Review Date
February 10, 2010

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: gemper ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
This trail is literally in my backyard. I can leave my house and pedal up hill about 1/2 mile and be at one of the two entrances of Winter Street in Ashland. There is enough parking on winter street for about 4 cars. You could also park at the MBTA station then ride your bike up Cordaville Road, to Winter Street then up to the Ashland Town Forest.

The trail is basically single track with some fire access road. If you want some type of a workout I recommend staying on the white trail, which is part of the Bay Circuit Path, for a nice long moderate climb. The white trail is out and back so you get to ride back down what you came up and you can get some nice speed. However there are roots and rocks ready to take advantage of you.

On weekends expect to see people walking their dogs. This is one of the few places where dogs can run off leash and many owners do let their dogs run off leash. Weekday afternoons and late week-end afternoons see a downturn in dog activity.

Trail maps used to be available at the Ashland Town Hall. There are 3 or 4 map kiosks in the woods, however they have a tendency to go missing.

Recommended Route:
If coming up Winter Street as soon as you go past Harrington Drive on your left there will be one more house then you will notice a metal gate that sits back about 30 ft from the road. You can park there if you want. Follow this trail as it is windy single track with moderate climbs with one short steep place where you might have to dismount. Follow this trail where it intersects with the white trail. For a loop bear right, but not hard right, and continue on a double-track until it comes to almost a T intersection. Go to your right and stay on this trail until it leads you to the power lines. Go right, follow the power lines and right after your first descent, a trail will go off to your right again. you will climb up another double track and you will see a rock cairn on your right. You will also see a yellow trail marker. You might have to hike-a-bike a short distance up the hill and then you will come out by the water tower and a short paved road. There are two trails on your right take either one and explore. At the end left will take you out of woods.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Callahan State Park, Hopkinton State Park

Review Date
April 8, 2007

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 2 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: slayer94 ,  Downhiller

Summary:
Not too exciting here mostly single track with some fire road and a quick run on the power lines, a large section of the single track was overgrown with tall grass and lots of rocks. There was a few bridges and a few quick downhill sections but were pretty lame. This literally was my back yard for a long time but I only rode it once last year. There is some cool little historical things though such as an old quarry area and old caves that collapsed a long time ago but supposedly where people fleeing from the Salem witch trials stayed.

Recommended Route:
Theres a parking area on Winter Street in Ashland and on Salem End Road in Framingham. Heres a link to a map of the trails.

http://www.ashlandopenspace.org/docs/ashlandtownforest.pdf

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Vietnam, Callahan