Facilities

Thanksgiving Ground Forest

The Thanksgiving Ground Forest is a 45-acre Town Forest located adjacent to the Farms I neighborhood in South Chelmsford. It borders on Russell Mill Pond's west bank and the Great Brook Farm State Park in Carlisle to the south. The area gets its name from the historic annual gathering of the men of the Town at a mass of boulders each Thanksgiving Day for a fox hunt. Due to its pond frontage it offers great water-based recreation potential. It is only a short carry with the canoe to get from the end of Janet Road to the edge of the pond. Access is also available from Gary Road and Kristin Drive. The trails also connect to Great Brook Farm State Park in Carlisle, which is also discussed in this guidebook. The forest is a mix of hard and soft woods. There are also enormous outcroppings of ledge and massive boulders on the property. The extreme southern end of the Forest brings one to the upper end of Russell Mill Pond, where River Meadow Brook enters the pond from Carlisle.