Sofinowski Preserve

Date Acquired:  June 12 2002

Acreage:  122.37         

Appropriation:  This land was purchased with a Self Help Grant

Level of Difficulty:  Easy |  Length:  TBD  | Average Time to Complete:  TBD  | Route Type:  Loop

Elevation Gain:  TBD | Wheelchair Access:  No  | Dog Friendly:  Yes (must remain on leash)

Property Location:  155 Mort Vining Road, Southwick, MA 01077

Trailhead(s):  155 Mort Vining Road, Southwick, MA 01077 | Trailhead Parking Lot

Permitted Uses:  Hiking, Horseback Riding, Trail Running, Bird Watching, Dog Walking (must remain on leash), Picnicking, Cross Country Skiing, Snow Shoeing  

Rules:  No Alcoholic Beverages, No Camping, No Cutting of Vegetation, No Dumping, No Open Fires, No Glass Containers, No Unauthorized Vehicles, No Hunting, No Picking of Wildflowers, No Littering, Open from Dawn to Dusk (unless prior permission is granted from the Conservation Commission)

Highlights:  Kiosk, Marked Trails, Community Garden, Active Hay Fields, Ponds, Brook, Vernal Pool, Jim Miles Memorial, Rock Wall, Bird Houses, Bridges, Picnic Tables, Star Gazing Nights

About the Preserve

Julius J. Sofinowski and Sylvia C. Sofinowski used to keep sheep on this land.  In June of 2002 the property was purchased by the Town of Southwick using a Self Help Grant from the Commonwealth.  In 2003 it was opened to the public for passive recreation.  In the main hayfield there is the Jim Miles Memorial.  Jim Miles served on the Southwick Conservation Commission for 5 years.  He also served on the Ad hoc committee to research and implement the Community Preservation Committee (CPC). 

The property has a series of marked trails, all of which are relatively easy to traverse, with some areas that are rocky and some areas with a slight gain in elevation.  There are large boulders dotted among the property, these are large rock deposits left over from the last ice glacier that covered Massachusetts between 22,000 and 14,000 years ago.  

There are two bridges constructed by a local boy scout troop.  These allow you to easily traverse are over the Bradley Brook, which spans across the property.  Two ponds and a vernal pool are easily accessible by trail.  Boy scouts also built and erected the bird houses.

There are picnic tables dotted around the property and open fields. Most of the trails are wooded, allowing for some solitude in the lesser walked trails.  You will see red and white oak, beech, witch hazel, mountain laurel, maples, hemlocks as well as American Chestnut shoots from ancient root systems.  The American Chestnut was wiped out of the eastern part of the United States in the early 1900’s due to the Japanese Chestnut Blight.  It was said one in every four trees was an American Chestnut before the blight.  The blight gets into the tree and kills off the trunk, the roots, however, remain.  Any American Chestnut you see now is a shoot from a root system that is over 100 years old. 

Trail Markers by Troop 338, Michael Brut