The Hayes Woods conservation area has long been a gem of a hiking trail, with 46 acres of second-growth forest, a pond and animal habitat. Its gentle loop is just over a mile, and along the way are information posts describing the beautiful landscape. 

But until now you needed a paper map to follow along. Thanks to the efforts of volunteer Groton resident Nathalie Pierpont, the signpost descriptions are now equipped with QR codes, accessible by your phone. Pierpont, a junior at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, volunteered to work outdoors while home for the summer. In addition to this project, she also worked on a water survey at the Nashua River Watershed Association. 

Left, Nathalie, right Nathalie and Trustee Debbie Howell documenting species.

Hayes Woods came under the stewardship of the Groton Conservation Trust in 1994 through a generous gift from Joseph and Elsa Hayes, who lived nearby.  

The winding trail, with walkways and a bridge, was created by former Groton resident Philip Lyons as an Eagle Scout project for Groton’s BSA Troop 1 with assistance from the Groton Conservation Trust president Dann Chamberlain.  

“I crisscrossed the property multiple times with two main criteria: have it be as accessible as possible to people of as many mobility types as possible,” remembers Lyons. “I also wanted to keep it out of sight of the roads surrounding the property so it would feel as wild as possible.” 

Lyons said the terrain, steep with creeks crisscrossing through it to a pond, made the layout tricky. The final trail creates a loop around the glacial terrain, including kettles and wetlands.  

The bridge, still as sturdy today as when he built it, was the crown jewel of the project.  “I used cinder blocks on the steep banks of the outlet and then had 2x4s rammed into them,” he recalls. The walkway includes a handrail for folks to lean on while crossing. 

Philip Lyons

In 2002, Brad Taylor added 16 station descriptions as his BSA Eagle Scout project also for Groton Troop 1.  

“I loved all of the GCT and GCC properties that are around Groton,” Taylor said. “It’s really quite special.” 

The idea of creating a nature walk along one of the trails he enjoyed appealed to him. He enlisted the help of the GCT and Hayes Woods was singled out. “The Hayes’ (property donors) were amenable to having content on the trail. Plus, It’s a beautiful piece of property and it’s quite varied. You see these glacial eskers, and old wetlands, that forest pond. There’s a lot of what you would see in this region of New England all relatively close and contained on this parcel,” he explained. 

Before cell phone technology, Taylor imagined actual signs along the trail describing what a hiker is seeing. But when he presented his plan to the GCT he met a snag. “I presented it at a GCT meeting, and they were like, we love this, it’s great, except we don’t want to have signs on the property,” he remembered.   

So, Taylor and his dad and the entire scout troop pulled together and revamped the plan to include numbered posts along the trail, small and unobtrusive to the view. The numbers corresponded to descriptions on a map, available at a kiosk they built at the trailhead.  

Taylor and the scouts completed the project, and he earned his badge and moved on with his life. He is now a software engineer Editas Medicine, a gene-editing biotech company and lives in the Boston area. He is pleased and a bit surprised the Hayes Woods project still exists. “It’s lasted longer than any of the software I ever built,” he joked. 

Brad Taylor

Converting Taylor’s paper map to a digital format was the task Pierpont completed this summer. 

But in the 20+ years since the descriptions were created, many of the sites have changed. So Pierpont, with the help of GCT trustees Holly Estes and Debbie Howell updated the views and recreated the descriptions. 

“I wanted to be as faithful to Brad’s hard work as possible,” said Pierpont, including references to Taylor’s original map and his thanks and acknowledgements. “We were able to create a much fuller, current description by adding informational links to wildlife sites and using new technology like Seek (a plant ID app) and Merlin (a bird ID app).” 

“Brad’s map also had lovely hand-drawn illustrations. We were able to add real-time photography thanks to Debbie,” she added. 

After the descriptions were updated, Pierpont then created QR codes for each station. The QR codes can be accessed by your smartphone, bringing up the descriptions right on the spot. A new station map was also printed and added to the kiosk at the start of the trail. 

“Thanks to Nathalie’s work, hikers can pull up information about the nature they see around them,” GCT vice president Susan Hughes said. “The trees, landscape, plants and flowers, even the birds and animals you might encounter are described. It’s a great educational tool to have right in your pocket.” 

Hayes Woods is located on Maple Ave in West Groton, with parking available. A “show and tell” walk is scheduled on Sunday, November 10 at 1:00 PM with Lyons and Taylor leading the way.  

“I did wonder about the longevity of it at the time,” said Taylor. “And the fact that I’m 39 now and have a 10-year-old son and can come back and see the place updated — with QR codes, which is a great idea, more sustainable — is very emotional. It’s very meaningful to me.”