"Long" trails in greater Boston / metrowest

[bristlecone]

The more I look into and explore conservation land around here, the more I discover I haven't been to yet. It seems like some places have the potential for surprisingly long sections of trail, particularly if you get creative. And it's so nice to save the 5 or 6 hours of round-trip driving for other things in life.

So what are some of the places for a "long" (>10 mi) trail route?

The rules:

• Crossing roads is OK but you can't follow alongside a road
• No retracing your route for more than a few tenths of a mile.
• It has to be a footpath in the woods, no bike paths or resurfaced railroad grades, though old cart paths are fine.

Note this disqualifies many sections of the bay circuit trail.

I don't care so much about exact mileage, just a general idea of "longer" options.

A few to start:

Fells (obviously) - putting together skyline, rock circuit, crystal springs gets around 15 mi and adding reservoir and more of the cross fells trail can get you past 20

Lincoln conservation land: I don't think anywhere will beat this place for an extensive, connected trail network. I only really know some parts of it, but it doesn't seem it would be too hard to get above 20 mi doing a loop that takes in Flint's Pond, Walden, and Mt. Misery.

Estabrook woods, Concord/Carlisle - many, many possibilities. The esker is a highlight - I can't quite describe how to get there from memory, but if you end up on it you will know it.

If you see someone running these trails with an orange and gray backpack, say hi!

 

[kltilton]

Check out Borderland State Park in Easton/Sharon. Not super close to Boston, but a nice place. I run with a friend of mine who lives down there. We do an 8 mile loop that doesn't retrace any steps. I'm sure there's more to add.

 

[Amicus]

You are entitled to make your own rules, but by ruling out the Bay Circuit Trail you deprive yourself of a lot of great hiking, albeit with some walking on roads and old RR beds (but nice ones). I speak as one who has hiked nearly all of the BCT, including proposed and alternate routes and interesting tangents. At a minimum, you should consult their 15 Trail Descriptions for the areas that interest you, since the last couple of pages of each lists every trail and reservation in that area, with many links and directions to a wealth of specific trail-maps of which I had no inkling until I hiked the BCT. For instance, Lincoln has an excellent trail map for those conservation lands that include Mt. Misery.

In your area, to name just a few mapped reservations with 10 miles of trails, you should check out:

- Rocky Narrows/Sherborn Town Forest (adjacent) in Dover/Sherborn,

- Harold Parker DCR in No. Andover, and

- Bradley Palmer DCR/Discover Hamilton Trail in Ipswich/ Hamilton (or is that too Essex Co.?)

Closer to Downtown Boston, you properly note the Middlesex Fells, and the Lynn Woods, which have an excellent on-line map, also top the 10-mile mark in trails.

 

[Amicus]

Check out Borderland State Park in Easton/Sharon. Not super close to Boston, but a nice place.

Agreed - Borderland SP is terrific, and a good example of the great stuff you can discover through the Bay Circuit Trail, which goes through it. Here is the DCR's Trail Map for Borderland.

 

[Stan]

The network of trails in the Blue Hills offer lots of opportunities for a nice long dayhike. Likewise a combination of beach, gravel road and trails on Plum Island can add up to a good hike.

 

[Daniel Eagan]

Rocky Woods in Medfield has a lot of trails, not too demanding but you can combine them into fairly long loops.

http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/greater-boston/rocky-woods.html#t1

 

[bristlecone]

Thanks to all for contributing.

At a minimum, you should consult their 15 Trail Descriptions for the areas that interest you, since the last couple of pages of each lists every trail and reservation in that area, with many links and directions to a wealth of specific trail-maps of which I had no inkling until I hiked the BCT. For instance, Lincoln has an excellent trail map for those conservation lands that include Mt. Misery.

I had looked at those maps before but hadn't ever read through the descriptions - they are quite encyclopedic and an excellent resource. Looking through there reminded me of a long-ish run I had had in the Olgilvie woods in Weston, and it looks from the map that it could connect all the way south to Regis College.

I agree that allowing some road segments would extend the possibilities greatly... such as some 200 miles on the Bay Circuit!

Some years back I went to South Lincoln looking for Lincoln Guides to get the Lincoln map. Lincoln Guides was gone at that time, but a gift shop in the same shopping plaza did sell the map - which is excellent.

I speak as one who has hiked nearly all of the BCT, including proposed and alternate routes and interesting tangents.

That's an accomplishment, I don't imagine it is a very large group of people that could say that. Is it now officially complete or still missing just a few links?

 

[Amicus]

Is [the Bay Circuit Trail] now officially complete or still missing just a few links?

It is still in progress. About 20 official miles have been added over the past year, raising the total to 180 miles, out of a proposed 200. There are "proposed trails" for the remaining gaps, however, that can be hiked with a little homework and effort - I've done so for most of them already.

 

[mtruman]

I'll second the suggestion for Blue Hills. Lots of ways to turn it into a 10mi day with minimal retracing and lots of great ups/downs and views.

 

[roadtripper]

I think you could squeeze 10-miles by combining Harold Parker State Park and the "Pine Swamp" area of Willowdale State Forest. Mass.gov has trail maps for both.

 

[bristlecone]

I'll third the Blue Hills suggestion, a nice way to get a sampling of steep, rocky climbs and views without venturing too far away. Borderland and Moose Hill, as well as Harold Parker (and much up that way) have so far remained outside my simple little sphere, but that should not be so. Rocky Woods looks nice - other than a short visit to Noanet, I haven't done anything around Dover/Sherborn/Medfield. I have sometimes crossed 128, other times crossed the pike, no reason I couldn't cross both.

It looks like the Bay Circuit trail and bordering networks from near Sudbury center to Sudbury Reservoir could fit the bill if I relaxed the no-backtracking rule.

Wandering around near our garden plot at Rock Meadow (Belmont) today I noticed the Western Greenway trail signs again, and upon looking it up found a much larger (partially complete?) system than I had thought existed, right inside 128. Easy T access too from Waverley, for the carless hiking crowd. Finding my way around that and seeing how far along they are with some of the segments is a project that should occupy me for some time. A bit of woods NW of the Paine estate almost looks like it connects over to Prospect Hill, though I don't know about access. From there it's just a hop, skip, and a jump (OK, across an interstate and massive office park and shopping agglomeration) to cat rock and beyond...

The no-road-segment rule is employed in part for ski-touring-suitability purposes

 

[Amicus]

I think you could squeeze 10-miles by combining Harold Parker State Park and the "Pine Swamp" area of Willowdale State Forest. Mass.gov has trail maps for both.

I believe you are confusing "Harold Parker" (in No. Andover) with "Bradley Palmer," which is in Ipswich and indeed adjacent to Willowdale. Both of those DCR maps you mention are excellent and would permit you to put together a hike/ski in excess of 10 miles.

As to Sudbury, the longest stretch you could do without a road-walk (but with a couple of crossings) would start on Edmands Rd. and pass through Sudbury Valley Trust’s Welch Tract (just past brook at Stearns Farm Community Supported Agriculture). You would wander through there and then through Callahan SP, eventually tracing the east shore of Sudbury Reservoir. Very nice.

Rivalling that, however, would be a route starting at the Weissblatt Conservation Land on Rte. 20, traversing the labyrinth of trails through the Nobscot Boy Scout Reservation and continuing through the Nobscot Conservation Land. Also very nice.

 

[bogorchis]

Check out the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge. This area has 15 miles of trails in it; some of them are on old roads, as this area was originally an annex to Fort Devens and was given to Fish and Wildlife in the year 2,000. There are many wetland area, vernal pools, Puffer Pond, and old concrete bunkers that were used to store ammo during the WW ll.

Also, The Tully Trail that makes a large circuit is about twenty miles in length, and is a beautiful part of MA north of Athol, MA.

The Monoosnoc Trail is nine miles long, but you can connect to the Leominister State Forest, and I am sure that you could then get twenty miles out of that hike.

So many possibilities just waiting out there for your exploration.

 

[Pat T]

Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge

Hi, Bog Orchis--It's the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge (not Assabet) and it is on the Nashua River. And thanks for reminding me of the hiking possibilities. It is in my home town, so it is very accessible. Just one little hint for anyone who goes there. The area on the other side of the Nashua River is an active firing range used by the US military for training. It can get noisy. To get there, you follow Route 110 to the hamlet of Still River in the Town of Harvard (exit 38A off Route 2).

Also in the town of Harvard, there are many, many miles of conservation land trails. I have a four-mile loop that I do from my backyard.

Pat T

 

[bogorchis]

Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge.

Hi Pat T! I know about the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge. Quoting from the Assabet River brochure - "The refuge, part of the National Wildlife Refuge System, encompasses 3.5 square miles located within the towns of Hudson , Maynard, Stow and Sudbury. Formerly part of Fort Devens, this area was known as the Sudbury Training Annex. The U.S. Army transferred 2,230 acres to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the fall of 2000. Our primary purpose is to manage these lands for migratory bird conservation.Assabet River is one of eight refuges within the Eastern Massachusetts NWR Complex, which is headquartered out of Great Meadows NWR and located at 73 Weir Hill Road, Sudbury, Massachusetts, 01776. For more information about Assabet River NWR, visit the Weir Hill office weekdays from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, contact the Refuge Manager at (978) 443-4661 or visit the Friends of Assabet River NWR at www.farnwr.org." It was officially open to the public in 2005.

This area has fifteen miles of trails. You can find out more about it at their web site - http://www.fws.gov/northeast/assabetriver/ They have good information at their web site. It has three entrances. Note: The Hudson Road access is going to be closed from October 19th for road construction. The road will go to their new visitor center, which will open in April, 2010. There are two other entrances - one off White Pond Road in Stow, and the other one is off Old Marlborough Road in Maynard.

I have walked in there twice, and I took a group of nine there on Thursday. It is hunting season for certain birds and bow and arrow for deer. We only saw two hunters. It is used more for hunting during the deer shotgun season.

It has old concrete bunkers scattered throughout; they were used during the second world war to store ammunition and bombs.

 

[Pat T]

Thanks, Bog Orchis. I learned something new. Your description of the Assabet NWR also fits the Oxbow NWR. I did not realize that Fort Devens had previously occupied another area of land. The area I spoke of is called the South Post and is still controlled by the Army. That is the area adjacent to the Oxbow NWR.

Most of the North Post is now "Devens" and is operated by MassDevelopment. It, too, has some very interesting natural features. Have you been to the Black Spruce bog? It is near Mirror Lake.

Pat T

 

[jniehof]

My criteria are much looser, but I'm generally looking for stuff inside 128...so I don't mind the occasional bit of sidewalk or bike path. You might want to check some of this out, even if it's not quite to your specs:

The Newton Conservators "long walks" are quite inspiring. I believe it's now possible to walk from the Common to the BCT largely through parkland, and that stands to get better. I'd love to see more development of this sort of thing.

Don't forget the Wellesley trails, either.

 

[bogorchis]

Pat T - Haven't hiked there yet. Are there any maps?
JNiehoff - Thanks for the Wellesley and Newton trail information.

 

[Jasper]

Mid State Trail

A little farther afeild is the Mid State Trial. 92 plus mile and than you can add on the Wapak trail. The north end of this trail is particularly nice to hike. Very rural and woodsey. I would highly recommend from Ashburnham up to S. and N Pac Manadnoc in stages.

 

[bogorchis]

More on Long Trails - There is also the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail that goes from CT. up to Mt. Monadnock. There is a trail book for it.