Metro Boston Bike Paths and Trails

Assabet River Rail Trail

A group of citizens is working to establish a 12.5 mile bike and pedestrian path on a long-abandoned railroad right-of-way paralleling the Assabet River through Hudson, Stow, and Maynard, with connections to Marlborough and the MBTA commuter rail station in South Acton. In 1998, all five communities started to acquire land for the trail.

By October 2003, 1.25 miles of the trail are paved in Marlborough and 0.6 miles graded in Maynard. Construction of 5 miles through Hudson and Marlborough was completed in September 2005.

Battle Road Trail

This multi-access 6-mile interpretative, stone-dust surfaced trail is part of the Minute Man National Historical Park in Lincoln and Concord. It provides cycling/walking access to the park's spectacular historical and natural resource areas. Free bike tours are led by park rangers are offered every other Sunday afternoon (June through October). This is for pedestrians, wheelchairs and bikes; if you are trying to get somewhere fast, use either Route 2A, or Virginia Road and Route 62.

Bay Circuit Trail [map]

Focused on a 200 mile corridor of 50 cities and towns, the Bay Circuit Trail is an outer "Emerald Necklace" of metropolitan Boston, linking Plum Island and Newburyport on the North Shore to Duxbury on the South Shore. Over 120 miles of multi-access, passive recreational trail have been dedicated, and the Bay Circuit Alliance is working to build the rest. Some, but not all, of the trail is open to cyclists. Most is unpaved and will remain so.

Bedford Narrow-Gauge Rail-Trail

This three-mile-long stone-dust right-of-way runs from the end of the Minuteman Bikeway in Bedford to Billerica. This bikeway is believed to be the only rail-trail in the country constructed over a two-foot narrow-gauge railroad right-of-way. The route was built in 1877 by the Billerica & Bedford Railroad, America's first two-foot common-carrier railway. In 1885, the line was rebuilt into the standard-gauge Lexington Branch. It was abandoned in 1962.

Fitchburg Cutoff Bikepath

This little-known rail-trail conversion runs for about a mile west from the northwest corner of the Alewife MBTA station to Brighton St. near the Cambridge-Belmont line. The surface is crushed stone, but it can be quite rideable. A useful bypass to Concord Avenue in Cambridge and Lake Street in Arlington, it is maintained by the Metropolitan District Commission as part of the Alewife Brook Reservation. The Mass. Highway Department is planning to cover it with an ADA-acceptable soft surface, and the DCR is thinking of building a bridge to connect it to the Alewife MBTA station. The Town of Belmont is looking at ways to connect their end to Belmont Center, possibly along the unused third track right-of-way of the MBTA's Fitchburg line.

Lexington Bike Routes

Fourteen bicycle routes, 82 miles total, provide convenient ways to travel within Lexington. Most have one end at the town border on a road that enters a neighboring town. Many have the other end at Lexington Center where the first shots of the American Revolution were fired. Others connect to middle schools. Several use or connect with the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway. Three connect with the Minuteman National Historical Park. Each of the routes has separate cue sheets for the ride in each direction. Each cue sheet lists mileage, actions, and landmarks. These rides make good use of existing bicycle paths, identified bicycle lanes, and quiet residential streets.

Minuteman Commuter Bikeway [map]

This MBTA-owned railroad right-of-way runs from the Alewife station in Cambridge through Arlington and Lexington to Bedford. The first hundred yards, from the northwest corner of the Alewife station, under Route 2, and across a field to the original start of the bikeway is being fixed up in 1998. At the Alewife end, the bikeway connects to the previous two bikepaths. At the Bedford end, where the Bedford Depot Park is being built, it connects to an unpaved path to Billerica, the proposed Bedford Narrow-Gauge Rail-Trail. While it was built by the state, maintenance and policing is by the towns of Arlington, Lexington, and Bedford. Menotomy Vintage Bicycles has online maps of the original railroad.
More Minuteman information.

Mystic River Bikepaths [bike trail map ]

The DCR has a system of bikepaths along the Mystic River in Medford and Somerville. It could be connected to the Minuteman Bikeway by a spur along parkland along Alewife Brook, to Boston Harbor with an extension through Charlestown, and to points north.

In 2001, the City of Somerville started working toward a connection across Route 28 on the Somerville side in the Assembly Square area.

Red Line Linear Park Bikepath

When Red Line rapid transit was extended from Davis Square in Somerville to Alewife Brook in Cambridge, it was covered with a surface-level linear park. A wide, paved path runs through this long, narrow park, with only one awkward street crossing at Massachusetts Avenue. There is bicycle access from Cambridge and Somerville to the Alewife MBTA station, where connections can be made to the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway and the Fitchburg Cutoff Bikepath. The park was built by the MBTA and is maintained by the cities of Cambridge and Somerville. An 0.8 mile paved extension of this path from Davis Square to Cedar St. in Somerville was opened in 1995.

Upper Charles Reservation

The Charles River Bikepaths have been extended upstream by the Metropolitan District Commission from Watertown Square on both sides of the river to Bridge St. and on the Newton side of the river from Farwell to Spring St., almost to Moody St. There is a further segment on the north side of the river upstream from Moody St. This is one of the newest bikepaths in Boston and a model of environmentally sensitive design. It is not a high-speed path, but provides many beautiful views of the river and its wildlife. Construction began in 2003 on the missing segment from Bridge St. to Farwell St. Eventually these paths could be extended upstream to the DCR's Cutler Park, Brook Farm, and Mother Brook Reservations. This trail is not to be confused with the Upper Charles Trail, which is many miles upstream, near the headwaters of the same river.

Wompatuck State Park [Map]

Miles of paved paths crisscross this former ammunition depot in Hingham. The terrain is rolling with very little elevation change.