Nicole Drive

Visit

16 Nicole Drive

Maps

nicole-drive-aerial-image-2008

Access

Primary access is located via an informal trail across an open lawn area. Passive recreational activities are permitted.

Parking: Parking is located at the hammerhead on Nicole Dr.

Directions

Nicole Drive is located off Princeton Boulevard in the Highlands neighborhood of Lowell.

Black Brook – Hidden Tributary to the Merrimack River

This is a great property to visit if you would like to get up close with Black Brook. Nearly half of the property is covered by Black Brook which forms a shallow, pond-like pool, flowing east through the property and into the Merrimack River.

The property is valued for wetland habitats, biodiversity, and connection with other open spaces and wetlands, including the Merrimack River.

Wildlife Habitat & Biodiversity

Mass Audubon’s Ecological Extension Service conducted an eco-inventory of this property in 2009, which included the identification of the following wildlife:

  • Mammals: Common muskrat, raccoon

  • Fish: Common carp, bullhead catfish, pumpkinseed sunfish,  largemouth bass

  • Reptiles: Green frog, bullfrog, painted turtle, snapping turtle

  • Birds: Common grackle, Baltimore oriole, American robin, goldfinch, song sparrow, catbird, mallards, Canada geese

  • Flying insects: Dragonfly, damselfly, caddis fly

  • Macroinvertebrates: backswimmer, isopod, planaria (flatworm), biting midge larva,  snail, damselfly nymph, water mites, amphipod, bloodworm, leech, mosquito larva, water strider

Get Involved

Volunteers play a critical role in helping us care for and monitor our properties. If you would like more information about any of the properties or would like to volunteer as a land steward, please let us know (978)934-0030. Action projects, in addition to regular site monitoring, on this property could include:

  • Invasive species monitoring

  • Wildlife observations

  • Litter collection

  • Stewardship with abutters

As a land steward you help provide the additional eyes and ears we need on properties that staff can’t visit as frequently as we would like to.  If you can visit Nicole Drive regularly (monthly/seasonally), you can be a land steward!  Check out the birds and other wildlife, maybe pick up a little trash, and let us know if you see anything really interesting or out of sort (e.g., a tree that’s fallen, trail work needed, yard waste dumping, or a broken sign). We have an easy online monitoring form that you can send to us at any time.