Central Mass. Bike Paths and Trails

Southern New England Trunkline Trail

This 20-mile-long, multiple-use, unpaved trail runs between the Franklin and Douglas State Forests. It connects to other trails in Connecticut and Rhode Island and is recognized as a National Recreational Trail. It is owned and maintained by the DEM.

Worcester Bike Trails

Biking & Hiking Worcester, a map published in 1999 by the City of Worcester, shows existing and proposed bike routes which will eventually connect most of the greenspace in the city to the Blackstone River Heritage Park. Half of the routes are complete. Paths go through Green Hill and Hadwien Parks. For further information, contact the Worcester Office of Planning and Community Development at (508)799-1400.

Massachusetts Central Rail Trail

This path is being promoted by Wachusett Greenways, The first stone-dust-surfaced 1-1/3-mile segment runs westward from Oakdale to just short of I-190 and opened in October 1997. It was built by the town of West Boylston with a grant from the DEM Greenways Program, and materials from DEM. Eventually the trail will be 30 miles long between Sterling and Oakham/Barre. The 104-mile long Central Massachusetts rail line originally ran from Boston to Northampton. The eastern end includes the Fitchburg Cutoff in Cambridge and the Wayside Rail Trail from Belmont to Berlin, and an interesting, privately-owned possibility between Berlin and the Wachusett Reservoir. To the west, it goes south of the Quabbin Reservoir, through Ware, Palmer, and Belchertown, becoming to the Norwottuck Trail between Amherst and Northampton.

Nashua River Rail Trail [Map] [Photos]

In the north central part of the Commonwealth, a 11-mile-long trail is being built along the Hollis Branch, a corridor running from Ayer to Dunstable through Groton and Pepperell. This path will have a 12-foot paved cyclist/skater trail, and a parallel 6-foot wide equestrian/pedestrian trail, separated by a 10-foot median. Final plans were completed in September 1997, and construction by the MHD finally began in the spring of 2001, with the first half completed by the end of that year. By fall of 2002, the entire trail has been paved. Danny O'Brien (727-3160 x557) is the DEM contact.

North Central Pathway

This mile of paved bike path in Gardner starts at the Veterans Memorial Skating Rink parking lot (corner of Park St. & Central St. (Rt. 101)), and travels north along Crystal Lake ending at the edge of the Gardner Municipal Golf Course on Green St. There is a paved parking lot on the Green St. end (across from Mt. Wachusett Community College). There is a proposal to extend the trail in 2 directions from Green St. One spur would go over to the Heritage State Park at Dunn's Pond on Rt. 101 in Gardner. A longer spur is proposed to travel north into Winchendon along an old rail bed which continues on into New Hampshire.

As of the summer of 2004, it looks like this trail has reached Route 140 from Winchendon, and there is supposed to be another piece done in Gardner. Eventually the trail will link downtown Gardner to downtown Winchendon, for a total length of 12-16 miles (depending on the source of the information).

Ware River Rail-Trail

This unpaved state-owned trail is open for public use from Coldbrook to Baldwinville. An on-road detour is necessary through the village of Baldwinville, but the right-of-way is open for public use on an informal basis from the outskirts of Baldwinville to the outskirts of Winchendon, except where it is blocked by the Route 2 embankment 0.9 miles north of Templeton. Two rights-of-way extend into New Hampshire from Winchendon, making this trail a key link in an extensive network of interstate trails.