Assabet River Rail Trail Corridor
 

680 Hudson Rd, Sudbury, MA 01776<br /><a href="https://goo.gl/maps/UT8rSRR9yxy">https://goo.gl/maps/UT8rSRR9yxy</a><br /><br />more directions in post #34<br /><br />with temps a glorious high 60s got out to ride my local neighborhood again. last I was down by the river the trails were snow &amp; ice covered. technically only 7.5 miles of bike paths in the "Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge" but the connecting "Assabet River Rail Trail Corridor" let me rack up close to 10 miles today. even more miles of walking trails where bikes are excluded<br /><br />was surprised to find multiple parking lots, visitor center which is open year round with great exhibits incl. multimedia &amp; indoor bathrooms, gift shop, knowledgeable &amp; friendly staff &amp; ranger<br /><br />(this is well East of the section we've ridden w the kids beginning at 21 Wilkins St, Hudson, MA) you can't ride from Stow to that lot in Hudson due to 2 bridges out. doubtful "they" would ever make the connection but would be very nice indeed if they did<br /><br />apparently one visitor even saw a chupacabra! yikes. maybe cuz some genetic species pool has been altered from the old military base dumping long ago? :eek:<br /><br /><img src="http://i.imgur.com/dyGsyEl.jpg"/><br /><br /><img src="http://i.imgur.com/ZD97rJF.jpg"/><br /><br /><img src="http://i.imgur.com/fpk3zCB.jpg"/><br /><br /><img src="http://i.imgur.com/SF7SbNa.jpg"/><br /><br /><img src="http://i.imgur.com/p0sYRTP.jpg"/><br /><br /><img src="http://i.imgur.com/YhLB8aV.jpg"/><br /><br />well maintained trails. glad they were passable considering all the spring rain. here they kept this open &amp; flowing by breaking thru a beaver dam. they probably have to keep doing this cuz beavers don't like running water. it's their cue to build a dam<br /><br /><img src="http://i.imgur.com/B2vlSNh.jpg"/><br /><br /><img src="http://i.imgur.com/sqZyDVg.jpg"/><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SijlT0msMHs">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SijlT0msMHs</a>

got out at 2:30pm, crossed 117, rode down White Pond Rd. a little round trip R on the dirt trail (Track Road), then backtracked & into the Wildlife Refuge, trails & abandoned roads. the old WWII amunition bunkers are still creepy. had so much fun wound up South of Hudson Rd in the Hopbrook Marsh Conservation Land tract heading toward Marlboro. with shorter days & late start it had the potential to be ride that ended in darkness. knowing I left all my lights a home I decided to quit & head back home. thanks to one guy on a bike, he guided me to make the correct cpl of turns

Cool, if a bit creepy, place. Is that a horse-mounted Statie?

Been a while since I've been here. Somehow I always end up here when it's really cold. Need to enumerate more places like this for flat but unpaved riding...

just a cpl civilians on horseback. there's a year round heated visitor center w bathrooms, bonus! think I'll ride here more this winter cuz it's close to home & I can get in a cpl hrs of riding. not all trails are open to bikes, but this time of year there aren't too many ppl out & about, so it might be OK to ride thru respectfully a cpl more times this winter. the trails are pretty well marked w trail names but the no cycling signs are poor. didn't see any going in just coming out & I was like "oops" I did see other ppl on bikes & the horse rider didn't scold me or anything, so I think that trail was mixed use. dunno for sure. even if I learn which trails to staff off, there are plenty of bike OK trails there I think

https://i.imgur.com/Lc3Agghl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/EfrgJejl.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/0BsZlyal.jpg

some parts are quite fun, indeed
https://i.imgur.com/aQ1he9zl.jpg

Well, I and a lot of folks will argue that horses do more damage to trails than bikes, especially slow-moving bikes on flat trails. I've read that there's a lot of contention in the West in places like the Grand Canyon and such where horses are allowed but bikes aren't (so you are forced to hike-a-bike on some of the long trails).

Here's a map I've used for the refuge: http://www.farnwr.org/imgs_maps/Assa...ilBrochure.pdf
Looks like Taylor Way, Harry's Way, White Pond Road, and Winterberry Way are the only bike-approved trails. I've done the Winterberry - Taylor - Harry's loop several times on foot and it's pretty cool especially the pines on Taylor; Harry's can get monotonous.

Signage is a problem I've run into in the backwoods (Wright Woods) of Walden Pond. There are some fantastic wide trails there and I know for a fact that some forbid bikes but they aren't signed well.

BTW, just found this cool map: Massachusetts Rail-Trails and Open Spaces Think I've seen it before, just forgot.

Strava says yep, those are the most popular routes but that people DO ride on the other trails

https://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#14....1/bluered/ride

useful links! thanks!

dark grey November afternoon. some drizzle by time I got home from a little 10 miler. so convenient


https://i.imgur.com/fKOOEyah.jpg

the riddlers are right at home here

https://i.imgur.com/wFQJ26Ch.jpg

cpl months later on a Saturday the trails were covered with lots of hard bumpy ice. found enough rideable parts to get in 13 miles &amp;amp; a cpl hrs in the cold. basically ran the perimeter rds &amp;amp; down the dirt rd along the river. a thin virgin layer of snow or ice would be more comfortable but this place it so popular, I'd have to be the 1st one out to avoid the footprints. was almost 60 degrees Friday so we lost a lot of the nearly 10 inches of hard snow pack<br /><br />(missing photo?)<br /><br />some spots were still soft<br /><br />(missing photo?)<br /><br />the field was free of snow &amp;amp; ice so I rode out into it. but it wasn't really a good surface for that<br /><br />(missing photo?)<br /><br />with few exceptions all the water was frozen over<br /><br />(missing photo?)<br /><br />looks like someone brought bait fish for ice fishing but didn't see any evidence of a usable fishing hole<br /><br />(missing photo?)<br /><br />

still requires studded tires. guess the trail didn't get the memo about the warm up. this section, riding the flat ice under up to 2" of water in the tire tracks, was real flat & smooth super fast

https://i.imgur.com/SMumkYfh.jpg

with the vegetation dormant it was easy to spot the old extension to the bridge out but I wasn't in the mood for bushwhacking

https://i.imgur.com/n2rzhtJh.jpg

I was not tempted to ride over the melting river where the snow mobiles & atvs laid tracks

https://i.imgur.com/SOv4L31h.jpg

finally got to try the lobster gloves by themself (before I switched to the bike w studs & barmitts) they are awesome but overkill today

https://i.imgur.com/DUBfpD4h.jpg



https://i.imgur.com/r3VWVCjh.jpg

Thanks for all the pics. My wife lived in Sudbury when we first met and when I was there I enjoyed walking with her dog at Hop Brook a lot, and we canoed through the Assabet. Very special places.

oh yeah we see conoers (sp?) & kayakers when the weather is nice. you're in NYC? I grew up in the Bronx & Yonkers. my folks are still down there. how's the biking where you are? ever ride in Central Park?

I really enjoy riding in the city and the boroughs. In the good weather months I commute to work by bike. I live on Central Park West up at the north end of the park and I work on 34th, so I enter the park at 100th street and ride through it on my morning commute. It's really pleasant. I don't ride in the park going home. By the early evening the southern sections are crowded with all kinds of mixed use. It doesn't thin out until you reach the reservoir. There's a northbound bike lane on CPW so it's easier to go up that way.

For fun, and with friends I ride to places like City Island, Coney, Flushing Meadows, Staten Island, over the GWB to Jersey...and barely scratched the surface. The Hudson River Greenway runs the entire length of the west side on a mixed use path which is great, but the east side river paths are still not contiguous. I like to head over to Randall's Island, over the Triborough to Astoria, then over onto Roosevelt Island for a loop round that - great views of the city from there - then down to the Queensboro bridge to head back to Manhattan and up through the park to go home. Here's the route and some pics.

Next season I want to explore riding north through the Bronx and Yonkers, there's some really nice riding up there along the Sprain and Saw Mill that I haven't taken advantage of...yet!

impressive! when I was a kid, more than a cpl times, I cut school & walked along the Bronx River to the Zoo. was so much fun I started riding my bike. never saw a truant officer, weird huh? and so began my love of animals, photography & cycling. I think I only did it a handful of times but the memory stuck w me

why does that tower look familiar? when I was in my 20s a buddy & I broke into the tower at the elevated aqueduct bridge & climbed the crumbling wooden steps to the top. I took some pics - should look for those!

edit: oh I see now that's some kind of lighthouse you rode to?

The lighthouse is at the northern tip of Roosevelt Island. The Aquaduct you mention is now a park and pedestiran bridge, Highbridge Park. Here's the tower:
Attachment 599707

cool! thanks! looks like they fixed it up. wonder if they let anyone up to the top now. it was a pretty great view of the river

convenient trail cuz it's close to home but ride quality this time of year is not too good
(missing photo?)
I guess Otter Alley was flooded
(missing photo?)
https://i.imgur.com/1Gg1cd0h.jpgthe paved part doesn't get plowed
(missing photo?)

Rumrunn,

Great pics. Thanks for posting them. It's always nice to see what's available for other cyclists in different areas.

Tony

was kinda tired of this local trail so I've been avoiding it. but it is convenient to my home. family obligations & a nap were a priority today but I managed to get out for an easy 10? miles. nice warm sunny late afternoon

nice loop that starts & ends at the exact same spot. no chance of getting lost

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ef0c1ec924.jpg

the water crossings were dry today



the gravel was still there

eager to get a gravel ride in on the new tires. got out for a night ride down at the river. fenders are in, so they'll go on soon. cuz mud in your eye is better as an expression, than in real life

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d51cc7bc25.jpg

got out for an hour last night. wow creepy. I could swear I heard a bigfoot throw large rocks into the water a cpl times!

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...63e6179866.jpg

but closer to civilization a nice homeowner put up some lights along the end of the paved trail

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4cc32a41ca.jpg


just remembered, I saw a big owl! it swooped down from the left (ahead of me) & flew along the trail about 15 ft in front of me for about 50 ft before it swooped up to the right. as I passed that spot I looked up and saw a large body on a branch. couldn't get my headlamp on in time to see any good detail, but that was fun! as it flew in front of me I could tell it was an owl cuz it had a big full body, big wings & stubby head. no markings like hawks I see in our area

Saturday was rainy

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...feb64a1eec.jpg


too much rain Saturday for a better camera. too bad
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ad2b79ebe1.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fcecbd65c2.jpg

there were a cpl down trees I had to lift the bike over

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c1096b1a04.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...be15dcf5cd.jpg

ran down to the river for an hour late this afternoon
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...397d93c9e5.jpg
most of the trails were fine
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...685f9ab748.jpg
gotta watch out for the sticky mud tho
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6ff235fe97.jpg

the water crossings were deeper so I took the footbridges. had the trails to myself except for a cpl guys hiking with umbrellas

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c7b73f287b.jpg

don't know what was going on with this one. looks like someone tried to dislodge the beaver / muskrat dam? if so, they didn't do a good job :foo:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bb1f4f3743.jpg

temps in the high 40s but with all the water opted for the winter boots, 1 pair work socks & hand warmers taped to my toes. overkill maybe, but my feet were impervious & happy as can be. glad to be getting my money's worth out of these Showers Pass pants

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b9e428fd3a.jpg

went looking for ice in shady places cuz I just mounted up the studs for the season, but didn't find any. the water level is even higher now but funny that the mudholes weren't so bad. well the ones that were above the water line that is. nice day so ppl were out. nice change of pace from usually riding at night after work. came across a cpl new spots I don't ever remember seeing. all in all a very pleasant cpl of hrs on a nice day w temps in the high 30s

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a0432dfc4e.jpg

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...386d1c3737.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4f7aff3117.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...386e0ce3f1.jpg