Riverstone Preserve

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Celebrate the Gift of Land to Riverstone Preserve

West River Trail, Brattleboro Vermont

The gift of a spectacular, undeveloped property on Rice Farm Road and Black Mountain Road in Brattleboro dramatically expands the Riverstone Preserve, owned by Friends of the West River Trail. 

The 166-acre acquisition adjoins the existing 22-acre Riverstone Preserve, which was purchased by Friends of the West River Trail in 2012. The Preserve now encompasses 188 acres of woodland and an important cobblestone ecological community along the West River. The donated land includes three-quarters of a mile of West River shoreline and the West River Trail that follows the river, so the Preserve now extends for a mile-and-a-quarter along the river. 

This is the largest property along the Lower Section of the West River Trail in Brattleboro and Dummerston. “We are absolutely thrilled by this remarkably generous gift,” noted Alex Wilson of the Friends of the West River Trail Board, who had been in discussions with the donors (who wish to remain anonymous) for more than three years. 

Friends of the West River Trail will hold a gathering at the Marina Restaurant on Thursday, November 21st, from 4-6 pm, to celebrate this expansion of the Riverstone Preserve in Brattleboro and introduce the first several upland trails on the Preserve. Those trails, totalling nearly two miles, have now been blazed with color-coded markers. 

The expanded preserve borders on Black Mountain and Rice Farm Roads and extends along both sides of Fox Farm Road. A parking area for a dozen cars has been created at the end of the public portion of Fox Farm Road, and a trail kiosk will be installed there in the coming months. 

The newly acquired land has been managed since the 1990s by local forester Lynn Levine, who is thrilled that the property is being conserved in perpetuity. According to Levine, the entire property is underlain by bedrock known as the Waits River Formation, a calcium-rich rock that makes it a wonderful place to grow plants because it produces sweet soil. “Such a special land this is,” said Levine.

The woodland is unusual for Vermont, with a number of tree species that are more common further south, including white oak, black oak, and shagbark hickory. As climate change advances, preserves such as this that support these more southern species will be highly important ecologically, providing seed stock for migrating ecosystems.

The Lower Section of the West River Trail extends for 3.5 miles from the Marina Restaurant in Brattleboro to a trailhead at Rice Farm Road in Dummerston. With a tripling of usage, the trail became an even more important recreational amenity for the region during the COVID pandemic, as it allowed visitors to enjoy the outdoors while practicing social distancing. 

The West River Trail is managed by the all-volunteer Friends of the West River Trail, based in Brattleboro. The organization is currently looking into the feasibility of designating at least a portion of this section of trail as accessible, based on standards of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA); this designation can be achieved without paving.

Friends of the West River Trail invites area residents and users of the West River Trail to join the November 21st gathering, which is being generously hosted by the Marina Restaurant. The restaurant, and owners Dennis Smith and his wife Jill, have been extraordinary supporters of the Trail over many years, and in the past year they significantly expanded parking at the trailhead. The restaurant and the many recreational amenities associated with it, including the Brattleboro Outing Club’s rowing access, kayak and canoe launch docks, and the trailhead, provide a wonderful gathering place for trail users and others from the community. 

At the November 21st event, attendees will be able to sign up for a West River Trail mailing list and find out about volunteering opportunities. Future plans for the Trail and Riverstone Preserve will also be discussed, and attendees will be invited to donate to those efforts. 

For further information, visit www.WestRiverTrail.org or check out the organization’s Facebook page. Please RSVP if you plan to attend: lowersection@westrivertrail.org.

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Help Preserve the Beauty of the Trail

West River Trail

Love the West River Trail? Help Preserve Its Beauty! The Friends of the West River Trail (FWRT) invites you to join their “Adopt an Acre” program and help maintain the trail’s natural splendor.

What’s Involved:

  • Adopt: Choose one of two remaining parcels (each one acre or less).
  • Care: Dedicate 8-16 hours per season to your parcel (work can be shared with friends or family).
  • Learn: Receive training on identifying invasive plants and using a GPS app to track your progress.
  • Enjoy: Spend time in a beautiful setting while contributing to the trail’s upkeep.

Upcoming Training:

Join Dan Healey of Longview Forest on Friday, May 17th at 9:30 AM at the Riverstone Preserve for an informative training session. Can’t make it? Don’t worry; we’ll schedule a time that works for you.

Ready to Get Involved?

Contact the FWRT Steering Committee at lowersection@westrivertrail.org to learn more and sign up.

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Surprise Blooms on the Trail

One early spring day, Jim Webster was strolling along the Riverstone Preserve’s cobblestone shore, just downstream from the picnic area. He spotted a cluster of spiky green leaves under a sycamore tree and couldn’t quite identify them. Daffodils crossed his mind, but his friend, after hearing the description and location, suspected they were more likely yellow flag iris.

Curious, they returned to the spot together about ten days later. To their surprise, they found a cluster of daffodils in full bloom, brightening up this unexpected location. 

The mystery remained: how did these daffodils end up here? Whatever the reason, their unexpected appearance was a charming reminder of nature’s resilience and ability to surprise.

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Help Maintain the Trail: Adopt an Acre

Do you love the West River Trail?  Would you like to volunteer to help maintain the trail in a meaningful way?  If so, read on!

The Friends of the West River Trail (FWRT) are launching a new volunteer opportunity called “Adopt an Acre”.  There is a lovely 26 acre parcel of land that the trail runs through called the Riverstone Preserve, that includes an interpretive trail, called the Sibosen Trail. FWRT owns this property on which we have a conservation easement with the Vermont Land Trust.

In our Land Management Plan, we pledged to mitigate and control the invasive plants on this property. For several years, with the help of grant funds from the NCRS, we have hired Long View Forest to professionally treat the invasives. We have also been manually pulling the seedlings that continue to emerge, during monthly volunteer work days. Much of the 26 acres continues to need professional treatment, but there are 6 one acre or smaller parcels that can be managed manually, and we are looking for teams (families or groups of friends or individuals) to adopt the parcels. We estimate each parcel may take the equivalent of 8-16 hours per season (depending on how many people are sharing the work) and you may want to do it in 2-hour sessions. It can be a fun way to spend a couple of hours in a lovely place. If you are interested in “Adopting an Acre”, please contact the FWRT Steering Committee at lowersection@westrivertrail.org. We will provide training on identifying invasives, and how to use an app on your phone to show you the boundaries of your parcel, and where you are on your parcel in real time. We hope to hear from you!

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Two Trail Workday Opportunities on Sunday 9/24

Calling all trail volunteers for two workday opportunities on Sunday, September 24th.

Workday #1 Morning: Pull Invasive plants on the Riverstone Preserve
Sunday, September 24, 9 am – 11 am

Workday #2 Afternoon: Dig and rake out ditches and culverts on the West River Trail
Sunday, Sept 24, Noon to 3 pm

Volunteer workday details below: 

Workday #1 Morning: Pull invasive plants on the Riverstone Preserve
When: Sunday, September 24, 9-11 AM
What: Pulling (mostly) oriental bittersweet seedlings. We’ll teach you how to identify the invasive plants, if you haven’t done this before.
Where: Meet at the west end of the Sibosen Interpretive Trail, where it meets the West River Trail. It’s about 1 1/2 miles from the Marina Trailhead and from the Rice Farm Rd Trailhead. You can also get there by parking at the Fox Farm Rd, trailhead, and walking down the access road to the WRT, turn left and you’ll soon see the sign for Sibosen Trail on the right. Biking in from the trailheads gets you there more quickly, if you’re able to do that.
What to bring: Water, work gloves, insect repellant, snack if needed.

Workday #2 Afternoon: Dig and rake out ditches and culverts on the West River Trail
When: Sunday, Sept 24, Noon to 3 pm
What: Digging and raking out ditches and culverts
Where: Meet at the Marina Trailhead at noon. 
What to Bring: Work gloves, insect repellant and a metal rake if you have one, but we will have extras on hand. Sandwiches and drinks will be provided. 

For more info and to tell us you’re coming, please email us at lowersection@westrivertrail.org. 

Thanks and we hope to see you there!

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Invasive Work Morning on the Riverstone Preserve

Please join us for a work morning on the West River Trail. It’s a pleasant way to spend a couple hours in a lovely place. All are welcome!

We’ll teach you how to identify the invasive plants, if you haven’t done this before.

For more info and to tell us you’re coming, please email us at lowersection@westrivertrail.org. Thanks and we hope to see you there!

When:  Sunday, September 24, 9-11 AM
What:  Pulling (mostly) oriental bittersweet seedlings
Where:  We’ll meet at the west end of the Sibosen Interpretive Trail, where it meets the West River Trail. It’s about 1 1/2 miles from the Marina Trailhead and from the Rice Farm Rd Trailhead. You can also get there by parking at the Fox Farm Road trailhead, and walking down the access road to the WRT, turn left and you’ll soon see the sign for Sibosen Trail on the right. Biking in from the trailheads gets you there more quickly, if you’re able to do that.
What to bring:  Water, work gloves, insect repellant, snack if needed.

To learn more about Asiatic Bittersweet and other invasives visit the Vermont Invasives website.
Asiatic bittersweet is a deciduous, woody vine that climbs saplings and trees and can grow over 60 feet in length.
The alternate, elliptical to circular leaves are light green in color and 2-5 inches long.
Small, inconspicuous, axillary, greenish-white flowers bloom from May to early June. Oriental bittersweet closely resembles American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens). The main difference: Celastrus scandens has flowers and fruits at the terminal ends of branches; Celastrus orbiculatus has flowers scattered along the entire stem.
The small globose fruits are green when young; ripen to yellow; then split to reveal showy, scarlet berries that persist into winter.

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Join the West River Trail Work Morning August 27

Please join us for a work morning to pull invasive plant species on the Riverstone Preserve! We need your help! This is fun, rewarding and important work. Please come!

When:  Sunday, August 27, 9-11 AM
What:  Pulling (mostly) oriental bittersweet seedlings
Where:  We’ll meet at the west end of the Sibosen Interpretive Trail, where it meets the West River Trail. It’s about 1 1/2 miles from the Marina Trailhead and the Rice Farm Rd Trailhead.  You can also get there by parking at the Fox Farm Rd, trailhead, and walking down the access road, to the WRT, turn left and you’ll soon see the sign for Sibosen Trail on the right. Biking in from the trailheads gets you there more quickly, if you’re able to do that.
What to bring:  water, work gloves, insect repellant, snack if needed.

We’ll teach you how to identify the invasive plants, if you haven’t done this before.

For more info and to tell us you’re coming, please email lowersection@westrivertrail.org. Thanks and we hope to see you there! It’s a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, in a lovely place.  

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Invasive Catch of the Day

A lovely morning was spent pulling Oriental Bittersweet on the Riverstone Preserve, with 6 volunteers, on Sunday, July 23. 

Here’s Alex Wilson (a West River Trail Steering Committee member) displaying the largest, longest bittersweet root pulled out that day!  Mostly we pull small seedlings, but occasionally we find a whopper! 

If you’d like to help out, the next work day will be Sunday, August 27, from 9-11 AM.  We’d love to see you there! 

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Trail Work Day Sunday July 23, 9-11 am

Seeking Volunteers for a Work Day Sunday, July 23, 9-11 AM.

What:  Pulling bittersweet seedlings and a few other invasive species on the Riverstone Preserve.

Who: Anyone interested in being outdoors, learning about invasive plants and helping to keep invasive plants under control on the Riverstone Preserve.

Where:  Meet at the north Sibosen trail head (just south of the Fox Farm Access road) at 9 AM. 

What to bring:  a water bottle, hat, sunscreen, insect repellant, work gloves, and snack if needed.

Questions and RSVP:  please contact lowersection@westrivertrail.org

We’re going to work in areas we worked a few years ago, on the western end of the Riverstone Preserve. Because of the great work we did, the seedlings that are growing there now are small and easy to pull.  We will have professional treatment done on the areas we’ve been working on last fall and earlier this summer, where the bittersweet has grown so thickly, it is not possible to take care of it manually with volunteers. 

We will talk about the option of “adopting” a plot of land on the Riverstone Preserve that will be yours to monitor and pull the invasive plants.  We anticipate it would only take one whole day a summer to do this, or you could choose to make several trips for a couple of hours each time.  Dan Healey of Long View Forest may be there to talk more about this and show you how to use an online map to know where your plot’s boundaries are. Mike Duffy, a local botanist, may also be there to help you identify the invasive plants or other plants you observe and wonder about. 

Please come!

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Trail Work Day: Sunday June 25

Please join us for a workday on the West River Trail on Sunday, June 25. 

When: Sunday, June 25 from 9 am -11 am. 
Where: Meet up at 9 am at the south Sibosen trailhead. There is a sign identifying the interpretive trail. It’s about 1 1/2 miles from the Marina trailhead.
What: Help clear invasives 
What to bring: work gloves, water, sunscreen, insect repellent. 

To RSVP and for questions:, please reach out to us at lowersection@westrivertrail.org

The May workday was a lovely day to be out on the Riverstone Preserve. Six volunteers joined in to pull Bittersweet. We worked hard, got a lot accomplished and learned a lot from each other about plants, birds, and local nature. 

Huge thanks to our May workday volunteers! Photos include Eric Reines, Jesse Wagner, Eric Pofcher, Mike Duffy and Dan Drish. The fallen tree is covered with the piles of bittersweet we pulled, letting the roots dry out and die, rather than throwing them on the ground where they could reroot. 

We will be hosting invasive work days monthly through the fall–and will announce them on this website and our west river trail facebook page. Hope you will join us!