Anderson Woods

We would've liked this place, plus the lands its trail system is attached to (such as Willow Guzzle Land). It's a serene walk on a ridge separating 9 Acre Corner from the Sudbury River and Fairhaven Bay (though the trails here don't face those; nearby Wright Woods does). The forests are relaxing, and there's a homey, rustic quality when one sees the abandoned farming equipment and wind turbine overgrown with foliage.

Only two stars, sadly, and here's why: we've seldom seen ticks in the abundance we did here; it rivals King Phillip Woods in Sudbury in this regard. Right as we crossed over the two bridges at Willow Guzzle, we noticed about ten ticks on our shoes and the same amount on our dogs. One of them nuzzled a patch of the meadow, and got about ten more. We cut our hike short then and walked back to the parking lot on Garfield Road ... on the road itself. Lengthy tick checks and showers, we had.

It could've been the unusually warm day, but it also could've had to do with how so few people seem to go here. The Thornton Woods parking lot on Garfield Road isn't listed on Google; we had to go to the website for the land clusters to find out where it was. Even the parking lot at Willow Guzzle (on a road leading into 9 Acre) seems to be seldom occupied. More people going may've meant fewer ticks (as we've noticed at ones we go to frequently).

Not recommended. Visitation means high risk of tick bites.