Nashua River Rail Trail | |
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The Nashua River Rail Trail at the Groton School Pond in Groton, MA
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Length | 12.5 mi (20.1 km) |
Location | Ayer, Massachusetts to Nashua, New Hampshire |
Trailheads | Park St. and Main St. (Ayer, MA) to Gilson Rd. at Country Side Dr. (Nashua, NH) |
Use | Bicycling, inline skating, walking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing |
The Nashua River Rail Trail is a 12.5-mile (20.1 km) paved mixed-use rail trail in northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire under control of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).
It roughly follows the course of the Nashua River, passing through the towns of Ayer, Groton, Pepperell, and Dunstable, Massachusetts and ends about a mile across the New Hampshire state border in Nashua, New Hampshire. The trail is frequently used by walkers, bicyclists, inline skaters, and, in the winter, cross-country skiers.
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 line was originally part of the Worcester & Nashua Railroad that connected Worcester, Massachusetts and Nashua, New Hampshire, which was opened on July 3, 1848. The line was extended to Portland, Maine in 1874 and it became part of the Worcester, Nashua and Rochester Railroad connecting Worcester and points east to Canada's Grand Trunk Railroad via Portland, Maine.