ROCHESTER — The Rochester Land Trust has opened a new property, called White Cedar Preserve. It is located at the intersection of Walnut Plain Road and Estabrook Way. (For those using GPS, enter "1 Estabrook Way").

The 83-acre parcel has varied terrain from upland to wetland, and is home to a white cedar bog. Visitors can walk the trail in either direction from field to wooded pathways, heading toward the large bog. The trail winds through white pine and deciduous trees, including swamp birch, black tupelo, and red maple. There is a break in the trail due to swampy conditions. However, on drier days hikers may reach the often muddy, but scenic terrain of the cedar swamp stands in 15 to 30 minutes.

The property is habitat for the endangered Hessel’s Hairstreak butterfly, whose larvae feed exclusively on Atlantic White Cedar. Visitors may find leatherleaf, waterwillow, sheep laurel, cranberry, sundew, purple pitcher, sedge, hemlock, beech, and holly, and many deer.

The preserve was acquired with the Buzzards Bay Coalition and the Town of Rochester Conservation Commission and was made possible by funding from the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program, the State of Massachusetts Conservation Partnership Program, and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.