West Lexington Greenway Project

Some of the Lexington trail folks (Stewards and others) have been kicking around the idea of a link between the Minuteman Bikeway and the Battle Road Trail in the Minuteman National Historic Park for over ten years now. Harvey Bingham and Colleen Haggerty documented some possibilities here in 1997.

A few years ago I started exploring the Tophet Swamp and Katahdin Woods conservation areas, and quickly came to love the nearly-unknown landscape of swamps, slow-flowing streams, powerline clearings, and forest. The unmarked and poorly maintained trails of the area kept out all but the most adventurous wanderers, and I nearly always had the area to myself. This is a land of beaver dams, ducks, foxes, deer, hawks, owls, and other interesting wildlife.

I have tried to keep the trails open, at least enough to pass through with a mountain bike, but often found I spend much of my planned riding time simply clearing away fast-growing brush and fallen branches and trees. Some of the larger trees blocking the trails are too big for my hand tools, and have become interesting tests of bike-hopping skill. While not wanting to abandon the trails to their natural fate, I often didn't have time after clearing a section of trail in the Tophet/Katahdin land to continue my planned route. I didn't have time to continue my explorations of the many other great trails which afford a huge variety of riding and walking experiences in Lexington and the surrounding towns. It was time to think of a long-term strategy for maintaining the trails in this area.

The several branches of Kiln Brook crossing the area force the existing informal trail to run onto the nearby highway right-of-way in several places, not an acceptable long-term arrangement. The trail bed cannot sustain much traffic in the wetter areas, and is often essentially impassable for many would-be visitors, particularly those with limited mobility.

Katahdin stream crossing – one of the easier ones

There had to be a better way to maintain access to the area and allow more people to appreciate its beauty (despite the noise from nearby I-95/128). Discussing this with some of the Stewards who have been involved with improving trails in other parts of the town led to the realization that development of a sustainable trail in this area would be an undertaking beyond the range of our volunteer capabilities. We need a professional assessment of how (or even whether) to route a trail across the wetlands and larger streams to establish a legal trail on the town conservation land, preferably as far from the constant roar of highway traffic as possible. We also want to coordinate the planning with residents adjoining the town conservation lands, to ensure their interests are supported. We have worked with the Town on a plan to request some Community Preservation funds to develop a professional master plan for this stretch, as well as adjoining public lands. The plan will guide further investments in the entire corridor over the next several years, most of which are expected to be funded largely by state or Federal sources, with the master plan providing the documentation to support the further funding requests.

In addition to the highway right-of-way issues, several parts of the existing trails in the Tophet Swamp and Katahdin Woods are not suitable for heavy use now, because there would be excessive erosion in wet areas. It is likely that some extensive boardwalks will be needed. Even outside the swamp-and stream areas, the main connecting trail has several patches which hold water during wetter periods. Our current thinking (without the detailed analysis which will be done in the master plan) is to plan for a "connector trail" similar in quality to the Battle Road, of stabilized stone dust 8-12 feet wide, suitable for wheelchairs and bicycles in addition to walkers.

Mudhole on the Katahdin trail

In addition to the connector between the Minuteman Bikeway and the Battle Road, there are trails across several nearby areas of conservation and preserved land (Simonds Brook, Paint Mine & Hennessey’s Field, and Cranberry Hill & Cambridge Reservoir land) which can be linked into a unified trail system connecting nearly all the public lands in Lexington west of I-95/128. These existing trails stretch from Lincoln Street in the south to Grove Street and Turning Mill Road in the north, nearly four miles. Our current thinking for these trails to the north and south of the "Connector" section is to leave them as walking or mountain bike trails, fixing the bridges, clearing brush, establishing signs, and making them more attractive without major construction work. However, the master plan, with plenty of input from Lexington residents during its development, will be the vehicle for establishing these choices.

Of Lexington’s 30,000 residents, I doubt that more than 30 have covered these four miles of beautiful and secluded trails in the course of a day, simply because they are not properly identified, maintained, and publicized. Many people drive great distances to enjoy a similar hike, when they could find it almost at their doorsteps. The West Lexington Greenway project is intended to develop a professional long-term plan for managing this corridor and developing and maintaining the trails in it, to allow many more people to have the opportunity to enjoy this treasure in our back yards.

High stone wall - Cambridge Reservoir trail