It hasn't had an official ribbon-cutting yet, but earlier this summer, the fences came down on a new segment of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail from West Concord to Sudbury, where it intersects with a nearly-complete new section of the Mass. Central Rail Trail.
This is a significant piece of a growing network of rail trails in the Metrowest region – a part of the Commonwealth that's particularly scenic at this time of year.
Adaptive shared bikes in Concord
Better still, this particular trail segment opens up new mobility options into a region that's otherwise not very welcoming to non-drivers and mobility-impaired people. The path connects directly to the MBTA's Fitchburg Line station in West Concord, where there are also adaptive bike rentals available from Minuteman Bikeshare.
Minuteman Bike Share started in Concord and Acton, but expanded this year into the neighboring towns of Lincoln, and Maynard, with seven stations in all.
Three of the system's docks are located along the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail (at the West Concord MBTA station, at the East Acton Village Green, and on Brook St. in Acton).
Beth Williams, the Tourism Manager for the Town of Concord, told StreetsblogMASS that the town bought two adaptive bikes to add to its Minuteman Bike Share system in 2022 with a MassDOT grant. The adaptive bikes (pictured above at the West Concord dock) feature a three-wheeled recumbent design for extra stabilty.
This year, the town of Acton also purchased additional adaptive bikes to expand their availability.
South into Sudbury
Until this summer, the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail ended at Powder Mill Road in Concord. But the new trail extension adds another 5 miles to connect the trail into Sudbury, Concord's southern neighbor.
As you're heading south from Powder Mill Road, one of the first landmarks you'll come to on the new trail segment is White Pond in Concord, which is visible through the trees east of the trail.
An interpretive sign here informs you that Henry David Thoreau considered White Pond to be "a lesser twin of Walden" and "perhaps the most attractive, if not the most beautiful, of all our lakes" in Concord.
Unlike Walden Pond, White Pond has several houses along its northern shore, but the southern shore of the lake is still undeveloped and can be reached via a narrow sidepath from the Bruce Freeman trail. Note that the town requests visitors to leave their bikes parked on the Bruce Freeman trail, since the connecting footpaths are steep and susceptible to erosion.
A little further south, the trail passes through a gorgeous wetland meadow around Pantry Brook, a tributary of the Sudbury River:
5.4 miles south of West Concord, the Bruce Freeman Trail crosses Hudson Road, also known as Route 27. This junction provides access to Sudbury's tiny town center, where you can find a pizza shop, the town hall, and one of the town's elementary schools.
The trail ends – for now – at the "Sudbury diamond" junction with the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail (MCRT) near the Boston Post Road in Sudbury.
This part of the MCRT is still technically under construction, but we nevertheless saw lots of people using it on our visit. One project that's still underway is the construction of the new roundabout that will mark the junction of the MCRT with the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail:
