Boston Hollow
Encyclopedia
Boston Hollow is a deep ravine
in Ashford, Connecticut
. It is a unique location in several ways. In geological
terms it is an ancient fault
in the Avalonia
n bedrock
of the eastern highlands
of Connecticut
. Although there are many faults in this region, none is as deeply cleft, well pronounced, nor well preserved as this hollow.
to Hartford
.
The road follows a nearly straight course through the bottom of the hollow beside a little, unnamed brook for about two thirds of its passage. Then the brook peters out and a height of land is achieved. Continuing along the road towards the northeast, another swath in the ground forms but this is rarely filled with water. The second gully
leads into a swamp at the end of the hollow. Near the end of the hollow a ten acre (4 ha) parcel of land is situated. This land has an inactive gravel pit against the hollow wall. The only house in the area is located just past this land. The brook and the second swath as well as the house and the private land are all on the west side of the hollow.
at the southern head, and 600 feet (180 m) at the swamp at the northern exit. The height of land is about 700 feet (210 m) above sea level. The hollow defined by the distance the road passes through its bottom is nearly one mile (1.6 m) long. The elevation change through the bottom of the hollow is therefore quite gradual. The width of the base from wall to wall varies from 100 to 500 feet (30 to 150 m).
On the west side there are swampy and stagnant wetlands through much of the course of the hollow brook as the water flow is too little and the incline is too slight to adequately drain the area. On either side of the low land the walls of the hollow rise swiftly. On the west side they rise most steeply to a height of about 850 feet (260 m). The elevation gain is so rapid that a hike up the steep faces is in fact a climb. Towards the middle-northern end of the western hollow the wall is sheer rock for spaces of more than twenty feet (6 m) vertically and these overhangs are at such an incline that they form concave overhangs beneath which angular blocks of fallen stone
lie. The top of the west ridge is undulating with there being several extant peaks
or heights. This massif
has no proper name.
On the east side the hollow wall rises directly from the road. This wall is steep but there is less exposed ledge than there is on the west side. After a relatively short distance of grave incline the hill rises less steeply. This hill is given the appellation Turkey Hill. However, Turkey Hill attains a greater height than the west ridge
, reaching higher than 950 feet (290 m) above sea level. There are several pond-like swamps on the plateau
of Turkey Hill.
The property that contains the hollow is part of the Yale-Myers Forest
. This is a 7,800 acre (32 km²) forest owned by Yale University
and used for teaching and scientific research as well as commercial timber production. There is also land owned by Hull Forest Products of Pomfret, CT in the area but this is not in the hollow proper. The Yale-Myers Forest is private land, but it is not posted as 'No Trespassing'. There is one marked trail that goes through the Boston Hollow. This is the Nipmuck Trail
. It enters the hollow from the southeast after passing over the glacier
scoured ridges and plateau of Turkey Hill. The Trail crosses Boston Hollow road at the middle northern end of the Hollow and swiftly ascends the west ridge.
On the west side of the trail for the first part of its passage on the west ridge there is a little valley or sump that is often filled with water during the winter and other wet periods. There has been ice that can be walked on in this sump as late as March, attesting to the coldness of this area. The trail ascend a series of ridges to a summit. This summit is shear bedrock and devoid of trees in the southeast direction (i.e. facing into the hollow). To the west there is a brief tree-covered plateau after which the topography
slopes down to a large swamp. The trail continues after the summit in a southwest direction then turns in a serpentine arc and descends northwest of the hollow onto Barlow's Mill road.
s grow, the most common of which is red oak. The forest around the summit of the west ridge consists mainly of short red oaks. On the side of Turkey Hill facing the west ridge the tree growth is similar except that quite a few Paper Birch
have colonised this slope whereas there are hardly any on the west ridge. The groves of paper birches make a pleasing visage in the fall when they are viewed from the summit of the west ridge.
Notable flora in Boston Hollow includes the Mountain Maple
, a shrub-like tree that commonly grows in northern New England. Fauna consist of White-tailed Deer
, Coyote
s, and other animals of New England. It is probable that there are Moose
and American Black Bear
inhabiting the dense forest preserves surrounding the hollow.
Ravine
A ravine is a landform narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streamcutting erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. A ravine is generally a fluvial slope landform of relatively steep sides, on the order of twenty to...
in Ashford, Connecticut
Ashford, Connecticut
President George Washington, returning from his tour of the country in the fall of 1789, was chagrined to be involuntarily abandoned in the village on a Sunday...
. It is a unique location in several ways. In geological
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
terms it is an ancient fault
Geologic fault
In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there has been significant displacement along the fractures as a result of earth movement. Large faults within the Earth's crust result from the action of tectonic forces...
in the Avalonia
Avalonia
Avalonia was a microcontinent in the Paleozoic era. Crustal fragments of this former microcontinent underlie south-west Great Britain, and the eastern coast of North America. It is the source of many of the older rocks of Western Europe, Atlantic Canada, and parts of the coastal United States...
n bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
of the eastern highlands
Highland (geography)
The term highland or upland is used to denote any mountainous region or elevated mountainous plateau. Generally speaking, the term upland tends to be used for ranges of hills, typically up to 500-600m, and highland for ranges of low mountains.The Scottish Highlands refers to the mountainous...
of Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. Although there are many faults in this region, none is as deeply cleft, well pronounced, nor well preserved as this hollow.
Accessibility
Boston Hollow is approached from the southwest, from Westford, by unpaved Boston Hollow Road. This is a portion of the historic Center Turnpike, constructed in 1827, that was formerly a major route from BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
to Hartford
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
.
The road follows a nearly straight course through the bottom of the hollow beside a little, unnamed brook for about two thirds of its passage. Then the brook peters out and a height of land is achieved. Continuing along the road towards the northeast, another swath in the ground forms but this is rarely filled with water. The second gully
Gully
A gully is a landform created by running water, eroding sharply into soil, typically on a hillside. Gullies resemble large ditches or small valleys, but are metres to tens of metres in depth and width...
leads into a swamp at the end of the hollow. Near the end of the hollow a ten acre (4 ha) parcel of land is situated. This land has an inactive gravel pit against the hollow wall. The only house in the area is located just past this land. The brook and the second swath as well as the house and the private land are all on the west side of the hollow.
Geography
The geography of Boston Hollow is characterized by the deep fault-cleft running almost perfectly straight in the northeast direction. The basement of the hollow is approximately 630 feet (190 m) above sea levelSea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
at the southern head, and 600 feet (180 m) at the swamp at the northern exit. The height of land is about 700 feet (210 m) above sea level. The hollow defined by the distance the road passes through its bottom is nearly one mile (1.6 m) long. The elevation change through the bottom of the hollow is therefore quite gradual. The width of the base from wall to wall varies from 100 to 500 feet (30 to 150 m).
On the west side there are swampy and stagnant wetlands through much of the course of the hollow brook as the water flow is too little and the incline is too slight to adequately drain the area. On either side of the low land the walls of the hollow rise swiftly. On the west side they rise most steeply to a height of about 850 feet (260 m). The elevation gain is so rapid that a hike up the steep faces is in fact a climb. Towards the middle-northern end of the western hollow the wall is sheer rock for spaces of more than twenty feet (6 m) vertically and these overhangs are at such an incline that they form concave overhangs beneath which angular blocks of fallen stone
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
lie. The top of the west ridge is undulating with there being several extant peaks
Pyramidal peak
A pyramidal peak, or sometimes in its most extreme form called a glacial horn, is a mountaintop that has been modified by the action of ice during glaciation and frost weathering...
or heights. This massif
Massif
In geology, a massif is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole...
has no proper name.
On the east side the hollow wall rises directly from the road. This wall is steep but there is less exposed ledge than there is on the west side. After a relatively short distance of grave incline the hill rises less steeply. This hill is given the appellation Turkey Hill. However, Turkey Hill attains a greater height than the west ridge
Ridge
A ridge is a geological feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size. There are several main types of ridges:...
, reaching higher than 950 feet (290 m) above sea level. There are several pond-like swamps on the plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
of Turkey Hill.
The property that contains the hollow is part of the Yale-Myers Forest
Yale-Myers Forest
The Yale-Myers Forest is a 7,800-acre forest owned by Yale University and administered by the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Located in the towns of Union, Ashford, Eastford, and Woodstock in the northeast corner of Connecticut...
. This is a 7,800 acre (32 km²) forest owned by Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and used for teaching and scientific research as well as commercial timber production. There is also land owned by Hull Forest Products of Pomfret, CT in the area but this is not in the hollow proper. The Yale-Myers Forest is private land, but it is not posted as 'No Trespassing'. There is one marked trail that goes through the Boston Hollow. This is the Nipmuck Trail
Nipmuck Trail
The Nipmuck Trail is a Blue-Blazed hiking trail "system" which meanders through of forests in northeast Connecticut. It is maintained by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association and is considered one of the Blue-Blazed hiking trails. There are two southern trail heads in the south of the town...
. It enters the hollow from the southeast after passing over the glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
scoured ridges and plateau of Turkey Hill. The Trail crosses Boston Hollow road at the middle northern end of the Hollow and swiftly ascends the west ridge.
On the west side of the trail for the first part of its passage on the west ridge there is a little valley or sump that is often filled with water during the winter and other wet periods. There has been ice that can be walked on in this sump as late as March, attesting to the coldness of this area. The trail ascend a series of ridges to a summit. This summit is shear bedrock and devoid of trees in the southeast direction (i.e. facing into the hollow). To the west there is a brief tree-covered plateau after which the topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
slopes down to a large swamp. The trail continues after the summit in a southwest direction then turns in a serpentine arc and descends northwest of the hollow onto Barlow's Mill road.
Wildlife
The flora and fauna of the hollow include species typical of southern New England, however, more boreal species are also found in this rugged region. The base of the hollow in densely forested with hemlock trees. These evergreens block much of the little light that reaches into this narrow chasm, therefore the hollow's floor is always quite dark. above the low lands, on the hollow ridges hardwoodHardwood
Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...
s grow, the most common of which is red oak. The forest around the summit of the west ridge consists mainly of short red oaks. On the side of Turkey Hill facing the west ridge the tree growth is similar except that quite a few Paper Birch
Paper Birch
Betula papyrifera is a species of birch native to northern North America.-Description:...
have colonised this slope whereas there are hardly any on the west ridge. The groves of paper birches make a pleasing visage in the fall when they are viewed from the summit of the west ridge.
Notable flora in Boston Hollow includes the Mountain Maple
Mountain Maple
Acer spicatum is a species of maple native to northeastern North America from Saskatchewan to Newfoundland, and south to Pennsylvania. It also grows at high elevations in the southern Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia....
, a shrub-like tree that commonly grows in northern New England. Fauna consist of White-tailed Deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
, Coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
s, and other animals of New England. It is probable that there are Moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
and American Black Bear
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
inhabiting the dense forest preserves surrounding the hollow.
External links
- Hybrid Satellite and Road map image at Google Maps