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| After the King Street detour, heading for Damon Road. |
Karen and I wanted to attend an event in
Amherst. Concerned about parking, we decided to ride our bikes there. This
became an even more appealing notion when we realized it was Earth Day.
Setting off, Karen informed me that we’d be
taking a brief detour through a neighborhood. Northampton’s trail system
involves several road crossings, which are easy enough to navigate, thanks to
crosswalks and ample signage. Our detour took us around a construction site
that will soon produce a tunnel to bypass the very busy King Street. After
that, it was a short distance to the Connecticut River.
If you’ve spent any time in the Pioneer Valley,
you are probably familiar with the spot where the bike path crosses the
Connecticut. It’s at the intersection of Routes 9 and 91, where the traffic on
Route 9 almost always slows down, funneling onto a narrow bridge. Over to the
north side, there’s another bridge (originally for the railroad) that’s hard to
miss. At the west end of it is the Elwell Recreation Area (446 Damon Road),
which is home to a good-sized (and free) parking area with maps and restrooms.
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| Approaching the Connecticut River from the east. |
I learned on our ride that the Norwottuck Rail
Trail is part of a larger network, the Mass Central Rail Trail. The 11-mile
Norwottuck segment – constructed and maintained by the state’s Department of
Conservation and Recreation – is one of three completed segments of a
recreational trail that will eventually go all the way to Boston.
In 1887, the Central Massachusetts Railroad
Company built a railroad that extended from Boston to Northampton. It was
leased to the Boston and Maine Railroad, and in its heyday – the 1920s – there
were three round-trip passenger trains, and plenty of freight trains too. When
he was Governor of Massachusetts (prior to becoming the United States’ 30th
President) Calvin Coolidge would use the Mass Central line to travel to the
State House from his home in Northampton.
Railroad usage diminished in the late 20s and
early 30s with the rise of cars and trucks. The Mass Central suspended its
passenger service in 1932, and sustained significant damage in the Hurricane of
1938, however freight trains continued to use the line until 1979. In 1985, the
state acquired the railroad property that is now the Norwottuck Trail, and in
1993 it was reopened for recreation. It was named for the Native American tribe
that inhabited the area prior to European settlement. “Norwottuck” means “in
the midst of the river.” A mountain by the same name is visible in the distance.
Travelling from Northampton to Amherst along the
Mass Central line offers some interesting perspectives. Along King Street you
pass by commercial areas that were once served by the railroads. In addition to
the dramatic river crossing, you see agricultural lands still very much in use,
but also big box stores and industrial buildings with impressive ventilation
systems (not surprisingly, the soda factory had a distinctly sweet smell).
There are residential areas and conservation lands along the way, plus the
occasional coffee shop or restaurant. Every mile is marked, as are the town
lines, plus there are numerous benches where you can stop to rest. We only
traveled as far as the Amherst College campus, but Karen told me next time we’d
continue toward Belchertown, where there is some especially lovely scenery.
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| Active agricultural lands directly abut the Mass Central Rail Trail. |
The Norwottuck Rail Trail traverses mostly level
terrain. The pavement is in great shape, so it makes for a pleasant, easy ride.
Additional parking areas are located at Railroad Street in Hadley and Station
Road in South Amherst.
Now that I’ve experienced
the Norwottuck, I’m eager to see the other segments of the Mass Central Rail
Trail. It is very much a work in progress. Extending through 24 communities, it
includes sections that have been complete for a long time, as well as many
still under development. There are currently 25 miles open “officially,” with
another 60 in “protected status” – owned by state agencies, cities and towns,
land trusts and conservation commissions.
The Norwottuck section is impressive but it
sounds like the Wachusett Greenway has even more to offer. This 30-mile expanse
opened in 1999 in West Boylston. It has been expanded over the years and
currently extends through the towns of Sterling, Holden, Rutland and Oakham.
Another, smaller, section is the 2-mile Community Path in Somerville.
Additional rail trail systems in Massachusetts
include the 5-mile Ashuwillticook (from Lanesborough to Cheshire); the 3.7-mile
Canalside (from Turners Falls to Deerfield); the 11-mile Nashua River Trail
(Ayer, Groton, Pepperell, Dunstable); and of course the 22-mile Cape Cod Rail
Trail (from Dennis to Wellfleet).
Sources:
•
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-west/norwottuck-rail-trail.html
by Kezia Bacon
April 2017
Kezia Bacon's articles appear courtesy of the
North and South Rivers Watershed Association, a local non-profit organization
devoted to the preservation, restoration, maintenance and conservation of the
North and South Rivers and their watershed. For membership information and a
copy of their latest newsletter, contact NSRWA at (781) 659-8168 or visit
www.nsrwa.org. To browse 20 years of nature columns, visit http://keziabaconbernstein.blogspot.com
