Explore the best rated trails in Bridgewater, MA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Bridge Street Bike Trail and Independence Greenway. With more than 76 trails covering 462 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.
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 Shining Sea Bikeway follows the route of a former railroad line run by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, which ran service to New York and Boston from 1872 to 1965. After the...
The West Warwick Riverwalk is located in a park just behind West Warwick High School and John F. Deering Middle School. The paved trail goes for about a mile north following the Pawtuxet River. A...
Many commuters choose the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway for freedom from congested traffic in the northwest Boston suburbs. For others, the 10.1-mile paved trail between Cambridge and Bedford serves as a...
More and more, airport lands near previously under-used rail corridors are being transformed from largely neglected vacant lands into urban greenways. These new vibrant spaces are used not only by...
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 Putnam River Trail extends between Arch Street in the Putnam District and Providence Street to the south. The trail follows the east bank of the Quinebaug River between the river and Kennedy...
The Swampscott Rail Trail is a developing rail-trail in the North Shore community of Swampscott. The trail, when complete will extend two miles through the heart of the town ending with a seamless...
The URI (University of Rhode Island) Bike Path provides a safe conduit for students, faculty and staff to commute to and from school via the William C. O'Neill Bike Path. The asphalt, two-lane path...
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 Quinebaug Valley Rail Trail runs on the corridor once occupied by the Southbridge & Blackstone line of the Providence & Worcester Railroad, transforming a corridor once designed to link rural...
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...
Beginning from Calf Pasture Point Beach, the Quonset Point Bike Path offers a short-but-sweet path across North Kingstown on Rhode Island's eastern coastline. The 2.5-mile paved pathway is ideal for...
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 Fred Lippitt Woonasquatucket River Greenway provides a valuable crosstown connector of nearly 7 miles from downtown Providence to the city’s western neighborhoods and the nearby town of Johnston....
Though the idea for a Cape Cod Canal goes back to the settlers of Plymouth Colony, the waterway didn’t begin construction until 1909. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took over operation and...
The Phoenix Bike Trail cruises through a mixture of surroundings on its relatively short 4-mile journey from the heart of the historical Fairhaven seaport to woodlands and farms on the outskirts of...
With spectacular maritime views and an abundance of coastal wildlife, the East Bay Bike Path offers a spectacular New England experience. Inducted into the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame in 2009, the route...
The 5.3-mile Independence Greenway makes for a pleasant ride, providing access to lakes, parks, and nature preserves. The paved pathway is located in the town of Peabody (pronounced by locals as...
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 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 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...
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...
The Stillwater Scenic Walkway is a short trail that follows an old railroad bed between Capron Road and State Route 104 (Farnum Pike) south of Smithfield. The trail passes through a wooded area along...
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 5.3-mile Independence Greenway makes for a pleasant ride, providing access to lakes, parks, and nature preserves. The paved pathway is located in the town of Peabody (pronounced by locals as...
The Quinebaug River Trail exists in two segments in northwest Connecticut. The northern section parallels Park Road and Tracy Road for about 2 miles in an industrial section of Putnam with few trail...
Ten Mile River Greenway, named for the waterway it parallels and not its length, runs 3 miles through a serene and green corridor connecting the City of East Providence and Pawtucket. The southern end...
The Boxford Rail Trail is a short, rustic pathway open on a former rail corridor in rural Essex County. Now home to overhead electric wires owned by National Grid, the trail is open via a license...
The Fred Lippitt Woonasquatucket River Greenway provides a valuable crosstown connector of nearly 7 miles from downtown Providence to the city’s western neighborhoods and the nearby town of Johnston....
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 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 health and fortunes of Lowell have been intimately tied to the Concord River for hundreds of years. This tributary of the more well-known Merrimack River continues to be at the heart of the local...
The Pine Tree Brook Trail travels alongside the brook in Milton, Massachusetts. The path travels through woods and residential neighborhoods for a distance of about 1.8 miles, and it connects to the...
Imagine a wealthy 19th-century textile mill owner building an 8-mile railroad to get coal to his plant or products to market, and then adding accommodations to carry vacationers to beach resorts or...
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...
Boston's Rose Kennedy Greenway may not be very long, but it's jam-packed with attractions. Along the paved pathway, you can access five parks, be wowed by public art, stop to smell the flowers in...
Though the idea for a Cape Cod Canal goes back to the settlers of Plymouth Colony, the waterway didn’t begin construction until 1909. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took over operation and...
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...
The Chelsea Greenway was built to accompany the extension of the Silver Line between Boston and its northern suburb, Chelsea. The asphalt multiuse trail begins at the Eastern Avenue MBTA station and...
The New Bedford Covewalk, like the HarborWalk further east, sits atop the hurricane barrier built to protect New Bedford residents from storm surges during extreme weather. Even when it's nice out...
Many commuters choose the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway for freedom from congested traffic in the northwest Boston suburbs. For others, the 10.1-mile paved trail between Cambridge and Bedford serves as a...
The Chelsea Greenway was built to accompany the extension of the Silver Line between Boston and its northern suburb, Chelsea. The asphalt multiuse trail begins at the Eastern Avenue MBTA station and...
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...
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 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 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...
Closure Notice: Starting March 15, 2021, the Lecount Hollow trailhead and parking lot will be closed as the DCR works on extending the trail; please consult the official project site for the latest...
The Head of the Meadow Trail offers a pleasant winding route through woodlands and marshlands tantalizingly close to the Atlantic Ocean in Truro. In fact, direct access to two of the Cape Cod National...
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 Shining Sea Bikeway follows the route of a former railroad line run by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, which ran service to New York and Boston from 1872 to 1965. After the...
This 5.8-mile trail is part of the planned East Coast Greenway, an off-road path that will eventually run from Calais, Maine, to Key West, Florida. The Moosup Valley State Park Trail will connect with...
The Center Trail runs for less than a mile from Hopkinton's downtown to its high school and middle school, providing a safe route to school for thousands of students. The wooded trail, which once...
The Fred Lippitt Woonasquatucket River Greenway provides a valuable crosstown connector of nearly 7 miles from downtown Providence to the city’s western neighborhoods and the nearby town of Johnston....
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...
Imagine a wealthy 19th-century textile mill owner building an 8-mile railroad to get coal to his plant or products to market, and then adding accommodations to carry vacationers to beach resorts or...
The Putnam River Trail extends between Arch Street in the Putnam District and Providence Street to the south. The trail follows the east bank of the Quinebaug River between the river and Kennedy...
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 Mattapoisett Rail Trail is a work in progress. As of autumn 2011, it runs for just more than 1 mile between Reservation Road at Mattapoisett Harbor and the Phoenix Bike Trail in Fairhaven, joining...
The World War II Veterans Memorial Trail opened in Mansfield in 2004 after several decades of advocacy by local rail-trail supporters. The trail rests on an abandoned corridor once served by the Old...
We parked at India Point. Don't do that! It requires going up a ramp to cross the bridge (which fortunately has a bike and pedestrian corridor), and then downhill to an uninspiring part of town, then a lot of downhill until you get to the beautiful part of the path. Of course, when you finish, on a hot summer day, you have all that uphill to do in the open sunshine on the way back. We saw many opportunities to park along the path.
Other than that, the path is easy and beautiful and fairly shady, at least to Barrington, which is where we turned back (reluctantly).
My actual rating on this one is 2.5 stars. One glorious day, probably in a couple of decades, this will be an amazing trail. Right now, it is an extremely mixed bag, and very challenging to do all the way. Me and the friends I rode with didn't make it to the end.
We started on this one as a continuation of the Air Line State Park Trail in Connecticut, heading from west to east, with the Forge Park/495 train station as our destination. The Douglas portion of this one was fine; none of it is paved, but it's maintained, free of ballast and standing water, and our bikes (one loaded tourer and two old-fashioned/90s mountain bikes) were fine on it, if not quite as fast as they would be on asphalt. There was very little traffic; most of the way was reasonably shaded, and the grades are gentle. At some point in Douglas State Forest, it starts skewing downhill, but not really enough to be noticeable. I probably wouldn't take a road bike on it, but a decent all-purpose bike should do fine.
Things became a little harder in Uxbridge. The trail got narrower, rockier, with some overgrowth. There were some pools of standing water, felled trees, the occasional stretch of ballast, and a few above-grade road crossings (i.e., steep hill to the road, then steep hill to get back on the trail), and heavy damage from ATVs. I, on a touring bike, was able to negotiate it, but I had to *negotiate*. And, more than once, walk my bike.
Things continued to be mediocre-to-challenging as we we approached Route 146. At the highway -- which is an uncrossable, shadless, multi-lane freeway -- the trail became complete garbage. We waded through deep pools of standing water and fought our way through fetid, swampy overgrowth before the way basically just disappeared. We had to ride *right* next to the highway itself for a short distance to find a steep, rocky little side path that drops you onto a surface road.
According to the information we had, the trail could be reacquired by riding through some nearby industrial parking lots, but this turned out not to be the case. Thank Cthulhu for Google Maps, because it seems you actually have to detour about a mile on the local roads, which are wide, fast, and without shade, in order to find the entrance to the Blackstone River Greenway, which is the next stretch of the trail. There is next to no signage for any of this.
After the mess that was Uxbridge, the BRG was *exceptional*. Smooth, shady, not heavily trafficked, and some beautiful views from river bridges. I enjoyed every single foot of it. Unfortunately, it dead-ends at a bridge that's still under construction. We needed to leave the BRG anyway, since it will ultimately connect to an existing trail in Rhode Island.
Returning to surface streets, there was no sign of the trail at this point, so we consulted Google Maps again and went up Castle Hill Way, which is a subdivision of condos, devoid of any indication that the trail's right-of-way is there. You have to ride up the road and then go through a little grassy area to get to the gate where the trail picks up. It was doable, but rocky and overgrown, with pockets of ballast and standing water, and stretches damaged by ATVs. Fun for mountain and gravel bikers, maybe, but not so much for us. There was a fenced-off road crossing, but we could maneuver our bikes around it.
The trail continued to be in poor condition, and eventually, somewhere in Bellingham, we ran into a long section of standing water and ballast. Amid the bugs, the heat, and the horrible, nearly impassable terrain, we decided we'd had enough and exited onto Old Elm St., taking the road the rest of the way. Had we gone another mile or so, we would have reached Center St., which we'd heard is where the trail becomes a smoothly paved path all the way to Grove St. in Franklin. We did pass an intersection with the trail on our way to the train station, so that seems to be correct.
So, as I said, this will be an incredible bike path one day. For now, except for the Douglas section, the Blackstone River Greenway ,and the paved section in Franklin and Bellingham, it is best used by people with strong mountain/gravel biking skills, and equipment to match. The painful parts are just not worth it.
Rode this with some friend, starting in Cranston, all the way to the end. I thought it was great! Good pavement and well-shaded in Cranston and Coventry, although things got a touch bumpy in West Warwick due to tree roots, and there was less shade there as well. Oh, and there wasn't much traffic either, which is a nice change from what I'm used to. Overall, it was everything I want in a rail trail, except for one thing: going from east to west, the last few miles are a steady climb. Since this is a rail trail, it's a relatively gentle climb, but it's constant and your legs will feel it. My advice is to shift to a slightly easier gear, get a good cadence going, and just take your time!
Rode most of this with some friends. I was on a hardcore touring bike (Surly Disc Trucker), under load, and they were on older '90s-style mountain bikes. We made it, but a lot of it was rough going. Many parts are rocky and heavily damaged by ATVs. We occasionally had to slog through deep pools of standing water and mud; this was also the case on the Trestle Trail in Rhode Island, with which this trail connects. Overall, on the bikes we had with us, it wasn't much fun. If you're a causal rider and prefer paved rail trails, you won't have a good time. But, if you have a very capable gravel or mountain bike, and you know how to use it, then you might enjoy this one. Otherwise, avoid. Hopefully this trail gets fixed up and at least re-graded and re-surfaced someday, but I'm not holding my breath.
This bike path is delightful - for all ages and abilities. Two negatives: lack of restrooms if you start from India Point/Veteran's Parkway. From the first lot at Veteran's Parkway, it is 3 miles to the coffee shop on the path which understandably their restroom is for paying customers only. The coffee shop is locally-owned and has outdoor seating right on the path! The next restroom I believe is in a state park (not Colt) but they are often locked. After that there is a port-a-potty after Police Cove Park, after you cross the bridge tucked next to a gas station.
Cyclists rarely announce they are passing you, a bike mirror is a must for your own safety since inconsiderate cyclists are a threat to you.
There is a bike shop on the route as well, which we had to use for minor repair, shoutout for great service. A smoothie/juice place, a taco truck, ice cream stand, you will encounter all on this trail. A national chain coffee shop is tucked in the Shaw's plaza at the major road crossing. You will not go hungry or thirsty!
In Bristol there is a plethora of delicious eateries and a waterfront park, plenty of grass and benches to relax.
Enjoy, ride safely, and thank you to the pioneers who made this path possible.
Lovely little trail with appealing detours into small parks. Great for kids as well as adults. I recommend parking in Riverside Park. Check out Red Shed biking programs for kids which uses this greenway.
I went from West St., Uxbridge, MA to the Connecticut boarder, it was around 8 1/2 miles on the way and over 16 miles round trip. Nice ride, saw 1 horse along the ride along with a few walkers and bikers.
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
Way too many 2 to 4 inch root bumps.
Bring a mountain Bike.
Or one with massive shocks.
Be careful of your wrists
From Orleans to Wellfleet there must be over 250. Maybe MA should give some Fed funds to removal and steel root barriers
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails conservancy
(a non-profit) and we need your support!
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!
Map Search
_188312_st.jpg)
_17076_st.jpg)
