List of rail trails in Massachusetts explained

This list of rail trails in Massachusetts details former railroad right-of-ways in Massachusetts that have been converted to trails for public use and proposed rail trails where trails exist but have not been fully established.

Massachusetts has at least 69 rail-trails, covering 347 miles. A massive new project proposed by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, called the Landline, seeks to connect these trails, creating a 1,400-mile network of greenways and foot trails within the Boston region. When finished (currently 45 percent of the greenway network and 60 percent of the foot trail network is complete), the network would bring trail access within a half mile of three-quarters of the region's residents, and 92 percent of residents would be within one mile of the nearest trail or path."^[1]

Established rail trails

• Alewife Linear Park (Cambridge)
• Amesbury Riverwalk Trail^[2]
• Ashburnham Rail Trail
• Ashuwillticook Rail Trail (12 miles in North Berkshires)
• Assabet River Rail Trail southwest end (5.8 miles, Hudson to Marlboro) completed, & northeast end 3.4 miles (from South Acton station (MBTA) through Maynard to Stow)
• Bedford Narrow Gauge Trail^[3] (Bedford) a.k.a. Narrow Gauge Rail Trail
• Blackstone River Bikeway (near Worcester) a.k.a. Blackstone River Greenway
• Border to Boston Trail^[4]
• Bradford Rail Trail
• Bruce Freeman Rail Trail (Lowell to Framingham)
• Canalside Rail Trail (Turners Falls)
• Cape Cod Rail Trail (Dennis to Wellfleet)
• Clipper City Rail Trail^[5] (Newburyport)
• Cochituate Rail Trail^[6] (Natick Center to the Saxonville section of Framingham, crossing Lake Cochituate)
• Columbia Greenway Rail Trail (Westfield)
• Danvers Rail Trail^[7] (Danvers)
• East Boston Greenway
• Eastern Marsh Trail^[8] (Salisbury)
• Fitchburg Cutoff Path (Belmont to Cambridge)
• Frances P Ryan Rail Trail (Northampton)
• Ghost Trail^[9] (Salisbury)
• Grand Trunk Trail (Massachusetts)
• Haggetts Rail Trail
• Hanover Branch Rail Trail
• Independence Greenway
• Jay McLaren Memorial Trail
• Lower Neponset River Trail a.k.a. Neponset Trail a.k.a. Neponset River Greenway
• Manhan Rail Trail (Easthampton)
• Mass Central Rail Trail (Partially complete, Boston to Northampton)
• Mass Central Rail Trail - Wayside (Partially complete, Waltham to Berlin)
• Marblehead Bike Path a.k.a. Marblehead Rail-Trail
• Mattapoisett Rail Trail
• Methuen Rail Trail^[10] (Methuen)
• Minuteman Bikeway (Bedford to Cambridge)
• Nashua River Rail Trail (Ayer to Nashua, New Hampshire)
• Newton Upper Falls Greenway
• North Central Pathway^[11] (Gardner to Winchendon)
• North Plymouth Rail Trail (Plymouth) a.k.a. Seaside Trail
• Northern Strand Community Trail: Everett, Malden, Revere, Saugus, and Lynn^[12]
• Norwottuck Branch of the Mass Central Rail Trail (Northampton to Belchertown)
• Old Colony Rail Trail (Harwich and Chatham)
• Phoenix Rail Trail^[13] (Fairhaven) a.k.a. Phoenix Bike Trail
• Pierre Lallement Bike Path
• Quequechan River Rail Trail (Fall River)
• Quinebaug River Rail Trail
• Redstone Rail Trail^[14] (East Longmeadow)
• Reformatory Branch Rail Trail (Bedford to Concord) a.k.a. Reformatory Branch Trail
• Saulnier Trail (New Bedford)
• Shining Sea Bikeway (Falmouth to Woods Hole)
• Somerville Community Path
• Spencer Depot Rail Trail
• Southern New England Trunkline Trail
• Southwick Rail Trail^[15] (Southwick) (connects with Farmington Canal Heritage Trail)
• Sterling Rail Trail
• Tri-Community Greenway^[16] (Stoneham, Winchester, Woburn)
• Upper Charles Rail Trail^[17] (Holliston) (Milford) a.k.a. Holliston Rail Trail^[18] a.k.a. Milford Rail Trail^[19] (Milford Branch)
• Ware River Rail Trail^[20]
• Watertown-Cambridge Greenway
• Wellington Greenway
• Whitney Spur Rail Trail
• World War II Veterans Memorial Trail^[21]

In planning/under construction

• Boston-Worcester Air Line Trail (BWALT)^[22] (Worcester to Framingham, branches in Marlborough and Berlin)
• Bay Colony Rail Trail^[23] (Newton to Medfield)
• Belmont Community Path
• Chelsea Greenway
• Farmington Canal Trail (connects with Southwick Rail Trail)
• Marion Pathway
• Mattapoisett Rail Trail^[24]
• McKnight Community Trail^[25] (Springfield)
• Norton/Mansfield Rail Trail Extension ^[26]
• Southampton Greenway^[27]
• Squannacook Rail Trail^[28]
• Twin Cities Rail Trail^[29] (Fitchburg to Leominster)
• Wakefield-Lynnfield Rail Trail^[30]

Notes and References

1. "How to make the most of New England's rail-trail system" https://www.boston.com/travel/travel/2018/08/15/how-to-make-the-most-of-new-englands-rail-trail-system
2. Web site: Amesbury Riverwalk Trail . Amesbury Trails.
3. Web site: Narrow-Gauge Rail-Trail . Friends of Bedford Depot Park .
4. https://essexheritage.org/explore/border-to-boston/
5. Web site: Clipper City Rail Trail, Newburyport . Coastal Trails Coalition.
6. Web site: Cochituate Rail Trail (CRT) . 2023-11-19 . Friends of Natick Trails . en-US.
7. Web site: Danvers Rail Trail . Friends of Danvers Recreation.
8. Web site: Eastern Marsh Trail, Salisbury . Coastal Trails Coalition.
9. Web site: Ghost Trail, Salisbury . Coastal Trails Coalition.
10. Web site: Methuen Rail Trail.
11. Web site: Archived copy . 2011-03-30 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110717081618/http://www.townofwinchendon.com/pathway.html . 2011-07-17 .
12. Web site: Ribbon Cutting for Lynn Section of Northern Strand Path . On Friday, November 19th, ... a ribbon cutting to officially open the newly completed paving and improvements on the Northern Strand in Lynn. . . Bike to the Sea, Inc. . 2021-11-20 . 2021-12-10.
13. Web site: Archived copy . 2011-03-30 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110704155152/http://www.arrtinc.org/google_PhoenixTrail.asp . 2011-07-04 .
14. Web site: East Longmeadow Rail Trail Celebrated . September 9, 2010 . Mass.gov . Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
15. Web site: Work begins on new Southwick bicycle trail.
16. Web site: Stantec celebrates the opening of the 6.5-mile Tri-Community Greenway . 2023-11-30 . www.stantec.com . en.
17. Web site: Home - Friends of the Milford Upper Charles Trail. www.milfordtrail.org.
18. Web site: Holliston Rail Trail . Friends of Holliston Trails.
19. Web site: Archived copy . 2011-03-30 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110704154655/http://www.arrtinc.org/google_Milford.asp . 2011-07-04 .
20. Web site: Ware River Trail . 2023-09-20 . Town of Princeton, Massachusetts.
21. Web site: World War II Veterans Memorial Trail. TrailLink.
22. Web site: Town of Westborough / WDA Design Group . October 2021 . BWALT SHARED-USE PATH FEASIBILITY STUDY . 2024-02-19 . Westborough Town Government.
23. Web site: The Bay Colony Rail Trail | Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. - Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr.. baycolonyrailtrail.org.
24. Web site: Mattapoisett Rail Trail. TrailLink.
25. Web site: McKnight Community Trail . City of Springfield, Mass..
26. Web site: Norton/Mansfield Rail Trail Extension . 2022-09-25 . Beta, Inc. .
27. Web site: Friends of the Southampton Greenway.
28. Web site: Archived copy . 2011-03-30 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110704154719/http://www.arrtinc.org/google_Squannacook.asp . 2011-07-04 .
29. News: Ray . Danielle . January 25, 2021 . Progress made on Twin Cities Rail Trail project . Sentinel & Enterprise.
30. Web site: About . 2024-03-17 . Lynnfield Rail Trail . en.