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Highlight Hiker Blog

White’s Lane Trail & John Kenrick Woods, Orleans, Massachusetts

August 17, 202

What do you want? You want wild life? You want forest? You want hidden treasures…? Or boats in a harbor? These two trail have it all for you within 5 miles and 62 (-ish) acres! Turtle habitat, high reeds, expansive pine forest and lavender against coastal shorelines all amid birds, bees and goats bleating from across a pond. Orleans Conservation Trust (OCT) has it all mapped out for you within driving distance of two remarkable trails!

I had decided to visit White’s Lane Trail for one reason, and one reason alone: turtles. Who doesn’t love turtles? You’ve got to be pretty hard-hearted to not love a baby turtle. But I digress. The trail here is less than 1 mile, so it doesn’t take long to explore the area, but what it has to offer is worth the short walk around. Long views that make you feel perfectly solitary, a very healthy backwater pond with a small farm at the west end with the sounds of chickens and goats filling the air, and tall wispy reeds as far as the eye can see in nearly every direction. This quiet little corner is a wonderful place to sit on a bench and find some peace. And it just so happens there IS a bench here where you can do just that!

While I was there, however, I came across a very kind and knowledgeable OCT volunteer named Chuck. I spent quite some time talking with Chuck about the turtle nests, how many there are on this property, where Mama Turtle currently resides, and what happens when baby turtles are born here (you’ll find all of the answers in the photo captions). He was a wealth of information and all smiles to be sharing with an interested party.

But despite the amount of time that I spent wandering and chatting with Chuck, I had another hour to myself before I had to meet the family so, and without hesitation, I hopped in the car and drove the short distance to John Kenrick Woods to amble around. Kenrick Woods is really delightful. Full of tall dark, fungal and lichen ensconced trees and clean fragrant pines, sun speckled waters and a few human surprises to round it out. I’ve been here before (more than once, actually) and I’m fairly sure it’s a slice of heaven. The downside…? You can always hear nearby traffic and sometimes an airplane overhead, but that doesn’t detract from the calm you feel in these woods.

Have fun following along with the photos! The colors and textures of the Cape are really remarkable. I tried to capture the essence of the place for you to enjoy!

Explore it

White’s Lane Trail

The parking lot is sizeable for the amount of trail you'll find. I imagine it's great for when the terrapins need to be transported. You can easily fit 5-6 cars here.

The OCT has done a remarkable job with the welcome kiosks. They are clean and the information is always up to date. No offense, New Jersey, but you could learn a thing or two from the OCT welcome kiosks!

Look at these great little trail maps at the kiosk!

And you know exactly where you are in Orleans, in case you decide to venture to another park.

No dogs allowed in the terrapin breeding area.

This place is really remote off of Henson's Way. Henson's Way is a single-car dirt lane: one way in and one way out.

There is a tiny little off shoot to the main trail that leads to the pollinator corner.

The reeds and grasses rise high above my head.

There was a meadow fire here and the OCT has been doing it's best to restore the area to it's natural state. They're really doing a beautiful job, if you ask me!

Pollinator corner (that's what I call it... it's not the official name).

BEE careful here and don't get too close. I didn't. That's a nice zoom I've got there!

The main trail is double wide and hard pack dirt and sand.

The turtle nests are protected from predators and checked on regularly by the OCT volunteers. Volunteers visit every day to look for clues that eggs have been buried. The eggs incubate between 60-90 days, and the volunteers will visit twice a day during that time frame. Mama turtle lives here between water and reeds. She is a force to be reckoned with among the predators of this grasses, such as raccoons, rabbits, and foxes.

The trail heads east and is really well cared for and clean. Very unlike New Jersey and New York, the general public is very considerate of the trails and don't create their own shortcuts within the habitat.

When the turtles come out of the sand, they are collected by the volunteers and taken to Wellfleet to the Mass Audubon to be counted, weighed, given a health check and recorded.

The River has a backwater pond here that the turtles love.

The little flagged cages marks a terrapin nest. The babies will be safe from predators within the cages until after they have been collected and checked out by the people at Mass Audubon and returned to White's Lane Trail area to live out their lives. They won't go into the water until they are at least one year old.

Across the backwater pond lies a charming little farm and you can hear the animals clucking and bleating from the overlook.

The tiny wooded area is wind swept and some of the tree trunks have been partially chopped by an axe.

There is a plaque dedicated to the family that donated the land to the OCT.

The River can be seen from the high point of the trail.

It's a charming place regardless of the weather.

Here are the partially chopped trees. Odd, no?

The view of the backwater pond from the bench. It's quite a comfortable seat, that bench!

The trail headed back to the parking lot in the long afternoon light.

The road leads to a private residence. The OCT asks that you respect their privacy while you enjoy the land.

John Kenrick Woods

The parking lot for Kenrick woods has a capacity of up to 8 cars.

The opening of the trail has more dappled sunlight than the rest of the trail.

The trails aren't traditionally blazed, so maps are handy to have. Luckily, you can take a picture of the map at the welcome kiosk, or easily access the maps with your mobile device.

The trail on the south side of Namequiot Road is double wide, hard packed and covered with pine needles for the most part.

The south end trail widens even further when you come around a private residence.

The bark on the pines is deeply etched and colorful.

Outside of the house there is a treasure box. Go ahead! Open it up!

Inside you'll always find something special and usually from Lisa!

Thank you, Joy! I didn't find any of her inspiration rocks, though.

I'm guessing these are the rocks you can take with you/leave for someone else.

The woods get thicker as you travel south.

There is a side trail that goes down the hill, but wait to take that little trail until you're on your way back north.

This delightful tree trunk looks like a smiling cartoon duck, doesn't it?

This is the gateway to the southernmost end of Kenrick Woods Trail.

The hill loop on the south section is well worth the detour.

The trail splits again near the parking lot and heads northeast. This is the portion you want to take to get to Areys Pond.

The signage to the northern section is different from the signage you see elsewhere from the OCT. Coming from New Jersey and the AT region, I don't think the Cape knows ticks like I do! I thought the sign was very sweet.

The trees feel taller at the top of the hill on the northern end due to the slope, even though they really aren't.

Areys Pond feeds into the Namequiot River.

Areys Pond and its boat yard are picturesque.

A bench looks over a hill onto Namequiot River.

BONUS PHOTOS

Congratulations!

You made it to the super secret bonus section! On August 18, 2020 I went out for a sunset walk around Mill Pond, and took a few photos for you! I didn’t want to dedicate an entire page to it so…. SURPRISE!!