Explore the best rated trails in Candia, NH, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Northern Rail Trail and Warner Rail Trail and Bagley Rail Trail . With more than 100 trails covering 651 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.
We hit this little trail on a warm afternoon when we had two hours unscheduled. The Leominster end was fine and the Fitchburg end was rather a rough neighborhood. We were riding tandem, so the many stops were slightly vexing. We spent most of the ride shifting down to dismount or shifting up from dismounting. There were plenty of dining options all along the route, and ice cream at the parking spot. Room for 6 cars, but plenty more right at the municipal Carter Park. At 0.2 miles, we smelled something really good. Ate lunch at Taqueria El Amigo 2. It was a very nice little Mexican restaurant with pineapple, mandarin, and other interesting sodas. The food was very good.
The Methuen Rail Trail was beautiful, but short. Strongly recommend it if in the area.
To extend the ride, we connected to the Spicket River Greenway.
We only went half way, into Lawrence.
Spicket River Greenway trail was filled with homeless people, trash / litter, and bad smells. We felt VERY unsafe and turned around.
Not Recommended
First off. . . Glad that they finally did something with that stretch of track. I use to ride my mountain bike along them. The trail itself is very nice, clean and wide. To echo, what others have stated, why too many stops and stoplights. Definitely a great walking path. Also, it just ends. . . You get to the end at Fourth St - Fitchburg and the signage tells you to take a left, then a right, onto Middle St. then a right onto First St and it just ends?! I hope the complete more.
Tried riding this trail with a regular (skinny tire) bike. That's close to impossible. It's pretty obvious the trail has not been and is not maintained. It's rutted, has tree roots across it , has wet, muddy areas and worst of all, it has sections of very soft sand that make biking on it nearly impossible. It crosses NH Rte.11, a major two lane 55MPH highway, so be prepared. It is definitely not handicapped accessible. There are no facilities of any kind along or adjacent to the trail. Overall, a huge disappointment.
Nine riders went in. Only 4 came out without injury. Dangerous crossings over rails. Zigzag back and forth across tracks. Why not stay on just one side???? Needs maintenance to make it safer.
Just did this trail today from Range Road in Windham to Derry. This is a great trail and was surprisingly not that busy for July 3rd. One tiny observation, we attempted to start at the Willow St. parking area in Salem across from Dodge Grain. Things have changed there since the Rail Trail map was done, there is no parking anywhere there now. Some company has signs saying non-company business parkers will be towed. Thus we went north. However, it looks like there is an empty lot at the Main St. - Central St. intersection across from the Depot Museum in Salem. It looks to be safe to park there and the rail trail is a few steps away.
Overall this is a great trail and one of my favorites, but I'll give you the detailed breakdown from North to South. Starting near the YMCA in Winchendon it is a beautiful paved trail with great scenery and lots of good parking here and a little further down near Glenallen Street. Just after you cross the large bridge at the beginning, there is an inconspicuous and not very inviting junction with the unpaved Ware River Rail Trail on the right that I have not ridden. I rode all the way down to North Ashburnham Road where I turned right, took a right on Route 12 for a short bit, then turned left on Old Gardner Road to get to the next section of paved trail and skipped the unpaved portion between Route 12 and Old Gardner Road. This next section is very nice as well, although I'm not a fan of the underpass at Commercial Drive because it collects water at the bottom even during the summer. I always ride the narrow dirt track over the top to avoid the water in the tunnel. There is at least one maintenance station between here and Route 140 and a few benches to stop and rest on. Once you cross Route 140, I'm not a big fan. There are no muddy spots, but that's because a lot of crushed stone has been placed in sections on the trail which makes for a very rough ride. I'm hoping this crushed stone is a prelude to placing some compacted crushed gravel for a better riding surface. We shall see. I stopped at Park Street and then rode down into Gardner from there. It is all very nice and it would be 5 stars if the southern section had a better surface.
I have been waiting to try this route for several years. Always hearing that it wasn’t close to being finished. I was very disappointed to see firsthand that virtually nothing has been done for those years. The first mile from Concord is covered with packed cinder, but beyond that the trail is still raw and rough with exposed rocks and roots. Not sure why this project has stalled but I will not be riding it or supporting it until domething more is done to show progress. tiding it ir supporting it until I see something
Ok, I recently purchased a ‘24 Trek Checkpoint ALR 5 axs gravel bike. This section of trail is absolutely amazing. Roughly 26.3 miles round trip from West Boylston to Rutland. Starting in West Boylston, Ma you head west. The trail is hard packed dirt. Smoother than most roads in Mass! ¿ No, seriously! Just be careful, this section up to the I-190 bridges, there’s usually a lot of traffic. Especially people with doggos. Some more cognizant than others. But once you cross under the bridges, no dogs are allowed and the traffic thins out. The best section is at the parking lot on Mill St - Holden. It’s packed gravel and as wide a road. It meanders up to the mail Trail and is packed gravel all the way until you hit construction on the trail. So much fun!!!
Rode from Lebanon to Grafton, beautiful trail, especially for a gravel bike. There some single track sections, but that added to experience. Loved the fact that it crossed the river many times thus many bridges and several tunnels.
Not even really a rail trail. You are biking under double electric lines. There is no posting at the Pond Street entrance. Also, a quarter mile in, there is a no trespassing sign right on the trail so you have to take a longer loop around on surface streets to get back under the power lines. Not scenic at all. I've done about 18 trails throughout MA and NH and this is the worst trail I have been on. Why is this even listed here?
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