Looking for the best trails around Gardner?

Explore the best rated trails in Gardner, MA, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Mystic River Greenway and Somerville Community Path . With more than 106 trails covering 777 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.

Recent Trail Reviews

West River Trail (Windham County)

gorgeous fall ride

October, 2025 by darylmarlisa

We started at the marina restaurant at the south end of the trail and rode 3.5 miles on the rail trail section, with another 2 miles on Rice Farm & Quarries roads. Beautiful vistas of the river, rock formations, changing leaves. Esp impressive was the overhead highway bridge built with long tapering multicolored stone supports, representing tree branches. Under the arched stone supports is a picnic table & patio area. A few protruding stones/tree roots need to be managed but biking is very possible on this trail and should be included in the list of options for use.

Monadnock Recreational Rail Trail

A little rough, but good trail.

October, 2025 by toddburrparts

Well, used multiple vehicle vehicles. Maintenance vehicle working on trail . Good views. Will ride again.

Upper Charles Trail

lots of street crossings

September, 2025 by chleary11

This is a good trail, but if you start in Milford and do the entire checkmark there are a lot of street crossings. The pretty parts of the trail are nice and shady and wooded, but there is a fair amount of commercial areas that you have to get through. It’s nice and flat and there are lots of parking areas along the way. My gps did not take me to a parking lot but when I put the trail into AllTrails I got accurate directions.

Accordion

Bruce Freeman Rail Trail

Great ride!!!

September, 2025 by johnbuckley62

Beautiful!

Valley Trail

Rode 2.5 miles from Wilmington north on mountain tire bikes and it is doable but rough with roots and rocks. Nice bridges but missing signage in some areas, others well marked. No washout areas close to Wilmington.

September, 2025 by dlonzo

Rode 2.5 miles from Wilmington north on mountain tire bikes and it is doable but rough with roots and rocks. Nice bridges but missing signage in some areas, others well marked. No washout areas close to Wilmington.

Merrimack River Greenway Trail

MRGT

September, 2025 by saaigb

Really nice accessible trail for people of all abilities. Wheelchair friendly and just shy of all the requirements to be classified as a Universal Access Trail. Very well thought out trail, Bravo!!

Rockingham Recreational Rail Trail (Portsmouth Branch)

Worth every pedal

September, 2025 by emailforpablo

From Massabesic Lake parking lot to Raymond and back. Beautiful ride. Keep an eye on rocks on the trail. Otherwise, well marked and excellent ride in nature to pretty much all to yourself. Enjoy!

West River Trail (Windham County)

Lovely birthday ride

September, 2025 by diatom1

We rode to the end of the trail, then continued on Rice Farm Rd. to the dangerous intersection. we missed the entrance to the trail on the way back, so got a good workout on some hilly spots on the road.
On the packed sand patches, keep an eye out for roots that can be a bit dicey. In some spots along the gravel sections, the gravel can be a bit loose, so pay attention to the trail.

Ashuelot Recreational Rail Trail

Awesome Trail!

September, 2025 by mtheis.45

First time and loved it! I rode the entire route, starting at the south end parking lot. (42.758592, -72.471175) This trail has some unique features and the scenery is beautiful as you ride next to the river and through the woods. As a former rail, this trail has nice and gradual elevation changes and has fun bridges, which all seem to be maintained well.

At the time of my ride (end of Aug, '25) there were a couple of detours around mile 14 and 16 (heading north) but they have good (not great) detour signs listed to continue the route with a short road detour. As some folks mentioned, there are a few areas that look like they would be pretty wet during the wet season, but I had no issues with any area of the trail and never had to stop for downed trees in the way.

I rode my gravel setup (no suspension, 35mm tires) and had a blast! I'd highly recommend the trail and hope to be back for another spin soon.

Columbia Greenway Rail Trail

Beautifully Designed and Maintained

September, 2025 by willipar

A pleasure to ride!

Fort Hill Recreational Rail Trail

We found this trail to be well maintained. Not as smooth as some rail trails, but smooth enough on our full suspension fat tire bikes. Hard tails may not enjoy as much. Nice scenery along the Connecticut river.

August, 2025 by jimthurber13

We found this trail to be well maintained. Not as smooth as some rail trails, but smooth enough on our full suspension fat tire bikes. Hard tails may not enjoy as much. Nice scenery along the Connecticut river.

Cheshire Rail Trail (Cheshire Branch Rail Trail)

Not what we expected

August, 2025 by rmitera36

We started at Walpole after searching for the trailhead parking lot finally parked our car thanks to the locals at the Irving station. We almost didn’t recognize the trail because it was grass. There were no markings and we found ourselves initially at the river at the boat launch because we didn’t realize that was the trail we were following. After backtracking, we followed the other grass trail toward Keene. Although there were portions that were dirt and gravel, the 9 mile ride that we managed to cover at 6 miles an hour with primarily grass. After an hour and a half, we realize we are only halfway to our destination of Keene and we turned back.. I recommendation would be not to start in Wall Paul, but to start and keen where the trail is paved

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Accordion

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