Do you wish you would bike more? Don’t like climbing steep hills? Don’t like sharing the road with cars and trucks? Check out some rail trails. There are a lot of former railroad tracks turned multi-use trails around the country including many great trails throughout New England. Because they were designed for trains, you know they won’t be very steep. In most cases, you won’t find any motorized vehicles although some are open to ATVs. I enjoy the historic aspect knowing the trails have been used for a hundred or more years. Sometimes there are reminders of the rail line along the way – old depots, mile markers, and more.
One pleasant trail is the 11 mile Norwottuck Rail Trail from Northampton to Hadley, Amherst, and into Belchertown in Massachusetts. The surface of rail trails varies from trail to trail but the Norwottuck trail is nicely paved. This trail goes from in-town to passing along active farm fields, past the Hadley Mall and Amherst College and through wooded areas – a little of everything. There are even a couple places to stop for an ice cream along the way. Some sections of the trail (mostly near Northhampton) get a lot of use on sunny summer weekends. Because of the pavement and gentle elevation changes, you’ll find you can bike farther on this trail than on rougher trails for hilly roads.
You can find more information and a trail map at http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-west/norwottuck-rail-trail.html.
