Trail Hound

In praise of the Punkhorn

I owe a debt of gratitude to the voters of Brewster who, in the 1980s, purchased 880 acres of conservation land known as the Punkhorn Parklands.  It was less desirable real estate then, tucked inland a few miles, but it's a resource worth preserving. 

The Punkhorn is bounded by kettle ponds such as Upper Mill, Walkers, Elbow, and Seymour, and encompasses a number of smaller ponds and cranberry bogs.  The ponds are consistently rated the cleanest on the Cape, and are popular for kayaking, sailing, fishing and swimming.

 You can pass directly enough through the Punkhorn on the mile or two of dirt roads, a pleasant diversion away from traffic, or you can lose yourself in the former Indian trails and deer paths.  Both options are worthwhile.

My favorite Sunday morning run takes me into the Punkhorn from the west, via Cranview Road and Black Duck Cartway, and proceeds north on Westgate Road to the main entrance at Run Hill Road.  The only challenge on this otherwise peaceful stretch is the humongous German Shepherd-Norwegian Elkhound-and-whatnot that often waits to greet me with a friendly, 130-pound slobber to my face, quite a surprise the first time it happened. 

One morning I decided to add a new twist to my route and split off from Westgate onto Punkhorn Road and Deep Punkhorn Path, an ancient track.  Deep Punkhorn Path is, as its name implies, deep in the wilderness - at least a mile from the nearest paved road.  It's narrow, it's uneven, it's everything a trail might be.  It had apparently held some appeal to the driver of a shiny red late-model Jeep, who must have watched one too many SUV commercials.  I found the Jeep abandoned in the middle of the trail, stuck up to its wheel wells in mud.  A plank was wedged uselessly beneath one tire.  I never found out what happened to that Jeep, or how long it would take AAA to get a tow truck in there.   

The Punkhorn is a geocacher's delight.  "Eagle Point" is the easiest and kid-friendly, a single-stage traditional cache with a dazzling view overlooking Upper Mill Pond.  For kayakers or Amazon-trekkers, I've hidden "Can't Walk the Walk" on Captain Daniel's Neck, between Walkers and Upper Mill ponds. 

Then there are "Calf Field Pond/Punkhorn Multi-North" and "Punkhorn Multi-South," three-stage geocaches that take you into the heart of the forest.  These geocaches bring you into territory where the importance of using bug spray and wearing long pants and sleeves becomes crystal clear.  I realized that I was an interloper on these remote trails.  A curious fawn crept up the hill to watch me while I searched for the second stage of Multi-North.  I was even more startled by the doe that appeared not far behind it. 

There are places on the Cape where the landscape is disorienting, awesomely beautiful and mysterious, inhabited by life that persists in defiance of human encroachment.  The Punkhorn, thankfully, is one of those places.

Maps of the Punkhorn are available at Brewster town hall, or download trail maps online:  Punkhorn trail maps.

Top photo:  Overlooking Upper Mill Pond from Eagle Point

Bottom photo:  Fawn in the Punkhorn ('wish I had the zoom lens on!)