McDonald’s Farm

by Stacey Stearns

The town of Wilbraham purchased the late Alton McDonald’s farm and forest. Alton was originally from the city and met, then fell in love with, Helen Brosch. They married and moved to her family’s farm, which he also fell in love with. Alton took over the farm when his father-in-law retired. Alton also served the town as police sergeant and fire commissioner.

still peaceful and enjoyable. I heard and saw lots of birds and small wildlife, so the hum of human activity became background noise.

Sharron Cochran of Hidden Hollow Acres in Monson is a Bay State Trail Riders Association member, and says, “There are nice trails at McDonald’s Farm. The trails are in very good condition. There are two large fields with nice

Parts of the farm were separated out after Altan’s death. The playing fields at Wilbraham Middle School, where the trail ends, were once part of McDonald’s Farm. But the core parts of the farm, 29 acres total, including a barn and Alton’s primary tractor trail, named Alton’s Way in his honor, are there to be enjoyed by all types of trail users. Alton’s Way, along with several side trails, extends beyond the property, thanks to the Minnechaug Land Trust and others.

You are never far from civilization at McDonald’s Farm. On my visit, I could hear someone using a leaf blower at one of the nearby houses, a fire truck heading somewhere, and the shouts of children and referee whistles were clearly audible from the middle school. However, it was wide-open trails. Between those fields are woods with smaller, winding trails that are fun to ride. You can also ride the power lines for a bit.”

A Leg Up

Use Washington Street in Wilbraham for your GPS. Once you’re on Washington Street, there are signs (alongside the street signs) for McDonald’s Farm parking. This parking lot is open in the spring, summer, and fall. The road into the parking area is dirt, one lane, and unimproved.

There is a large field to park in — there were three other horse trailers when I arrived. I pulled into the field and then out the driveway when it was time to go. In the spring, when the ground is wet and soft, continue up the driveway past this field to park in the field by the barn.

I was glad to have hoof protection on my horse. The trails were rocky with a lot of roots. There were stones on the trail along the power lines too. Use fly spray as there’s a bog area along the edge of the Cedar Swamp Trail.

Download a map to your phone prior to your visit: wilbraham-ma.gov/295/ Altons-Way-Trailwalk.

Out Riding It

I started out on Alton’s Way, and headed right from the field up the small hill toward the barn. Once past the barn, I was in the hayfield, where I encountered three riders from Reddington Rock Riding Club finishing up their ride. I chatted with them about how much they enjoy riding at McDonald’s Farm.

Alton’s Way heads south toward the middle school and is a wide trail that loops gently through the landscape. It’s an out-and-back trail, with several side trails, so I chose to ride all the way down to the middle school, and then explore the side trails — Cedar Swamp, Coleman Cove, and Oaks — on my way back.

The trail takes you through different types of ecosystems; there are power line sections you can ride too. I rode through sections where the ground was completely blanketed by oak leaves. Some stretches were quite green with all the pine trees. My favorite stretch was riding through the woods, and then spying another one of Alton’s fields coming into view.

On my way back down Alton’s Way, I explored all the side trails. When I got back to the McDonald’s Farm Preserve property, in the field where I could see the barn, I took a right onto Jasmin Trail, and headed back that way. It comes out on Lake Trail, and I took a right on this, and followed it down to the end, before heading back the way I had come, past Jasmin Trail, and finally back to the parking lot.

McDonald’s Farm is a gem. It was 70 degrees and a Sunday afternoon when I rode there in early November. Beside the other equestrians, the only other trail users I saw was a woman on a mountain bike and two people walking dogs, but they were far off in the distance on the other side of open fields, so we never actually ran into each other. We often share the trails on rides, so it was nice to have a quieter trail mostly to myself.

Trails are well marked with signs for the different loops and blazes. There are several small trails in addition to those on the map, so you can loop through and around different areas to add more miles. Even though there is limited mileage here, I enjoyed looping back around and riding sections again, and the few hours I spent here didn’t seem redundant at all.

Alton McDonald loved this land and spent his life working it. He would be pleased to know that it’s preserved and used by others.

Happy trails!

Stacey Stearns, a lifelong equestrian living in Connecticut, enjoys trail riding and endurance with her Morgan horses.

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