Length:                Mass Central Rail Trail: Norwottuck Branch; 10.8 miles

                               Hadley Dyke Trail; 1.5 miles   Loop; 2 miles

                               UMass Bikeway Commuter Trail (Swift Way); 2.1 miles. [Loop; 3.5 miles]

                               Mass Central Rail Trail: Williamsburg Branch; 5.5 miles

                               Look Park Loop Trail; 1.5 miles

Difficulty:            Mass Central Rail Trail: Norwottuck Branch; Easy. Flat, paved rail trail. 

                               Hadley Dyke Trail; Easy. Flat, hard packed dirt & grass.

                               Mass Central Rail Trail: Williamsburg Branch; Easy. Paved rail trail with slight grade one direction.

                                Look Park Loop Trail; Easy. Flat paved trail.

Directions:

From I-91:

Northbound: Take exit 25 and continue to the Route 9 traffic circle. Take the Damon Rd exit. On your right is Elwell State Park (Mass Central; Norwottuck Branch Central Section). To start from King Street (Mass Central; Norwottuck Branch Western End/ Mass Central; Williamsburg Branch Southern End); Continuing along Damon Rd, you travel under I-91 and come to Routes 5 & 10 (King St) at the light. Turn left on King St and follow until you come to the Kingsgate Plaza on your right. As you turn right into the plaza look left to spot a spur trail. This trail runs through the parking lot and connects to the Mass Central Rail Trail; Williamsburg Branch near where it crosses King St. You need to head left across King St to reach the "Spoke".

Southbound: Take exit 26 to Routes 5 & 10 (King St) and come to your first intersection. To start from King Street (Mass Central; Norwottuck Branch Western End/ Mass Central; Williamsburg Branch Southern End); Continue straight on King St and follow until you come to the Kingsgate Plaza on your right. As you turn right into the plaza look left to spot a spur trail. This trail runs through the parking lot and connects to the Mass Central Rail Trail; Williamsburg Branch near where it crosses King St. You need to head left across King St to reach the "Spoke". To start from Elwell State Park (Mass Central; Norwottuck Branch Central Section). Turn left on Damon Rd. Just before you reach Route 9 the parking lot will be on your left.

To start from Wright Road (Mass Central; Norwottuck Branch Eastern End); Take Route 9 for about 6.5 miles from Elwell State Park. Take a right down Southeast St and a left onto Station Rd after about 2 miles. Less then a mile you will pass the Station Road parking lot on your left. Continue on until you come to Wright Road on your right. The parking lot is less then a mile down the road.

• Heading West the Mass Central Rail Trail; Boston-Cambridge (also known as the Fitchburg Cutoff) will eventually extend to Northampton.

• Heading East the Mass Central Rail Trail; Boston-Cambridge (also known as the Red Line Linear Path which becomes the Somerville Community Path) will eventually bring you to North Point Park in Cambridge (where you may connect to the Boston Harborwalk; Charlestown and Charles River Bikeway ).

• Heading Northwest the Minuteman Bikeway brings you to Bedford (where you may connect to the Bedford Narrow Gauge Spur and future Reformatory Branch Rail Trail.

• Heading Northeast the Alewife Brook Greenway brings you to the Mystic River (where you may connect to the Mystic River Paths ).

• Heading South the Fresh Pond Bike Path brings you to Fresh Pond (where you can access the Fresh Pond Loop Trail and continue Southeast along the Watertown Branch Rail Trail to Watertown).

Note; Straight takes you out and across King St to the Kingsgate Plaza parking lot, where you can also access the Mass Central Rail Trail; Williamsburg Branch.

Travel EAST through the tunnel from the "Spoke" where you'll enter a wooded residential corridor. Cross Bates St before traveling underneath I-91 and coming to cross-light at Damon Rd.

Note; Right, a paved Spur Trail takes you alongside Damon Rd to the Route 9 traffic circle. Heading right leads to the Bridge Street BIKE LANE. If you follow the traffic circle left it will take you to a path over the CT River via the Bridge Street Bridge.

Crossing Damon Rd brings you to Elwell State Park after 0.7 miles. A Map Board is located here, along with a BIKE STATION and Porto-Potty. 

The trail crosses over the Connecticut River on an old railroad trestle that spans close a third of a mile. As you cross the bridge, you will see Elwell Island below. It is currently 60 acres and is one of the largest islands in the Connecticut River. Definitely a highlight of the trip, this 1,492 foot iron bridge was built in 1887. After crossing over the bridge, note an old granite Whistle Post marker on the right side of the trail. There are many of these old markers along the trail, as well as old granite mileage markers, that reflect the history of this old railroad bed. Granite Mile Markers are located every mile along the route. Come to Cross Path Rd at 1.4 miles.

Note; Left is the start of the hard packed dirt & grass Hadley Dike Trail Loop that travels atop a flood control dikes. These flood control dikes were constructed in 1938 after two devastating floods swept through the valley. This trail follows above Cross Path Rd before crossing Cemetery Rd where it continues north to the Connecticut River at 0.6 miles. Here the trail heads east above the river. Come to the Alexandra Dawson Conservation Area parking lot off North Ln after 1.5  miles. From here you can Loop back to the Mass Central Rail Trail; Norwottuck Branch by heading right on-road (residential) along North Ln. This brings you to the historic Hadley Common. Continue left along North Ln and rejoin the Mass Central Rail Trail; Norwottuck Branch  after a 2 mile Loop.

Continuing east from Cross Path Rd you'll cross the historic Hadley Common at 2.2 miles. This Common is over a mile long. You then pass by a Porto-Potty and Map Board before coming to the former Hadley Railroad Station at 2.5 miles. You travel through a tunnel underneath Route 9 at 4 miles. About 4.5 miles will bring you to the Mountain Farms Mall parking lots along the left side of the trail. Cross S Maple St and come to Range View. Here you'll find a Map Board and picnic tables. Views of the Holyoke Range. Another mile of level trail then gives way to a slightly steeper grade. You pass alongside a golf course and eventually come to the start of the UMass Bikeway Commuter Trail (also called "Swift Way") on your left at 6.5 miles.

Note; The UMass Bikeway Commuter Trail/Swift Way is a spur trail to the UMass Amherst campus where you may also loop back to the Mass Central Rail Trail; Norwottuck Branch through Amherst Center (quaint shops & restaurants) and only bypass 0.2  miles of the trail. See below.

Just past the UMass Bikeway Commuter Trail you will spot a line of boulders on the right, leading to a small field with picnic tables. Continuing along the trail, it finally crests and starts a more downward grade. You then travel underneath Route 116 at the 6 mile mark and come to the former Amherst Railroad Station, which now houses a lumber yard.

Note; If you go north up Route 116, you can check out Amherst College. Very scenic campus on top of a hill. You can also go downtown for a variety of restaurants and shops.

At 7.7 miles you cross two bridges over the Fort River and East St. The trail is fairly level again. You pass through several conservation areas and swamps including the Brickyard Conservation Area, Poor Farm Swamp and Lawrence Swamp. You reach the Station Road parking lot after about 9.3 miles. Map board located here. You can see the active rail line to your left as it now begins to parallel the trail. This is the New England Central Railroad, which runs from New London, Connecticut to the Canadian border and passes through Amherst. The trail passes through deep woods before ending at Warren Wright Road parking lot after 10.8 miles. This is the border with Belchertown. Currently, as of Oct 2022, a gap exists between here and another section of trail that has been developed in Belchertown. See; Mass Central Rail Trail; Belchertown .