Weir Hill with your dog: four miles above Lake Cochichewick

The Trustees' regulations for Weir Hill put the dog rule in five words: dog walking is allowed on-leash. Weir Hill is not on the Trustees' list of properties with off-leash dog walking, so the leash stays on from the Stevens Street lot to the summit and along the shore. The Trustees' guidelines for dog walkers apply as well: no chasing or harassing wildlife, no trampling vegetation, ask before your dog greets anyone, and bag the waste and carry it out.

The lake is the second rule. For about a century Lake Cochichewick has been North Andover's main supply of drinking water, and the Trustees list swimming, wading and dog access to it as restricted; their guidelines also exclude open public water supplies from any off-leash designation. Canoes and kayaks may launch from the town's put-in near the Pleasant Street entrance, but that is a boat launch, not a dog beach. Keep your dog on the trail and off the shore, however warm the day.

The Trustees describe four miles of trail, easy to moderate and strenuous in places. For the lake, take the Edgewood Farm Trail down to the shore, then follow the yellow-blazed Cochichewick, Alewife and Stevens trails south toward the Pleasant Street parking area, Stevens Beach and the Stevens-to-Stevens trail, or loop back to the Stevens Street lot. The shoreline stretch is where a short leash matters most, since the water is only a step away.

For a climb, the blue-blazed Weir Hill Trail and the red-blazed Scrub Oak Trail cross rare barrens habitat that the Trustees manage, to hilltop views of the lake and of Mount Wachusett and Mount Monadnock to the west. West of Stevens Street, the Mills to Hills Trail crosses wet meadows to Osgood Street and on toward the historic mills and downtown. Kiosks at both entrances carry a property map, which the Trustees suggest photographing, and map stations stand at junctions along the way.

Hunting is not permitted at Weir Hill or at Stevens-Coolidge, which makes Weir Hill one of the calmer North Andover walks from October to December, when town parcels such as Mazurenko Farm and the Town Forest allow hunting in season. The Trustees warn that wildfires are not uncommon here and ask visitors not to drop cigarette butts or use fire in any form. Motorized vehicles are banned, and so are metal detecting and the digging that comes with it.

The Friends of North Andover Trails point out that the double drumlin makes any loop climb the hill, so a short-nosed or older dog does better on a cool morning, with frequent stops. The lake is no place to cool off, so carry water and a bowl. Ticks live in the fields and woods for much of the year, and the barrens grasses are a good place to pick them up, so run your hands over your dog's coat before it gets back in the car.