overlap in some areas so you can go from one trail to another and not get lost. There are the remains of an old mill site that you can see and you can go the the top of Noanet Peak and get a good view of Boston. The Noanet Woodlands was listed in the Boston Globe as being a great place to hike around the Boston area so we decided to try it while on vacation. Living in a very populated area of Massachusetts we found this to be a nice break. When we first started out on the trails there were alot of people and yes, lots of dogs (no dog doo doo). The further in that we went the less people we saw. We got to a point where we walked for an hour or so and didn't see anyone and talk about peace and quiet. The only sounds were birds. Some of the areas on the trails were very pretty. We didn't go up Noanet Peak to see the view of Boston. This was the only area of the trail that we found confusing so we missed it. The admission is free and I forgot to mention that there is a port-o-potty in the parking lot. My husband and I both really enjoyed the Noanet Woodlands and I would recommend visiting it.

We read a Globe article on good places to hike and this sounded great. We also read some great reviews on other sites that raved about it. One of the bonuses mentioned by reviewers was that it is very dog friendly. We're dog lovers so that was fine with us and we went hoping to have a nice Sunday morning hike. We immediately noticed that there was dog doo doo EVERYWHERE!!!!! We kept going down the trail awhile thinking, well maybe this is just at the beginning of the trail and it'll get better , but after about a half mile of having to slowly move along staring intently at the ground to try to avoid the piles of poop, we gave up and turned around. I can only imagine the smell and the flies in the summer. I would have thought people would be a little more courteous and pick up after their dogs. The dogs we love, the dog owner's...... another story.