Links
Photo Albums
The NTC Photo Album on Facebook
A publicly submitted collection of photos from all of Northborough's trails
The Northborough Trails Committee Facebook Group Page
Boroughs Loop Trail
The Boroughs Loop Trail connects the trail networks of Marlborough, Southborough, Westborough, and Northborough to create a 33-mile regional trail that encourages the exploration, enjoyment, and protection of the Boroughs' beauty and natural resources.
The Loop Trail links wooded walking trails, bike paths, aqueduct trails, and sidewalks. Hikers, walkers, and runners are welcome on all parts of the trail. Some sections allow mountain biking and dog walking.
Our Friends and Neighbors
The following are either trail or ecological links. Things to do with our wildlife and the outdoors. If you think there is a link which would contribute to this list then please e-mail it to us. Thank you.
Northborough's Town Hall
This site has many other links to things that are going on in Northborough.
Westborough's Charm Bracelet Trails
Some of Northborough's trails merge into Westborough's Charm bracelet which is approximately 28 miles in diameter. This link will bring you to their site.
American Hiking Society
The American Hiking Society is a well established organization with a very informative web site. They are also responsible for starting National Trails Day.
Appalachian Mountain Club
This is also a well established organization with a very informative web site on a more nationwide scale.
Audubon Society
The Audubon Society is committed to preserving open space in Massachusetts, protecting our threatened and endangered wildlife, and providing the level of environmental education our children need and deserve. Some of Mass Audubon achievements include helping restore bluebird, barn owl, osprey, and bald eagle populations in this state. To find out more...
The American Chestnut Foundation
Not too long ago, the American chestnut was one of the most important trees of forests from Maine south to Georgia, from Piedmont west to the Ohio valley. Then around 1904 the chestnut blight, an Asian organism, struck. By 1950 the keystone species on some nine million acres of eastern forests had disappeared. The Chestnut Foundation is working tirelessly to cross the American Chestnut with more resistent strains of Asian Chestnut to revive this most beautiful of our indigenous trees.
Native Plant Trust
As the nation's oldest institution dedicated to the conservation of wild plants, the Society promotes the conservation of temperate North American flora through education, research, horticulture, habitat preservation, and advocacy.
MassWildLife –Division of Fisheries and Wildlife
MassWildLife owns and manages two properties in Northborough where we have stewardship of the trails. Those properties are located at Mt. Pisgah and the Little Chauncy/Cedar Hill areas.
Mass Wildlife Maps & Atlases page
Mass DCR Park Trailmaps
New England Forestry Foundation
According to this organizations home page “The New England Forestry Foundation is dedicated to providing for the conservation and ecologically sound management of privately owned forestlands in New England, throughout the Americas and beyond.” The NEFF owns the land on West Main Street named the Carlstrom II Forest.
SudburyValley Trustees
According to their home page, SVT “is a regional land trust, founded in 1953 by a few foresighted individuals who recognized that change, planned or unplanned, has a significant impact on the environment, on the region, and on the quality of everyday life in our communities. Today, over 3,000 members support SVT’s work in 36 communities around the watershed of the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Rivers.”
The SVT has been a wonderful and helpful resource to the Northborough Trails Committee in creating maps for the Mt. Pisgah and Crane Swamp areas, as well as linking trails on their properties at Cedar Hill and Sawink Farm with our Little Chauncy trail, and helping to provide trail maintenance.
SuAsCo Watershed
According to the SuAsCo home page, “The Sudbury-Assabet-Concord Watershed, located in the metro-west area of the state, encompasses a large network of tributaries that ultimately flow into the Merrimack River. The watershed has a total drainage area of approximately 377 square miles. The Assabet River flows north about 30 miles from its headwaters in Westborough, through the now densely developed urban centers of Northborough, Hudson, and Maynard, to its confluence with the Sudbury River at historic Egg Rock in Concord, where the Concord River begins.”
In partnership with SuAsCo the Northborough Trails Committee maintains trails on SuAsCo property located at Carney Park and at the Yellick Conservation area.
Mountain Biking
New England Mountain Bike Association
Blackstone Valley New England Mountain Bike Association
Local Bike Trails
Assabet River Rail Trail, MA
www.ARRTinc.org
Nashua River Rail Trail
Ayer, Groton, Pepperell and Dunstable
978-597-8802
The Nashua River Rail Trail is a former railroad right of way that travels 11 miles through the towns of Ayer, Groton, Pepperell and Dunstable. The trail offers a 10-foot wide paved surface for the entire length, and a five-foot wide gravel equestrian path for seven miles of the trail from Groton Center to the New Hampshire boarder in Dunstable. The entire trail is open to pedestrians, bicyclists, inline skaters, wheelchairs, and cross-country skiers.
The Nashua River Rail Trail travels along a varied landscape, offers numerous scenic overlooks, opportunities to see wildlife and has several resting stops. The trail is particularly attractive during fall foliage season. The Ayer trailhead offers access to commuter rail service between Boston and Fitchburg.
Mass Central Rail Trail
www.masscentralrailtrail.org
www.wachusettgreenways.org
Sterling, West Boylston, Holden, Rutland and Oakham
Wachusett Greenways is building the central 30 miles of the rail trail in the above towns. 11 miles of the Mass Central Rail Trail are now open:
- Sterling from Sterling Center at the Cider Mill to Gates Road--1.7 miles
- West Boylston/Holden from Oakdale to River Street along the Quinapoxet River --3 miles (Beautiful, Highly Recommended)
- Holden Connector from River Street to Manning Street to Mill Street--2.2 miles
- Rutland from Wachusett Street south to the Holden line--1 mile
- Rutland from Glenwood Road to Route 56--1.3 miles
- Rutland from the Charnock Hill Road to Barrack Hill Road to Rutland State Park entrance road to Route 122 and the Midstate Trail--1.5 miles