Find the top rated trails in Pittsfield, whether you're looking an easy walking path or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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 South Manchester Rail Trail is a proposed bike/pedestrian path that would connect the downtown Millyard area of Manchester to the Town on Londonderry. The South Manchester Rail Trail will utilize...
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...
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...
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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...
he WOW Trail is named after the three bodies of water that can be seen from this rail-trail: Lake Winnipesaukee, Opechee Bay, and Lake Winnisquam. This picturesque 2.7-mile trail shares a corridor...
The Winnipesaukee River Trail runs along a rail line that previously connected the paper industry between Franklin and Tilton. Nicknamed the Paper City, Franklin saw the industry boom from the 1900s...
Mine Falls Park in Nashua is a 300-acre-plus urban park with a network of approximately 9.7 miles of a variety of trail types. This forested park offers an extraordinary nature experience in the heart...
The 83 acre West Foss Farm is one of the properties owned by the University of New Hampshire, Durham. The property was purchased from the Boston & Maine Railroad company, and features a 1.6 stretch of...
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 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...
Methuen Rail Trail connects three communities in northeastern Massachusetts as it follows the route of the former Manchester and Lawrence Branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad. The rail-trail's...
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 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 Harrisville Rail Trail runs for just under two miles between the outskirts of Harrisville and Hancock in rural New Hampshire. The former railroad bed is located on lands conserved by the Harris...
The Dover Community Trail snakes its way through the heart of the Garrison City—so nicknamed for the fortified log houses, or garrisons, built by 17th-century settlers—-offering a variety of trail...
The smooth paved surface of the Londonderry Rail Trail offers a pleasant, tranquil 3.3-mile adventure for trail users in south-central New Hampshire. Its route follows a corridor once used by 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 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...
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...
Spanning 57.6 miles from Lebanon to Boscawen, the Northern Rail Trail is New Hampshire’s longest rail-trail conversion. Trail development began in 1996 after the state purchased the Boston and Maine...
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...
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 Conway Branch trail runs for 21 miles along an old rail corridor between State Route 113 in Conway and Polly's Crossing in Ossipee. The trail is popular with snowmobiles and rail car clubs; the...
The Monadnock Recreational Rail Trail is a great example of a repurposed rail route that provides safe commuting opportunities while also allowing trail users to escape into forest environments for...
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 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...
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 Amesbury Riverwalk (also known as the Powwow Riverwalk) carries visitors between a resurgent waterfront district on the Powwow River to a modern shopping center on the outskirts of this historical...
Methuen Rail Trail connects three communities in northeastern Massachusetts as it follows the route of the former Manchester and Lawrence Branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad. The rail-trail's...
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 Peanut Trial is a distinct trail in the town of Newton that spans one-mile. This rail-trail was meant to connect to the Jay McLaren Memorial Trail. However, due to a controversial lawsuit by land...
The Roland Bergeron Bike Path runs about 6 miles alongside nearly the entirety of Albuquerque Avenue in Litchfield, NH. Completed in 2010, the 8-ft wide asphalt path averages about 5 yards in from...
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...
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...
Lake Winnisquam is New Hampshire’s fourth largest lake, and taking the Lake Winnisquam Scenic Trail is one of the best ways to experience it. Meaning “pleasant waters,” Lake Winnisquam provides...
The Winnipesaukee River Trail runs along a rail line that previously connected the paper industry between Franklin and Tilton. Nicknamed the Paper City, Franklin saw the industry boom from the 1900s...
Mile 0.0 - DPW Garage Cross the bridge in the parking area, the trail starts behind the fence, crossing over Great Brook on a old dam. Mile 0.53 - After crossing Union St. you will come to a...
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 South Manchester Rail Trail is a proposed bike/pedestrian path that would connect the downtown Millyard area of Manchester to the Town on Londonderry. The South Manchester Rail Trail will utilize...
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 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...
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Crossing through wooded areas and featuring magnificent wetland vistas, the Rockingham Recreational Rail Trail (Fremont Branch) offers an 18.3-mile trail adventure from Epping to Windham. The northern...
The year 2017 marks 20 years since a rails-to-trails project was first mentioned in the Goffstown Master Plan, and thanks to work by the Friends of the Goffstown Rail Trail and support throughout the...
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...
Mile 0.0 - DPW Garage Cross the bridge in the parking area, the trail starts behind the fence, crossing over Great Brook on a old dam. Mile 0.53 - After crossing Union St. you will come to a...
The rail-trail through the Martin H. Burns Wildlife Management Area begins at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter rail station near downtown Newburyport, a coastal...
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 Amesbury Riverwalk (also known as the Powwow Riverwalk) carries visitors between a resurgent waterfront district on the Powwow River to a modern shopping center on the outskirts of this historical...
The South Manchester Rail Trail is a proposed bike/pedestrian path that would connect the downtown Millyard area of Manchester to the Town on Londonderry. The South Manchester Rail Trail will utilize...
The Roland Bergeron Bike Path runs about 6 miles alongside nearly the entirety of Albuquerque Avenue in Litchfield, NH. Completed in 2010, the 8-ft wide asphalt path averages about 5 yards in from...
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 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 Common Pathway travels 5.5 miles from the outskirts of Peterborough south to downtown’s Noone Falls area, paralleling US 202 and the Contoocook River for most of its journey. The small town of...
The Oliverian Brook Trail follows the course of Oliverian Brook through the dense forest of White Mountain National Forest. The trail, open to cross-country skiing in winter, heads toward Passaconaway...
The Harrisville Rail Trail runs for just under two miles between the outskirts of Harrisville and Hancock in rural New Hampshire. The former railroad bed is located on lands conserved by the Harris...
Hillsborough Recreational Rail Trail connects three communities in south-central New Hampshire: Hillsborough, Deering, and Bennington. The unpaved trail winds along the Contoocook River through rural...
The Sawyer River Trail/Sawyer River Road lies deep in the forested heart of the 1,200-square-mile White Mountain National Forest. The 7.5-mile route traces an old logging railroad that’s now part...
Methuen Rail Trail connects three communities in northeastern Massachusetts as it follows the route of the former Manchester and Lawrence Branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad. The rail-trail's...
The Bobby Woodman Rail Trail, a hard-packed dirt and gravel pathway, begins off a quiet street at the southern end of Claremont and quickly dives under pleasant tree cover. After about a half mile,...
Went to this trail today. Waste of time. It’s only open for about .5 miles and stops. Nothing like the description of this trail.
My husband and I biked this trail in October and it was great! The trail itself has some soft, sandy spots which make it a bit difficult but we did fine with our mountain bikes. Most of the trail is hard-packed. The scenery is absolutely beautiful! We saw only 1 ATV vehicle, a few other cyclists, and a few walkers. Biking along the river, passing through the covered bridges, and enjoying the fall foliage made this a great day trip for us.
Our family rode the trail from Wolfeboro to around mile marker 4, a while past the Cotton Valley Rail Trail Club on Rt. 109, in October 2018. There were a lot of great water views including a couple stretches with water on both sides, and winding parts through very pretty woods from about 1.5 miles just before Albee Beach onwards. The trail surface was very hard and not bumpy and presented no problem for hybrid-style bikes, basically as good as pavement (or even better than some paved trails I have been on that haven't been resurfaced recently). All of the crossings over the rails were clearly marked with signs instructing to walk your bikes and painted arrows indicating to do so at a right angle. After walking over many of them and them seeming very solid I began to slowly ride over them at 45 degree angles and never had a problem, and none of the several kids in my group did either. The parts of the trail in between the rails are narrow enough that you need to take extra care. If you are looking to go fast I wouldn't recommend this trail but if you are looking for a very scenic and leisurely ride I would highly recommend it. On the return ride I noticed that there were no signs for westbound bikers so this might explain some other peoples' complaints (although I still found the crossings vey obvious and good). I hope to return and ride the eastern portion of the trail another time.
What a pleasure to ride this excellent trail from end to end. My only wish is for mile markers or mile cairns!
It's early fall and a great time to ride this trail. The leaves are turning, the surface is dry and flat. There are many street crossings, most of them easy. We started in Raymond, off Onway Lake Road. If you map this using the RTC map, it gives you the address for the Gordon Cammett Recreation Area. If you turn in here, it takes you to a large parking lot and ball fields. This is where we started. The trail runs parallel to the ball fields but you can't see it from the parking lot. If you ride your bikes back up the hill you drove down, to the left at the top of the hill, there's a small cut-through. The trail is right there. If you look to your right, you'll see a tunnel (Manchester, or westbound). We rode to our left (Newfields, or eastbound). This is a 30-mile roundtrip ride. The trail has a few different surfaces, most well-packed and rideable with a hybrid. Some of the sandy patches and looser gravel (not many) might be more difficult with road bike tires. In Raymond, there is an old train station with train cars, a one-room schoolhouse, as well as stocks and a jail cell. There are 2 or 3 street crossings near various services if you need a drink or bite to eat. The trail ends at a parking lot, and fittingly, at the railroad tracks. There are no mileage markers along the trail. A trail kiosk in Epping will tell you the mileage to your destination in both directions.
Most of this trail is over packed earth, which is satisfactory, except following rain. The 4.5+ miles through Biddeford are poorly marked (download a map) and often hazardous. Scarborough marsh is beautiful and the rest of the trail is pleasant, often scenic. I rode the entire trail north one day and south the next. If I were to do it again, I would cut it into two smaller trails, and avoid Biddeford.
It's was a very cool weekend with the boys only see them 2 to 3 times a year ,getting older and family but always look forward to the next adventure, nice view of sawyer pond great big fire pit in front of the lean- to ,about a 2 1\2 hours to get to camp ,one place you should put on your to do list
Beautiful trail nice even gravel and sand walkway but WAY WAY WAY too much broken glass along the trail someone didn’t want dogs on the trail !!!
A brand new bridge has been constructed which crosses 2A seamlessly connecting this (at present) Chelmsford to Acton path. A fully paved, and at times exceptionally wide, path passes through marshland and lovely new wood feel ferns, lovely ponds/small beaches. It was a pleasure taking this 12.5 mile ride which had plenty of canopy covering on a sunny day. The description may be a little outdated b/c we saw newer looking parking on various parts of the trail and actually started in Acton. As always a bunch of street crossings to be cautious about with older style raised brick stanchions at these intersections to encourage reduced speed.
Project is just about done. parking lot at the depot still being worked on but from Lawrence to Salem NH all paved. southern portion of the trail still a little trashy off the trail but major improvement to say the least.
I started at the Massabesic Lake trailhead which offered plenty of parking as well as a beautiful start to my ride. There were no mile markers or any history signs on the trail so mileage is difficult to track. The first four to five miles of my ride were very rough with large rocks strewn all over the trail and three tunnels underneath roadways. The rocks in this section are all very well marked by orange spray paint, I just had to take my time on my hybrid bike. A hybrid bike will do just fine on the trail but a mountain bike would offer more confidence in this section.
After this first section of trail I found the rest of the trail to offer beautiful scenery as well as a much smoother ride. There are a fair share of road crossings but all but two are very quiet roads that had very little traffic. Raymond offers the perfect mid-trail stop to take pictures as well as a place to get food. Epping also offers more places to get refreshments. The last stretch of the trail from Epping to Newfields was my favorite part of the trail and offered an easy finish to my ride.
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