New Marlborough artist Nanci Worthington will lead a workshop on nature journaling Bartholomew’s Cobble to capture what you see, hear and feel on paper.
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rare outcrop of quartzite and marble along the Housatonic River nurtures more than 800 kinds of plants. Bartholomew’s Cobble shelters one of the greatest diversities of ferns in North America. As many as 50 varieties of wildflowers grow here, warm and protected between the rock and the river.
Trillium, dutchman’s breeches, wild columbine and more bloom in April and May, when sunlight warms the forest floor, before the trees open their leaves to shade it. Migrating birds pass through in spring and early fall, and the ferns peak in June.
The visitors’ center is open year-round, and five miles of walking trails cross 329 acres along the river, through hemlock forest and along beaver ponds to Hurlburt Hill. The Cobble is a Trustees of Reservations property, and in the warmer half of the year naturalists often canoe on the river. In winter they have been known to lead snowshoe treks with hot chocolate or walk up the hill in the full moon. You can expand this link below for a trail map.
Courtesy of Trustees of Reservations
Bartholomew's Cobble trail map
Yellow violets have caught the eye of travelers since Greek and Roman days. Photo by Kate Abbott
Hepatica bloom early in the spring woods. Photo by Kate Abbott
Dutchman's Breeches cover the rocks at Bartholomew's Cobble.
Cutleaf Toothwort offer a place for butterflies to lay eggs. Photo by Kate Abbott
The Housatonic River curves in an oxbox around limestone at Bartholomew's Cobble in Sheffield.
Limestone cobbles support a wide diversity of wildflowers and ferns at Bartholomew's Cobble in Sheffield.
