Find the top rated trails in South Berwick, 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.
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...
Portland’s Fore River Parkway Trail provides an important transportation link in the community while at the same time offering sweeping views of the Fore River. At the north end of the trail, you’ll...
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 Clipper City Rail Trail is part of the Coastal Trails Coalition, which is developing in the four towns of Amesbury, Newbury, Newburyport, and Salisbury along the Merrimack River and will...
The paved Back Cove Trail rings its namesake tidal basin and offers lovely views of the Portland skyline. You also might spot great blue herons or other birds along the tree-lined waterfront. A...
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 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...
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...
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 newly open Bradford Rail Trail occupies the former Pan Am rail lines, beautifying an area that once lay strewn with garbage and weeds. The city and numerous dedicated volunteers created the...
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...
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...
Old salts should love the Eastern Promenade Trail, as it skirts the shoreline of Portland’s Casco Bay and Portland Harbor. The 2.1-mile paved trail is always within sight of the water and is one of...
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...
_146077_sc.jpg)
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 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 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 Mountain Division Trail exists as two separate segments of what will eventually be a more than 50-mile-long trail from Fryeburg to Portland. The southern section rolls for about 6 miles between...
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...
_137741_sc.jpg)
Although only a grassy, hard-packed dirt pathway, the route along the Salem-Beverly Canal (also known as the Grand Wenham Canal), is scenic and peaceful. The old canal, built in 1917, lies between two...
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...
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 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...
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...
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...
Portland’s Fore River Parkway Trail provides an important transportation link in the community while at the same time offering sweeping views of the Fore River. At the north end of the trail, you’ll...
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 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 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 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 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,...
Old salts should love the Eastern Promenade Trail, as it skirts the shoreline of Portland’s Casco Bay and Portland Harbor. The 2.1-mile paved trail is always within sight of the water and is one of...
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...
Nestled in the woodlands on the northern end of Merrimac in the far northeastern corner of Massachusetts, lies the beautiful Jay McLaren Memorial Trail. The town, once known as West Amesbury, had a...
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...
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 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...
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...
Although only a grassy, hard-packed dirt pathway, the route along the Salem-Beverly Canal (also known as the Grand Wenham Canal), is scenic and peaceful. The old canal, built in 1917, lies between two...
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...
Portland’s Fore River Parkway Trail provides an important transportation link in the community while at the same time offering sweeping views of the Fore River. At the north end of the trail, you’ll...
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...
The paved Back Cove Trail rings its namesake tidal basin and offers lovely views of the Portland skyline. You also might spot great blue herons or other birds along the tree-lined waterfront. A...
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...
Portland’s Bayside Trail packs a lot into its 1-mile length. The paved pathway provides a pleasant route between commercial and residential areas in the Bayside and East Bayside neighborhoods. Once an...
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 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 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 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 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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 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...
Nestled in the woodlands on the northern end of Merrimac in the far northeastern corner of Massachusetts, lies the beautiful Jay McLaren Memorial Trail. The town, once known as West Amesbury, had 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 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...
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.
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.
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.
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 !!!
My wife and I parked at the Lowell St end in a large lot. We rode about 5-6 miles north. This trail is great. Nice scenery. Good places to stop. Water fountains, jiffy Johnny's, bike shops along the way. In one park, there is a station with tethered tools to do repairs.
Highly recommend.
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.
I rode the entire trail starting at Bug Light Park in South Portland and ending at Kennebunk; roughly 30 miles each way. I knew about the on road gaps and found them to be a positive as it added variety to the trail. The on road sections are fairly well marked and I only had an issue finding my way through Biddeford. The shoulders are very wide and I must say I found Maine drivers to be very courteous to me at every road crossing.
The off road sections of the trail are very well marked, shaded and very flat. I rode through forests and marshes and around residential neighborhoods. There is a fundraising effort to close one of the on road gaps on this trail. If that gap is closed I would give this trail five stars. I still highly recommend this trail as you can have a nice ride no matter what section you chose to ride.
I was delighted to read about the Cotton Valley Rail Trail from Wakefield to Wolfeboro. I picked up a copy of Rail-Trails, read up on the route and search Trail-link to read the reviews. I was aware of the switch over crossings on the trail and the dangers from what I read. Starting my ride in Wakefield at the Railroad Turntable I enjoyed a short ride to Route 16 and crossed over. I found the trail to be well maintained and walked over the first switch over crossing, I made a mental note that they might not be marked for hazards and continued riding. I was right! With the forest canopy and sun filtering through I came up on one with little notice and continue to cross and my back tire slipped out and I had crashed. Needless to say that ended my ride and caused an injury. I have ridden on many different surfaces and was shocked by what looked like an easy cross over. Please mark all switch over crossings as Hazards to avoid accidents. I am looking forward to riding this trail again after my recovery. If I had finished my ride I would have rated it a 5 Star, as I have heard it is a beautiful trail with a lot of great historical sites.
Disappointed to read that there is still a hazard on this trail. This could be so easy to fix by putting cement in between the rails or putting mats on the crossings. I will not go on this trail until this is fixed as I took a bad spill due to the rails.
I biked the 13.50 mile section from Canaan to Lebanon (and back). The surface is mostly packed gravel. The first three miles (from Canaan) is challenging as the gravel is somewhat looser. However, I had no real problem on my Trek Dual Sport bike. The section along Mascoma Lake is beautiful. I startled a couple of deer along the way.
Get Your 2018 RTC TrailNation Jersey!
Download the TrailLink mobile app and take TrailLink with you!
Donate and Get a FREE 2018 RTC Guidebook!
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!
Map Search
_146077_st.jpg)
_155871_st.jpg)
_158934_st.jpg)
_137741_st.jpg)
