Peabody Mill Environmental Center StoryWalk

The Peabody Mill Environmental Center is an environmental and science education center that sits on the edge of the huge Joe English Conservation Land. They offer endless programs engaging the community with nature along with many options for trails to explore on your own. One of my favorite spots to visit is their StoryWalk. It ends at their picturesque pond which is a great place to relax and explore.

Peabody Mill Environmental Center’s StoryWalk Trail

Established in 2016 as a Girl Scout Silver Award project, the easy and shaded trail meanders through the woods and over a few interesting bridges. The forest quickly surrounds you without you ever actually going very far.

The start of the trail is at the edge of the woods across from the Peabody Mill Environmental Center building and the end is a bridge by the pond. If you start at the wrong end, the story won’t make any sense! We did it backwards the first time and as a crew with me as their clueless leader, we spent a good few pages confused. [A flower has been eaten, who do you think has been here?] [Next station: A mud dauber wasp!] (??) I believe my exact words were, “….I don’t think that’s right?” Expressed with no confidence whatsoever. Moving on…

The trail is an easy walk but thanks to lots of roots I would not classify it as stroller friendly. There are many portions of the trail that are wide open. If you have explorers on your crew, this might be the perfect spot for you to really take your time!

There are multiple cool bridges to cross over and relaxing spots to watch the water. If you visit regularly, it would be a fun exercise to observe how rain & weather affect how the river flows.

Peabody Mill Environmental Center’s StoryWalk Story

Unlike some other StoryWalk’s that are updated frequently, this book selection looks to be fairly permanent. The featured book is Lindsay Barrett George’s In the Woods: Who’s Been Here? The book follows two children for a walk around and challenges the reader to guess what animals/insects have been living there. It always provokes some great discussions on our crew.

Grown-up Heads Up: One of the situations involves a goshawk killing a blue jay and another has a family of red foxes eating a woodchuck. Weathering has conveniently obscured the pictures.

Post-walk Picnic

At the end of the StoryWalk the trail takes you over one last bridge and you pop out of the woods in a grassy clearing by the pond. There are great pockets of shade – or warm sunny spots in the cold months! – to set down a blanket and have a post-walk picnic. There is a little trail that makes it possible to walk a complete loop around the little pond and see it from every angle. The little dock is a great place to see out over the water and observe all the living creatures that call it home.

Lots of trails to explore around Peabody Mill Environmental Center and Joe English!

Peabody Mill Environmental Center: StoryWalk Trail Quick Facts