A new hiking trail through Ashfield and Goshen is opening to the public this weekend.

Hilltown Land Trust and Ashfield Trails will host an inaugural hike through the Hilltown Boulders Trail on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 1 p.m. Attendees will stroll along a 2-mile loop with an elevation gain of about 200 feet while enjoying the natural landscape, which includes views of 17-foot-tall boulders left by glaciers more than 12,000 years ago.

“This is a really special place,” said Sarah Welch, Hilltown Land Trust’s community engagement manager.

Welch said the 160 acres of forest and wetlands where the trails are located were a gift from the late Smith College professor and avid outdoor enthusiast, Margaret Waggoner.

Prior to her death in 2021 at the age of 95, Waggoner was a nuclear physicist who studied beta- and gamma-ray spectroscopy, nuclear reactions, scientific history and philosophy. Welch said Waggoner was also an avid conservationist who bought the land in the early 2000s with plans to have it put under a conservation restriction upon her death.

“She’s one of those people I wish I could have met,” Welch said of Waggoner.

Waggoner first approached Hilltown Land Trust in 2016 to begin working out the details of having her property, with 115 acres in Goshen and 45 acres in Ashfield, put under a conservation restriction, but she died before details were finalized. The site was passed to Smith College and in February, the property was put under a conservation restriction with Hilltown Land Trust.

Since then, Hilltown Land Trust has been working with Ashfield Trails and University of Massachusetts Amherst environmental conservation students to clean up the trails on Waggoner’s property and prepare them for public use.

“Ashfield Trails was asked by Hilltown Land Trust to include it in our system and help maintain it, so we agreed to that,” said Ashfield Trails Treasurer Phil Pless. The nonprofit has created 20 miles of trails on public and private land.

Pless said volunteers worked all spring and summer to prep the trails, which “are in great condition.” They cleared brush, mapped the trails, and put up updated signs and trail markers.

The new trail adds to the plentiful list of conservation land in the region, and connects MassWildlife’s wildlife management area in Ashfield and the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) State Forest in Goshen.

“Hilltown Land Trust is excited to permanently conserve this land, which connects the DAR State Forest to land conserved by MassWildlife and includes a large section of Sears Meadow, an extensive wetland identified as BioMap Core Habitat,” Hilltown Land Trust Executive Director Sally Loomis said in a statement. “We’re so grateful Margaret chose to leave a legacy through conservation.”

In addition to expanding the area of conserved land, the new trails give hikers another trail option. Ashfield Trails manages six trails in town, though most of them are out-and-back trails rather than loop trails.

Welch said Hilltown Land Trust has been receiving an increasing number of requests from landowners looking to conserve their land. The trust is working to preserve as many natural habitats as possible with community support.

“The interest in land conservation is outpacing our capacity,” Welch said. “This project represents what we’re able to do with incredible community support.”

Since 2010, Hilltown Land Trust has conserved more than 5,000 acres in the hilltowns, and last fall, the organization received a three-year, $210,000-per-year grant from an anonymous donor. If Hilltown Land Trust successfully matches the funds, it will have $630,000 by June 2025 to continue conserving land. Welch said Hilltown Land Trust has raised $330,000 so far and needs an additional $90,000 to unlock the full amount.

Trailhead parking will be limited on Saturday, so attendees are encouraged to meet Hilltown Land Trust and Ashfield Trails volunteers in the center of Goshen at the parking lot across from Town Hall and carpool to the trailhead, located near Route 112. Hikers of all ages are invited and leashed dogs are welcome.

The hike is free to attend but donations to Hilltown Land Trust are encouraged. To RSVP, visit tinyurl.com/AshfieldTrailsHike.

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.