A Trip to Sudbury & Concord Massachusetts
Why Not Explore My Own Back Yard?
This was a day trip we took on 14 Oct 2020… We headed down I-95 to Exit 26 and Jumped on Route 20, also known as Boston Post Road. This passes through Wayland and into Sudbury MA, but right before you leave Sudbury, you will see a right called Wayside Inn Road. (Take it!)
Wayside Grist Mill, Sudbury Massachusetts
All the way here we saw striking reds and oranges that kept forcing my attention from the road, BUT we still made it to the Wayside Grist Mill with no accidents. I need to do a full history of this place but this article on Sudbury and Concord has a short write-up on the grist mill… (It’s not as old as it looks)
I photographed lots of different angles, and while I would love to show all of them off, it might make more sense to visit my Instagram page to see my walk around the gristmill or my Youtube feed for travel in New England. But one thing that isn’t in there is the Wayside Martha-Mary Chapel which is just down the road.
This is also not as old as you would think. and you can walk from the parking area at the grist mill to here in just a few minutes.
Walden Pond, Concord Massachusetts
We drove next up Route 126 in Wayland to Walden Pond in Concord Massachusetts. It was a very scenic drive past 18th-century homes and needless to say lots of fall colors. We pulled into the parking lot and paid our $8 parking fee (and a Park Ranger was checking for parking passes). You can see my foliage report on Instagram by clicking the link.
We walked across the road and followed the path into the woods. It’s pretty simple to follow the signs to the original site of Thoreau’s cabin where he spent 2 years creating his novel, Walden. You can watch my report on Authors Ridge here on Instagram..
We soon left Walden and Mr. Thoreau behind and headed to Concord and our final stop of the Day. We decided after visiting with Henry David Thoreau that we would continue our “author fall foliage tour” by heading to…
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and Author’s Ridge
We headed into Picturesque Concord Massachusetts and had a quick lunch at Helen’s. They serve breakfast all day as well as lunch and ice cream. We highly recommend it. Then back in the car for the 1-2 minute drive up Route 62 from the circle in the center of town.
You can see my foliage report on Instagram by clicking the link.
The four authors of Authors Ridge are Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. All are surrounded by their families and were sporting little pumpkins, pens, and Pencils. I bet each of these authors would have rather had some paper to write on because pens and pencils are useless otherwise… (Sofia Hawthorne is the only one who was creative enough to not need paper. (she used her diamond ring, do you want to hear that story?)
We headed home at this point after a modest 82 miles. I hope you are out enjoying your fall foliage trips to local orchards, or trails through the woods. We haven’t had many other things to do this fall and of course, many of you are just staying home and enjoying my reports on what I am finding…
So Have a wonderful Foliage Day!
Jeff Foliage Folger
Autumn is a state of mind more than a time of year – Jeff Foliage
- Visit my Fine Art America Gallery
- Visit my Amazon store to pick up New England-related materials
- Visit my Pictorem Gallery (Free shipping in the US and Canada)
- My Facebook foliage page
- Threads.net/@Jeff_Foliage
- Follow our new Fall Foliage FB Group!
- You can visit Lisa’s Artist Facebook Page by clicking here
Beautiful photos! You have captured the heart and soul of my hometown. Sudbury has never looked so lovely! Thank you!
Beautiful photos! You have captured the heart and soul of my hometown. Sudbury has never looked so lovely! Thank you!
Thank you for the authors tour you did on the 14th. Yesterday was indeed a beautiful fall day. We went to Hammonasette State Park in CT. to ride bikes. There was some decent color along the road. However the color is fairly faded from the early reds and the rain of a week or so ago. I have been noticing that the maple trees that are still mostly gerrn are beginning to show some yellow/orange with tinges of red in the Meriden area. However there are still many green trees. This seems unusual to me. I love your reports and have forwarded them several times to friends and relatives. This year folks including us are mostly not traveling. We did take a ride last week on Route 7 to Mt. Greylock. The color we saw was pretty dull and sparce. The crowds however were plentiful. There was a hour wait to get to the top. Needless to say we turned around for the long drive back down the mountain. We normally try to get to VT and or NH in the fall to see the leaves, but that means staying overnight so we gave it a pass this year and hope that we can make it next year. I keep all your destination and stopping places for our annual trips up north. Thanks for that. Also I recently bought a bunch of masks with your photos. They have been given to several people who love them.
I’m guessing you are down in Meridian CT? I see someone bought a bunch in that area around the 1st of Oct. The problem with the still green trees lies with the temps. From Mass down to CT and RI, the temps have stayed warm with only a few chilly nights. so I call this a slow burn effect.
Up north from southern NH/Vermont they were receiving very chilly temps in mid-Sept so they in some areas were at peak by the 25th – 27th of Sept. We may be seeing color in CT in early November at this rate.
Thank you for the authors tour you did on the 14th. Yesterday was indeed a beautiful fall day. We went to Hammonasette State Park in CT. to ride bikes. There was some decent color along the road. However the color is fairly faded from the early reds and the rain of a week or so ago. I have been noticing that the maple trees that are still mostly gerrn are beginning to show some yellow/orange with tinges of red in the Meriden area. However there are still many green trees. This seems unusual to me. I love your reports and have forwarded them several times to friends and relatives. This year folks including us are mostly not traveling. We did take a ride last week on Route 7 to Mt. Greylock. The color we saw was pretty dull and sparce. The crowds however were plentiful. There was a hour wait to get to the top. Needless to say we turned around for the long drive back down the mountain. We normally try to get to VT and or NH in the fall to see the leaves, but that means staying overnight so we gave it a pass this year and hope that we can make it next year. I keep all your destination and stopping places for our annual trips up north. Thanks for that. Also I recently bought a bunch of masks with your photos. They have been given to several people who love them.
I’m guessing you are down in Meridian CT? I see someone bought a bunch in that area around the 1st of Oct. The problem with the still green trees lies with the temps. From Mass down to CT and RI, the temps have stayed warm with only a few chilly nights. so I call this a slow burn effect.
Up north from southern NH/Vermont they were receiving very chilly temps in mid-Sept so they in some areas were at peak by the 25th – 27th of Sept. We may be seeing color in CT in early November at this rate.