Needham_Town

Needham Town Forest

Submitted by Bill Boles

Location: Central Avenue, Needham MA
Difficulty--: Easy:40%, Moderate:40%, Difficult:9%, Caution:1%
Description: The Needham Town Forest is a small but trail dense area. Consisting of more than 200 acres of dense woods with a few small ponds. There is one scenic overlook at the top of High Rock in the easternmost section of the forest. One degrading woods road runs through most of the forest and all of the singletracks lead off of it. The singletracks are fun. Not so technical that you'll have to get off your bike very often, but busy enough that you'll never be in danger of falling asleep as you ride. They wind all around the forest and interconnect in a random manner that makes it impossible to ride all of the forest's trails without doing at least a few trail repeats. In all there are about 5 miles of good singletracks in the forest coupled with the old road that I mentioned that's about a mile long.

: Years ago the town of Needham asked NEMBA to lay out some trail on this parcel. NEMBA did and the trails are still there. Though they have since been joined by many new additions. The Needham Town Forest was the site of two old Boston Cup mountain bike races. And the trails are today maintained by the town and a host of volunteers.


: The forest's trails are marked with tiny birdhouses the roofs of which are colored green, red, yellow or white to indicate which trail you're on. A map of the forest is located on the signboard at the parking area and copies are available at the Needham Town Hall. One trail takes you by a wooden train trestle - Probably the most unusual and tallest one that you'll ever see.
: All levels of riders can ride most of the park's trails, but a few will require some advanced singletrack skills. Riding in the Needham Town Forest is a blast. You can link together the forest's trails to make an almost unending variety of rides. And given the lack of long hills, this is one of those areas where you can ride the trails in both directions and enjoy yourself just as much.

: My guess is that if you ride here once, that you'll be back.
Nearby NEMBA Shops & Links Bike Barn Bicycle Link Dave's Bike Infirmary Wheelworks Landry's EMS The Bikeway Source SEMASS NEMBA BV NEMBA Greater Boston NEMBA

Directions: From the north or south: Take exit 17 and follow route 135 through Needham Center. Immediately after the center turn left on Marked Tree Road and follow it through a few intersections until you come to a "T" intersection on Central Avenue. Turn left, go 100 yards and turn left into the Needham Town Forest parking area. (A dirt road.)

Cautions: Many of the forest's trails lead into people's back yards. Respect property rights by not trespassing. Stay off the trails when they're muddy.