Find the top rated walking trails in Salem, whether you're looking for an easy short walking trail or a long walking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a walking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
The Nashua River Rail Trail stretches from southern Nashua, New Hampshire, to downtown Ayer, Massachusetts, connecting to the towns of Pepperell and Groton. The trail is built on the former rail...
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 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...
Although short, the scenic Gloria Braunhardt Bike Path travels through forests and pastures full of birds and wildlife. The asphalt pathway parallels the eastern side of the present-day Interstate 95...
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...
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 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...
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 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 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...
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...
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 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 North Bank Bridge, which opened in 2012, provides a safe and convenient pedestrian and bicycle connection between Cambridge's North Point Park and Paul Revere Park in Charlestown. Spanning 690...
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...
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...
_188312_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...
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 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 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 Massachusetts Central Railroad was destroyed by a hurricane in 1938, but the 104-mile corridor is being reborn as a cross-state rail-trail. Currently, nearly 40 miles from Boston to Northampton...
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...
In the southeastern outskirts of Boston, the Hanover Branch Rail Trail connects the communities of Abington and Rockland. (Locally, the trail’s east and west halves are sometimes referred to as the...
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 Quarries Foot Path offers a wooded 1-mile hiking route in western Quincy, about 10 miles south of Boston. Begin your adventure on the south side of Ricciuti Drive, which borders Quincy Quarries...
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...
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...
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...
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 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 Bradford Rail Trail occupies a former Pan Am rail corridor, beautifying an area that once lay strewn with garbage and weeds. The city and numerous dedicated volunteers created the mile-long path...
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 Old Colony Nature Pathway is a short trail open on a former Old Colony Railroad corridor in Provincetown, a picturesque vacation destination at the tip of Cape Cod. While a longer portion of the...
_183288_sc.jpg)
The Rockingham Recreational Rail Trail brings at least two superlatives to mind: it’s one of New Hampshire’s longest rail-trails at just more than 28 miles, and it begins in Manchester, the state’s...
The Head’s Pond Trail (formerly known as Hooksett Rail Trail) is a 1.9-mile rail-trail that visits two scenic ponds, including the eponymous Head’s Pond, in a woodsy area of Hooksett. The trail’s...
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...
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 Southern New England Trunk Line Trail (aka the "SNETT") was designated as a National Recreation Trail in 1994. It is built upon a segment of the former right-of-way of the New Haven Railroad's...
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...
The smooth paved surface of the Londonderry Rail Trail offers a pleasant, tranquil 4.5-mile adventure for trail users in south-central New Hampshire. Its route follows a corridor once used by the...
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...
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 Old Colony Nature Pathway is a short trail open on a former Old Colony Railroad corridor in Provincetown, a picturesque vacation destination at the tip of Cape Cod. While a longer portion of 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 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 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...
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...
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...
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...
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 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 Bay Colony Rail Trail will one day span 7 miles connecting the Boston suburbs of Newton, Needham, Dover, and Medfield along tracks once used by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority. In May...
The Rockingham Recreational Rail Trail brings at least two superlatives to mind: it’s one of New Hampshire’s longest rail-trails at just more than 28 miles, and it begins in Manchester, the state’s...
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 Southern New England Trunk Line Trail (aka the "SNETT") was designated as a National Recreation Trail in 1994. It is built upon a segment of the former right-of-way of the New Haven Railroad's...
The Upper Falls Greenway is a short rail-trail that cuts through the charming village of Newton Upper Falls in Newton, Massachusetts. The trail occupies the same former rail corridor as the developing...
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...
_17076_sc.jpg)
The Southwest Corridor Park (Pierre Lallement Bike Path) knits together neighborhoods in southern Boston from the Back Bay to Jamaica Plain. Popular as a route for commuters as well as casual walkers,...
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...
Rode 7 miles out and then back. Beautiful area. Really good workout. Few hills. But nice quiet area midweek
Very pretty, well kept, no one else there in the middle of a sunny spring day!
This was once a magnificent five star trail with an astonishing variety of plant species that supported a myriad of mammals, pollinator insects, reptiles and birds, and that did not compromise the power lines that run above it through a large wetland. But this past winter of 2020 National Grid completely decimated every living thing beneath their lines and up to the woods that run parallel. All that's left now are dead sticks and stumps. So far, National Grid has not used herbicides to inhibit regrowth and at least the wood ducks have returned to breed. But the trail is now a depressing sight. I can only hope that in time, nature will endure and re-establish what was once there and that utility companies like National Grid will be prevented by law from ever committing what was tantamount to an environmental crime. This is something I will work to ensure.
Parked and road the trail from Fino Field in Milford. No usable facilities at the field likely due to Covid. The trail is mostly level with small grades in parts. It passes through urban, residential and forested areas. The surface is paved to the Milford line on both legs, where it then becomes hard packed process stone. Road bikes (25 mm tires) can negotiate the trail. The leg from Fino Field to Holliston is about 9.5 miles to the unimproved section, which had considerable standing water preventing further exploration. The trail passes through Holliston at the 7.5 mile mark where there are some small eateries and a town greenspace. Phipps Tunnel is noteworthy. The leg from Fino Field to Hopkington is about 4 miles to the trail terminus. The trail passes through Louisa Lake Park (picnicing and fishing). Foundations from early granite cutting sheds served by the former Hopkington RR of the late 19th century are visible on the left near the terminus of this leg.
Good bike path. Easy to access for a short ride. I saw bridges, streams, old chocolate factory, the non-stop old metro trains. Not too crowded.
Its a very nice clean and smooth bike path great for scootering rollerblading and biking. We really enjoyed it. They have some park bench and trash barrels which are always appreciated!
This trail is closed due to construction. The asphalt is broken up into sections exposing the dirt
Nice spring walk-full sun, cleared path with side trails that are clearly marked (part of Camp Denison).
We found the trail while walking around town-great find!!
Quiet, hidden trail. No obstructions and could navigate well on snowpacked gravel trail. Was a relaxing walk as there were no unleashed dogs or unmasked people.
I've noticed some criticism of this trail that I think would be unfair. It's clearly not among the most enjoyable if one compares it to riding the Battle Road Trail, but it's conveniently located. I know these trails closer to cities with higher population are most often paved, but this would be superb if it were dirt. I love the rocky section and the section closer to Lynn that's still dirt, ironically the parts that receives the most criticism.
When you want to ride your bike, and you're close to the Everett area, this trail provides a path half way to Salem MA without having to bike streets that aren't very "bike friendly".
The southern sections I agree aren't the greatest of scenery and there are a few street crossings, but there are some relatively peaceful areas on that section. And the northern half has some wonderful areas surrounded by trees. Call me an optimist but I can't complain about minor details of a path that's in a location that really needed a path for cyclists. I heard a rumor that it's going to be extended soon--a path that took us closer to Salem or Peabody would be ideal, but it's incredibly handy and I live nearby it. I've never seen it crowded or have high traffic. There are quite a few stops on the south section if you need a store or to avoid some bike-commuter street traffic in the Everett to Malden areas, so what's NOT to like.
My friends and I ride hardtails through there and really do enjoy it. I'd prefer a dirt trail instead, one more friendly to a full sus' frame, but for that it gets only 4-stars from me lol! ANY trails/paths in these more populated cities are HIGHLY welcomed and speaking for myself, sincerely appreciated. Ride it the FULL distance south to north (it's short, like 8 miles) and see how you'll enjoy it even more if you haven't ventured to the northern half. At the traffic intersections just be careful, which isn't a big deal for someone like myself that bikes through Boston all the time.
~JSV
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!
Map Search
_175266_st.jpg)
_184351_st.jpg)
_183288_st.jpg)
_188312_st.jpg)
_17076_st.jpg)
