This is a great trail. I've taken it from Lowell all the way to Sudbury. We're at connects to MA Central Trail. St Sudbury you can extend your ride/hike on Central Tail all the way to Marlboro. Once you're out of Chelmsford the trail is paved and smooth. There are a lot of frost heaves and roots that affect the ride in Chelmsford. Enjoyable and mostly shaded ride read more

Big fan of the Bruce Freeman! I actually took the Commuter Rail to the West Concord stop to hop on the trail, bonus points for accessibility! The path was nicely maintained and not too busy. On the way back from Lowell, I decided to ride all the way home to the city. I was able to mainly take back roads and trails (Bruce Freeman to Reformatory to Minuteman), which was very cool! I'd definitely come back again. read more

Bruce Freeman Rail Trail - Trail - Parks Near Me - Concord, Massachusetts

We took our new puppers on a walk on Saturday and it was such a great trail! I loved that there was parking nearby, and the portapotty near the central square is a great addition. I did wish there were more baskets for dog waste, but I could have missed them on my walk. Can't wait to take the trail again! read more

Love this trail so much, definitely one of my favorites in Mass.We prefer it over minuteman its is not as busy, perfectly shaded in the hotter months and very well maintained. It is a paradise for runner and bikers equally. Winter months can be very icy just like most trails. The trail offers lots of opportunity for bird watching. Various access points and ample parking at most of those access points makes this very convenient. Whichever portion you choose out of the 25 mile trail, you will for sure enjoy yourself. Cannot recommend it enough!!!!! read more

Smooth bike rail trail with lots of trees. We usually park in the downtown Chelmsford area to access, Heart pond, or Acton. The downtown area and heart pond can be a little harder to park especially with the new housing complex and the pond area. There also other parking Areas along the trail(lowell, nara park). Sometimes a little harder with my younger bikers(but more so me as a worried mama who wants to make sure they're not in the way). Some points have elevation but for the most part it is pretty flat and nice enjoyable ride. read more

This is our favorite bike path. Not many road crossings on most of the trail. Lots of parking options. The path is pretty wide and not many hills. We like the chelmsford to Acton portion better than chelmsford to lowell because there are more street crossings toward the lowell end. There is a big hill in Acton though! read more

See all

A well paved trail through the woods of metro west. We picked a day when the leaves had started turning and any chilliness was refreshing once the pedals started turning. We went with two real littles just starting to feel comfortable on training wheels. The good surface and flatness was great for them. read more

As of July 2019 - the bridge over Rt 2 is not yet constructed. So you are limited to about 11 miles. From Rt up to the former Wang tower in Chelmsford. The best thing about this trail is the shade. The majority of the trail is in shade. Beautiful tree lined trail. Though there were multiple road crossings, only 2 were difficult. At Rt 27/110 in Westford. And in Chelmsford center. Apparently the trail continues for 3 miles on the other side of route 2, but without a safe place to cross, that section will have to wait. read more

nice place to go on a walk or definitely bike ride. there's some water nearby which is nice to look at. kinda on the busier side. read more

See all

Awesome trail! Pretty flat, though there are some big hills at the bridge/road crossings. Quiet, clean, serene! Multiple spots to park - though I like parking at Heart Pond. The extensions and work done to the trail shows - it's a very smooth, very nice ride. All street crossings are well marked and very visible. A couple very clean port-a-potties along the route too. I'm impressed! read more

See all

Love walking this trail and I live right around the corner. The biggest issue are the bikes that think it's a race track. Someone is going to get seriously hurt and some of these bicyclists are adults but mostly young ones. read more

This was great! Really pretty. Less crowded than Minuteman, and it seemed liked fewer road crossings. Goes by a nice brook and then a pond. Seemed totally flat but we didn't complete the whole trail. You can park at Javaroom in Chelmsford or the Santander Bank lot (officially municipal parking). read more

Every town needs a nice trail. This fantastic trail is a very worthy addition to Massachusetts' rail trails. This is one of 3.entrances. The entrance is near the java room. One is at the Crosspoint building (formerly known as the Wang tower) in Lowell. Other is on the Chelmsford/Carlisle border. The trail is quite magnificent. It's a combination of woods and wet land. Check it out. read more

This bike trail took the town of Chelmsford 25 years to complete -- it opened just shy of my 26th birthday, and I grew up in this town, so yes, they've been working on this trail since I was *BORN.* The wait was worth it. This fantastic trail is a very worthy addition to Massachusetts' wonderful array of rail trails. While the Chelmsford section is just one of (hopefully!!) three sections of the entire Freeman trail, it's only 6 miles or so, it takes the walker/jogger/biker/skater through some gorgeous wetland and woodland scenery that I didn't even know EXISTED in my quiet hometown. One trailhead is at the Crosspoint building (formerly known as the Wang tower) in Lowell, and the other is on the Chelmsford/Carlisle border. I recommend approaching from Carlisle and making your way north, as close to the Lowell trailhead you go through Chelmsford center, a convenient pitstop. Not to mention, as you go north from Carlisle, the landscape changes from woods into open wetlands that then feed into more and more streams until suddenly the path parallels a large, gushing stream that feeds into the Middlesex canal. My jaw dropped when I saw the amount of water that was flowing (just barely half a mile from Chelmsford center) around swathes of trees and giant boulders, like a scene from some storybook idyll that seems like it totally, definitely shouldn't be in Chelmsford. But it is! As of this writing the trail is barely a week old, so yeah, it's a little crowded, but that should dissipate with time. For people not from around the Chelmsford area -- please note the High Street crossing and be VERY CAUTIOUS. Local drivers go notoriously way too fast on High street, and while the bike path crossing there is well-marked, old habits die hard. Experienced bikers might be tempted to pull a rolling stop at this intersection but I recommend vigilance at this crossing, especially since drivers are coming around a curve and a down a hill when they get to the intersection. read more

Bruce Freeman Rail Trail - Between Chelmsford Center and High Street - Parks Near Me - Concord, Massachusetts

See all

Overall, this is a good trail. The Lowell end of the trail is a bit hard to find, you're in the Crosspoint parking lot thinking this can't be right. But then you see the VERY distinctive beginning of the trail, a tunnel that looks like a large storm drain and there you are. The other end of the trail is equally odd being that it just ends... no parking lot or place to chill, not even a good place to turn around. There are two things that keep this trail from getting more stars. One is the crossing at Chelmsford St. which is poorly conceived and poorly executed, there is a lack of signage and the fact that you have to ride on a sidewalk for even a short portion encourages the notion that is where a bicycle belongs. The other thing that caused this trail to get less stars is the complete and utter lack of trail etiquette, seriously folks the place to stop and have a chat is not the middle of the trail. Also parking your entire families bikes in the middle of trail is also uncool. This is not rocket science people, the trail is 10' wide if you take up 9.5' of it you are probably detracting from others enjoyment of the trail. And no in my present incarnation as a cyclist I am not a speed demon intent completing the trail in a personal record time, I am just someone who wants to use the trail and not have to squeeze by on the shoulder of the trail. So in conclusion, this is an overall good trail with a few issues that need to be addressed. read more

I am sooo glad that my hometown finally built this bike trail. Before, we would have to drive to Nashua, NH or Bedford, MA for the nearest bike trail. The more scenic routes are away from Chelmsford towards Westford. The Lowell direction is not as scenic. Perfect place to park would be at the Ginger Ale Plaza in Chelmsford. It has the Java place which is nice and Bertucci's which has a great brick-oven pizza. read more

I'm into rail trails lately, so I was excited to learn there was one right in Concord. It's impossible to figure out where to park, even from the website. So you don't have the same problem my husband and I did, here is where authorized parking for the trail is available: * Old Town Hall, 1A North Rd. (Rt. 4), Chelmsford * Municipal lot behind Sovereign Bank, 5 Billerica Rd, Chelmsford * Byam School (off school hours), 25 Maple Rd, Chelmsford * Town Land, 2 Pond St., Chelmsford When we finally did park (in the lot behind the Sovereign Bank- bonus, no meters so parking is free) we set off on the trail. The trail itself is beautiful if a bit short. It seems to just stop at the end which is confusing if you've never been there before. We actually had to stop and ask another cyclist to make sure we were at the end, since Google Maps says the trail goes about a mile and a half further than the actual end of the trail. There are far fewer people here than on the Minuteman. Even on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, we had most of the trail to ourselves. The trail is a bit narrow- it's 10 feet wide, which is the minimum for a rail trail. It can get tight in those places where there are other cyclists or rollerbladers, especially when there are parents teaching their children to ride a bike. Bruce Freeman is a beautiful trail and if you live nearby I would definitely suggest trying it out. read more

This trail is amazing, I fly out to Boston once or twice a year and ALWAYS try to make it a point to run along this trail if the weather permits. I wish my city had a trail that ran through such a scenic environment as this. read more

Beautiful trail..nice and level. Can't wait for the planned extensions

I just finished cycling the 12 plus miles of this rail trail. It is flat and wonderfully scenic. There is paved trail from Acton to the border of Lowell, contrary to the information on Google maps. I got on near the McDonald's in Acton. During most of the ride the trail is in sight of wet lands, bogs, ponds, streams or lakes. It almost all wooded on one or both sides of the trail. There is a neat historical site at the location of a 19 th century water powered pencil factory in Acton. In terms of scenery it ranks up with the Shining Sea trail on the Cape. Most of the trail is wide with either a bridge over Route 2a or well marked grade crossings, but there is a short difficult bit just north of Chelmsford center near the baseball fields. One sad thing. One of the information signs said that the first formal meeting to plan the trail was in 1985. Over 40 years later the second section was opened this summer. There is a third section yet to be built! read more

I've walked a few trails in New York and Florida, and wish we had more in my home counties on Long Island. I was pleasantly surprised to stumble onto this trail near our hotel. We'd been visiting the Lowell area and I thought I'd get some exercise one evening, heading to the local stores. Saw the wood fence and signs and started walking north. Didn't venture far the first day but returned twice- first going south through a magnificent section with a babbling brook, and then north again, this time to the trailhead at Cross Point. What a contrast between the quiet wooded sections and then to plunge beneath I-495, and rte. 3. I ventured beyond the parking lot and found an unimproved part with ripped-up rails, weeds, graffiti etc. I don't recommend it. In Chelmsford there is a porta-potty and a kiosk with the trail newsletter. Not sure exactly where the new sections they are working on are- no map included! But I was curious about Ginger Ale Plaza so I looked it up- and we brought back a 12-pack of Market Basket's Chelmsford Ginger Ale! read more

See all

This is an absolutely beautiful rail trail that is lush in the summer. It's mostly flat- it actually feels like it's slightly downhill both ways! There are 11 minor crossings (small roads with stop signs) and 2 major crossings (busy intersections with traffic lights). In the summer months, bring a bathing suit and take a dip in Heart Pond, which has a little swimming area with a lifeguard and port-a-potties. With a moderate pace, we biked end to end in an hour and 10 minutes. The mile markers start at 1.4 for some reason- the trail total is 6.8. There is a very small (~3 cars) parking area near the southern end, on Acton Rd just south of Carlisle Rd. read more

As a Sudbury resident hoping the rail trail will one day pass through my town, I can only hope the naysayers and fence-riders in Sudbury go use the trail to discover what a beautiful trail it is / will be. I'm not hopeful that the trail will come to sudbury anytime soon, since a number of wealthy abutting NIMBY folks are working against the cause. I say, bring back the railroad, and watch them switch to pushing for the trail with its walkers pushing baby strollers as opposed to noisy locomotives pushing trash trains... read more