Vine Brook - Conservation Lands

Conservation Lands

Many stretches of Vine Brook are owned by their respective towns, as conservation land. This body of water is vital to the wildlife of its respective towns; The Bedford town website notes that the old millpond at Vine Brook and Route 3 "is one of the few open bodies of water in Bedford and supplements an important wildlife habitat corridor along Route 3 which supports a diverse wildlife population." Following is a list of conservation areas that include sections of the Brook.

• Lexington: There are two parcels of conservation land in Lexington which touch on parts of Vine Brook. Lower Vine Brook is about 100 acres (0.40 km2), and can be accessed from the end of Utica Street; this parcel is bordered for a good stretch by a paved bikeway along the Brook. The Upper Vine Brook parcel encompasses some of Upper Vine Brook, one of the tributaries to the main Vine Brook; this parcel is about 50 acres (0.20 km2), and can be accessed from Highland Avenue.

• Burlington: A section of Vine Brook, near where Sandy Brook breaks off from it, is today a conservation land park owned by the Town of Burlington (22 acres). Further upstream on Sandy Brook is another town-owned park (5 acres). In addition, there is another town-owned park (3.78 acres) off Chadwick Road, that touches on part of Sandy Brook. There is conservation land at part of Long Meadow Brook, a tributary of Vine Brook. There is also the "Muller Road Conservation Land" (over 3 acres), which sits just behind Vine Pond. (Vine Pond is connected, and sits next to, Vine Brook.)

• Bedford: A large section of the Shawsheen River is town-owned conservation land, not far from where Vine Brook empties into the River. Small boats can be used in the Shawsheen.