Public invited to Transformation Trails tree planting

Transformation Trails, a park within a park, will have a major tree planting of about 20 trees for its Arboretum on November 2, starting at 10 a.m. and the public is invited to participate.

Two public plantings were held in 2023, each with about 70 people in attendance, and a total of 34 trees were planted, some by Warwick officials, some by area residents, including entire families with children. After the November planting the Arboretum will have over 50 trees of the hundreds that will eventually be there, the organizers stated in a press release.

The Arboretum is one of two currently existing elements within the 10 acres of “rescued land” within the Wickham Woodlands Park, which until 2014 was the Mid-Orange Correctional Facility. The other element is a pollinator meadow which will showcase wildflowers, shrubs, and native plants that support birds, bees, and other species.

Future plans, starting in the spring of 2025, call for a sculpture garden, an education center, and an amphitheater looking out at Wickham Lake and Sugar Loaf Mountain.

The 750-acre former prison land now features the 600-acre Wickham Woodlands Park, and a 150-acre corporate park featuring a variety of businesses, including Hudson Sports Complex and Green Thumb Industries. There is also a small piece of forgotten land “between the fences” of the former prison, 10 acres that was neglected and going to seed.

For more information, visit transformationtrails.com.