Emery Preserve East

Emery Preserve East is a long, narrow Plymouth property running roughly parallel to Ship Pond Road, with a footpath that crosses a slowly revegetating former gravel pit before climbing into the woods toward Cotton Pond. The trail winds up a hill that is part of the Ellisville Moraine, through pitch pine-scrub oak forest that starts to resemble genuine pine barrens, before descending through gray birch and aspen to the pond itself. Depending on the water level, you may find huckleberry along the shore, or the pond may simply be flooded up into the bushes -- either way, it is a nice quiet destination. The land was donated to Wildlands Trust in 1973 by several members of the Emery family.