The Nashua River Rail Trail is a paved mixed-use

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

in northern

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

and southern

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

under control of the

Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its parks and parkways. Th ...

(DCR). It roughly follows the course of the

Nashua River The Nashua River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 is a tributary of the Merrimack River in Massachusetts and New Hampshire in the United States. It ...

, passing through the towns of Ayer, Groton, Pepperell, and

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the fou ...

, Massachusetts and ends about a mile across the

state border in

Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua () is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester, New Hampshire, Manchester. It is on ...

. The trail is used by walkers, cyclists, inline skaters, equestrians, and cross-country skiers.

History

Ayer was a major junction for both north–south and east–west rail lines during the rapid development of railroad transportation. The Nashua River Rail Trail sits on the former Hollis branch of the

Boston and Maine Railroad The Boston and Maine Railroad was a United States, U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. It was chartered in 1835, and became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the e ...

, which follows an old

Nashaway The Nashaway (or Nashua or Weshacum) were a tribe of Algonquian Indians inhabiting the upstream portions of the Nashua River valley in what is now the northern half of Worcester County, Massachusetts, mainly in the vicinity of Sterling, Clinto ...

Indian trail. The line was originally part of the Worcester & Nashua Railroad that connected

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

and

, which was opened on July 3, 1848. The line was extended to

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

in 1874 and it became part of the

Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad The Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad was a railroad line that was to link the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, to the city of Portland, Maine, via the New Hampshire cities of Nashua, New Hampshire, Nashua and Rochester, New Hampshire, Roc ...

connecting Worcester and points east to Canada's

Grand Trunk Railroad The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated ...

via

. The Boston & Maine Railroad took over the line in 1886 and called it the Worcester, Nashua & Portland (WN&P) Division. Between 1911 and 1912, a second track was added from Worcester to Nashua. Passenger service on the line ended in 1934. After World War II, with the gradual decline of rail transportation, the line fell into disuse, and the last freight train ran on the line in 1982. Some concrete signal bases can still be seen, and railroad plates and ties can be found buried under the sand. The DCR bought the Hollis Branch in 1987, and the trail was paved by Mass Highway between 2001 and 2002. The official opening and dedication was on October 25, 2002.

Features

The Nashua River Rail Trail travels along a flat and scenic landscape with many opportunities to see wildlife. The trail passes wetlands, ponds, woods, swamps, and farmland where a variety of wildlife can be viewed, such as beavers, herons and swans. At the Ayer trailhead, which is close to the Ayer

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

station offering access to rail service between

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and Fitchburg, there is a 60-space parking lot with non-flush public toilets. There are several other parking lots along the trail, which crosses many roads and bridges. Trail users can stop for refreshments in nearby Groton Center or at a restaurant and ice-cream stand in Pepperell. Free parking is available in Pepperell where the trail crosses

Massachusetts Route 113 Route 113 is a east–west Massachusetts state route that connects towns in the Merrimack River valley in northeastern Massachusetts. Its western terminus is at Route 119 in Pepperell, and its eastern end is at U.S. Route 1 (US 1) and Ro ...

and at the Nashua trailhead at Yudicky Park.

References

External links

Nashua River Rail Trail
Mass. Department of Conservation and Recreation
Nashua River Rail Trail
City of Nashua
Nashua River Rail Trail Map
, Google Interactive Map {{coord, 42, 39, 00, N, 71, 34, 36, W, type:landmark, display=title Rail trails in Massachusetts Rail trails in New Hampshire Boston and Maine Railroad Parks in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Nashua, New Hampshire Protected areas established in 2002 2002 establishments in Massachusetts

History

Features

See also

References

External links