Explore the best rated trails in Amesbury, MA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Stevens Rail Trail and Spicket River Greenway. With more than 81 trails covering 458 miles you’re bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Lowell's Canal System Trails are part of Lowell National Historical Park in Lowell, Massachusetts. The park preserves some of America's industrial past: its 19th-century textile mills formed the first...
Even though the Narrow-Gauge Rail-Trail traces the nation’s first narrow-gauge railroad for 3 miles from Bedford toward Billerica, the mostly crushed-stone path is plenty wide enough now to...
The Whitney Spur Rail Trail runs from just north of the MBTA’s Cohasset Station through dense woodlands to the edge of Wompatuck State Park. The corridor was originally a spur off the Old Colony...
The Spicket River begins in Derry, New Hampshire, through Methuen and Lawrence, Massachusetts, before draining into the Merrimack River. Like many mill towns of the late 19th and 20th centuries, the...
The Cochituate Rail Trail (CRT) is a developing, multi-use trail that will run from the Village of Saxonville in Framingham to Natick Center, a distance of 4 miles. Currently, its northernmost mile in...
The Border to Boston Trail connects the communities of West Peabody, Peabody, Danvers, Topsfield, and Boxford in northeastern Massachusetts. The long-term goal for the trail is to continue it north to...
Spanning 57.6 miles from Lebanon to Boscawen, the Northern Rail Trail is New Hampshire’s longest rail-trail conversion. It weaves through Grafton and Merrimack counties and is less than a 2-hour drive...
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The Southwest Corridor Park (Pierre Lallement Bike Path) knits together neighborhoods in southern Boston from the Back Bay to Jamaica Plain. Popular as a route for commuters as well as casual walkers,...
The Neponset River Greenway is a south Boston jewel, utilizing the best in design and construction standards as it winds through the Neponset River valley, offering a low-stress, high-quality...
The Squannacook River Rail Trail is presently 1.1 miles long, from Depot St. to Old Meetinghouse Road in Townsend, Massachusetts. The trail occupies the Greenville Branch of the Boston and Maine...
Norwell is a suburb about 30 minutes' drive south of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Norwell Pathway, a 2-mile non-motorized trail that was constructed to give residents an alternative way to...
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The Heritage Trail is managed by the state of New Hampshire to provide access to recreational and historical attractions across the state. Eventually, the north-south route along the former Boston and...
About a dozen miles west of Concord, the Stevens Rail Trail offers a quiet, wooded route along the former Concord-Claremont rail line in Contoocook Village. It starts off Krzyzaniak Road and continues...
The North Bank Bridge, which opened in 2012, provides a safe and convenient pedestrian and bicycle connection between Cambridge's North Point Park and Paul Revere Park in Charlestown. Spanning 690...
The Salisbury Rail Trail Connector, also known as the Gillis Rail Trail Connector, is a 0.3-mile link between two rail-trails: Salisbury's Old Eastern Marsh Trail and Newburyport's Clipper City Rail...
The Haggetts Rail Trail is a short, but sweet unpaved trail located on the periphery of Haggetts Pond, the local reservoir for the nearby town of Andover. Built on part of the former line of the...
The Fresh Pond Bikeway runs through Fresh Pond Reservation, a park in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The bikeway winds around the east edge of the Fresh Pond Reservoir. Part of the trail is on a road...
The Nashua Heritage Rail Trail begins adjacent to City Hall on Main Street in downtown Nashua. It is a short trail that takes you through one of the first neighborhoods that was planned and built in...
Bruce N. Freeman was a Massachusetts state representative from 1969 to 1986. Beginning in 1985, he championed the creation of a bike path that would run along the former Penn Central railroad line...
The Charles River Bike Path, also referred to as the Charles River Greenway, offers a paved, 22-mile route from Boston to its western suburbs. The trail is also part of a larger, developing network...
The Tri-Community Greenway follows the route of the Boston and Lowell Railroad and its Stoneham Branch, originally built to serve Stoneham’s shoe factories and provide passenger service. The trail...
The South Bay Harbor Trail connects several Boston neighborhoods—Lower Roxbury, the South End, Chinatown, and Fort Point Channel—to the Boston Harbor. The trail spans nearly 4 miles from Ruggles...
The Piscataquog Trail, though only about 2 miles long, provides a vital off-road link between the communities on the western side of the Merrimack River (the West Side of Manchester) to several parks...
The Assabet River Rail Trail connects five old mill towns that owe their revitalization to present-day high-tech industries. A midpoint gap splits the 8.6-mile paved trail, though long-range plans...
Spanning 57.6 miles from Lebanon to Boscawen, the Northern Rail Trail is New Hampshire’s longest rail-trail conversion. It weaves through Grafton and Merrimack counties and is less than a 2-hour drive...
The Nashua Heritage Rail Trail begins adjacent to City Hall on Main Street in downtown Nashua. It is a short trail that takes you through one of the first neighborhoods that was planned and built in...
The 28.9-mile Eastern Trail connects the historic towns along Maine’s southern coast from the woods near Kennebunk to South Portland’s harbor lighthouse. Nearly 22 miles of the route follows off-road...
The Farmington Recreational Rail-Trail runs for 6 miles between the towns of Rochester and Farmington. The trail parallels the Cocheco River and State Route 11 through a wooded corridor. The trail is...
Barker Road Trail begins on the town line between North Andover and Boxford in northern Massachusetts, not far from the New Hampshire border. From there, the pathway continues through dense woodlands...
This exquisitely maintained trail slices through forested areas and wetlands for a wonderful experience in southern New Hampshire. The trail will eventually be part of the Granite State Rail Trail,...
The Charles River Bike Path, also referred to as the Charles River Greenway, offers a paved, 22-mile route from Boston to its western suburbs. The trail is also part of a larger, developing network...
The Head’s Pond Trail (formerly known as Hooksett Rail Trail) is a 1.9-mile rail-trail that visits two scenic ponds, including the eponymous Head’s Pond, in a woodsy area of Hooksett. The trail’s...
Although less than a mile, the trail running through Salisbury Beach State Reservation offers lovely views of the beaches off the northeastern coast of Massachusetts, just a few miles south of the New...
The New Boston Rail Trail follows the former railroad corridor of the same name for 3.9 miles through densely wooded areas in the town of New Boston. The railroad was in operation from 1893 to 1931,...
The Reformatory Branch Trail connects the historical towns of Bedford and Concord along a nearly 4-mile dirt path through wildlife refuges that ends a short distance from the North Bridge, the...
The Northern Strand Community Trail is part of the visionary and almost-complete Bike to the Sea plan to link Boston and the Mystic River to the seashore in Lynn, north of Boston. It currently runs...
The Old Eastern Marsh Trail (a.k.a the Salisbury Rail Trail) runs for 1.4 miles between the north bank of the Merrimack River and Mudnock Road in Salisbury. The beautifully landscaped trail was built...
The Haggetts Rail Trail is a short, but sweet unpaved trail located on the periphery of Haggetts Pond, the local reservoir for the nearby town of Andover. Built on part of the former line of the...
The Cotton Valley Rail Trail connects the small town of Wakefield, near the Maine border, and the quintessentially quaint New England vacation town of Wolfeboro. In 2017 the towns held a...
The Whitney Spur Rail Trail runs from just north of the MBTA’s Cohasset Station through dense woodlands to the edge of Wompatuck State Park. The corridor was originally a spur off the Old Colony...
When complete, the Salem Bike-Ped Corridor will run for more than 5 miles on a former Boston and Maine Railroad corridor from connections with the Windham Rail Trail (north) and Methuen Rail Trail...
Lowell's Canal System Trails are part of Lowell National Historical Park in Lowell, Massachusetts. The park preserves some of America's industrial past: its 19th-century textile mills formed the first...
The Bridge Street Bike Trail begins near Curtis Park and travels south through downtown Salem, closely following the Bridge Street Bypass. The short trail runs through residential, retail and...
The Nashua Heritage Rail Trail begins adjacent to City Hall on Main Street in downtown Nashua. It is a short trail that takes you through one of the first neighborhoods that was planned and built in...
Although short, the scenic Gloria Braunhardt Bike Path travels through forests and pastures full of birds and wildlife. The asphalt pathway parallels the eastern side of the present-day Interstate 95...
The Cotton Valley Rail Trail connects the small town of Wakefield, near the Maine border, and the quintessentially quaint New England vacation town of Wolfeboro. In 2017 the towns held a...
Currently 1.8 miles, the Salisbury Point Ghost Trail provides a peaceful walk or bike ride through the woods on a well-maintained stone-dust trail. The route is one part of the larger Coastal Trails...
The Mason Railroad Trail runs for nearly 7 miles from near the New HampshireMassachusetts border (nr. Townsend, MA) to Greenville, NH. The trail follows a heavily wooded corridor through Russell...
The Mystic River Greenway is part of the Mystic Greenways trail system, which also includes the Wellington Greenway and the Malden River Greenway. When completed, the trail will connect the...
The Salisbury Rail Trail Connector, also known as the Gillis Rail Trail Connector, is a 0.3-mile link between two rail-trails: Salisbury's Old Eastern Marsh Trail and Newburyport's Clipper City Rail...
The Quarries Foot Path offers a wooded 1-mile hiking route in western Quincy, about 10 miles south of Boston. Begin your adventure on the south side of Ricciuti Drive, which borders Quincy Quarries...
The Middleton Rail Trail is a trail project along the former Essex Railroad. When complete, the trail will stretch 4.5 miles through the town, and perhaps join the Danvers Rail Trail. Phase I of the...
The Sanford-Springvale Rail Trail (also known as Railroad Trail) traverses the woods on either side of Sanford’s scenic Springvale community in southern Maine. Founded by a mill owner in the 17th...
The Northern Strand Community Trail is part of the visionary and almost-complete Bike to the Sea plan to link Boston and the Mystic River to the seashore in Lynn, north of Boston. It currently runs...
The developing Upper Charles Trail will one day total 24 miles, linking the communities of Milford, Ashland, Sherborn, Holliston, Framingham, and Hopkinton along a former railroad bed. As of 2018,...
The Windham Rail Trail passes through the woodsy periphery of Windham in southern New Hampshire, but it sits in the heart of the future cross-state Granite State Rail Trail. Its connections to the...
The 28.9-mile Eastern Trail connects the historic towns along Maine’s southern coast from the woods near Kennebunk to South Portland’s harbor lighthouse. Nearly 22 miles of the route follows off-road...
The Bay Colony Rail Trail will one day span 7 miles connecting the Boston suburbs of Newton, Needham, Dover, and Medfield along tracks once used by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority. In May...
The Assabet River Rail Trail connects five old mill towns that owe their revitalization to present-day high-tech industries. A midpoint gap splits the 8.6-mile paved trail, though long-range plans...
Spanning 57.6 miles from Lebanon to Boscawen, the Northern Rail Trail is New Hampshire’s longest rail-trail conversion. It weaves through Grafton and Merrimack counties and is less than a 2-hour drive...
The trail is mostly flat, though it could be wider and there are lots of bumps from roots and erosion. It does pass through several small towns, so it is worth a small detour off of the path to see the towns. The path is not the most scenic route in the area, but for exercise and seeing new places it is fine. I rode this in the Summer, so I expect the trail to be gorgeous in the Autumn when the leaves change.
Not sure why this particular trail gets top reviews. Maybe for walking and scenery. I'll give it that but for biking it sucks. The entire paved trail is nothing but divots and tree roots trying to break through the surface. I found it impossible to bike any short distance without hitting a marked or unmarked divot and when not hitting one of those a tree root. I hit numerous imperfections at 20+mph (no one around at the time) and almost got knocked off the bike. Thumbs UP for walking, dumbs DOWN for biking.
Ran the length of the trail to set up a Fastest Known Time segment. Was surprised by how beautiful the whole trail was, and how much the flora changed throughout. Id like to go back at a slower pace and stop at some of the towns it crosses (like Raymond and Epping)
Didnt realize there was a rail trail that ran through Rochester/Farmington, and came upon it by accident. Rochester side has more parking, and a few short side trails in a nice little park. The trail is a mix of gravel, dirt, sand. Had no issues running the length of it.
Start at Londonderry (by airport) trail is 4.5 miles ends at A neighborhood… google the mile trek to Derry Trail Head - the Derry trail is 3.9 miles (make sure you stop at the Grind on the Rail Trail for lunch! In Derry!) then connects to the Windham Rail Trail which is 4.3 miles and will continue another 5 miles in Salem NH.
Finally did what I wanted to do for years. Biked from Northfield using the Lake Winnipesaukee trail to the Northern Rail Trail to the Fireside Inn in Lebanon NH. This was a weekend bike trip I wanted to do for a long time and had the perfect weather. My suggestion if you are going north and want to connect to the Northern Rail Trail instead of back tracking I would take Chance Pond Road. Once you go up the road a little cut to the right before the bridge going across the road. That bridge is part of the Northern Rail Trail. The hill to get to the bridge is quite steep so I recommend to walk the bike. Once on the bridge free sailing. My half way mark was the Danbury Country Store. They are very friendly to bikers and if you have an ebike they have a charging port on the right hand side of the store. Also have a deck on the front of the store with tables and chairs where you can have a meal while the bike is charging. Deli inside to grab something to eat.
Will say the more north you go the rougher the trail becomes. Some spots is an overkill of gravel that is very loose. Not very safe where you are trying to keep your balance and difficult to get any speed. Other than that a lot of lakes and scenery along the way. If you are using Google Maps along the trip it will suggest to get off the trail for 2 miles and get back on the trail. I recommend to stay on the trail. The fireside inn in Lebanon was about 1.5 miles off the trail and the hotel is bike friendly. You are in walking distance of a Walgreens and restaurants near by. Also there is free breakfast in the morning. A lot of off ramps along the trail for eatery which I believe was set up for snowmobiles in the winter time but if your bike has good suspension they are usable for bikers also. If you are using an ebike like I was the trip is durable as long as you save your power on the inclines and heavy gravel spots. The Danbury Country Store is ideal for charging as you take a break.
There is one spot on the trail you want to be careful on. On the way back past Enfield there is a steep incline with a pond to the right of you. To your left is a metal frame for a bridge and the trail is very narrow and a blind turn to the left. If someone was coming my way it would of been a major accident. I can't stress enough to be careful there.
Overall a fun bike trip if you are up for the challenge. I could of done each day trip within 5 to 6 hours but decided to take my time and do a lot of stops along the way and take pictures. I recommend to do the same.
The paved and complete section is 2.0 miles long from the Windham Rail Trail to the Salem Main Street Depot. The next 1.3 miles are under development with CMAQ grants helping. The remaining distance to Methuen is not complete or funded but passable on a regrind surface. This 5.2 mile Salem corridor is the south link of the Granite State Rail Trail. (Submitted by Dave Topham, FSBPC Co-Chair & Treasurer)
I ran 8 miles of the trail and it was perfect! Lots of shade, mostly flat and all paved. Around mile 1 you have to pay attention to where the trail goes since you cross a street but other than that everything is clearly marked. I felt safe and there were even porta potties along the run at certain mile markers. Didn’t use them, but it could come in handy one day! Lovely trail for runners, bikers and walkers of all ages. Definitely coming back again!
This is locally known as the Danvers Rail Trail, runs through Hamilton, then Topsfield, until it ends at I-95. Nice crushed stone from Danvers north, packed stone south, packed dirt in Topsfield. Sides of the trail near marshland are covered with poison ivy spring and summer. big roads with lights at 62, 97 (twice) route a joy to ride. Forest, water
I only started riding this trail this year and after primarily riding rail trails I found it a refreshing challenge. It varies in elevation so it is more challenging than say a Londonderry or Derry. However the best part is that it is MUCH less crowded! I tend to go here on the weekends simply because there won’t be nearly as many people on it. There are a few places to park along the trail, but I recommend the fire station or school. It is not the most scenic ride (it is not bad by any means but not as good as other trails), but the challenge and convenience factors rate it high in my book.
This trail goes along a road, through residential areas and by a couple of parks. It's very safe with some road crossings. It's a bit confusing because the bike path continues after the "End" sign. If you're particularly looking for a scenic ride, this isn't it. However, it's the perfect trail for commuting or to go back and forth on to put in some miles.
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