Mass Central Rail Trail W, Hudson MA.jpg
John Phelan · CC BY 4.0

Mass Central Rail Trail -- Wayside is a 7-mile out-and-back in Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge near Gleasondale Station, MA. It is mostly level, with 27 ft of elevation gain, and mostly paved. It scores 9/100 on the Ambleway Wildness scale: paved and peopled.

Elevation

0 mi177 – 220 ft7.3 mi

Getting there

Trailhead: Unnamed 42.39689, -71.51584
Nearest town Gleasondale Station, MA

Directions

AMBLEWAYwww.ambleway.com

Mass Central Rail Trail -- Wayside

7 mi · ▲ 27 ft · 2 hr 21 min

Elevation 178–219 ft

Out & Back · Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge

Trailhead: 42.39689, -71.51584

Weather Sep 20: Drizzle, high 61°F / low 49° · precip 53% · wind 3 mph · sunrise 6:32 AM · sunset 6:49 PM

  1. Start at the trailhead, heading E.
  2. 450 ftBear left, heading S.
  3. 0.2 miContinue straight onto Mass Central Rail Trail -- Wayside, heading SE.
  4. 2.1 miTurn left, heading SE.
  5. 50 ftContinue straight onto Fisher Trail, heading SE.
  6. 1 miBear left, heading NE.
  7. 350 ftReach the turnaround, then head back the way you came.
  8. 350 ftBear right, heading N.
  9. 1 miTurn right onto Mass Central Rail Trail -- Wayside, heading S.
  10. 2.3 miBear right, heading W.
  11. 250 ftArrive back at the trailhead.

Each distance is the walk from the previous step. Tap a step for a map of its junction.

Trail surface

66% paved17% dirt17% unspecified

Weather

DrizzleTemperature 61°F49°
Precip53%Wind3 mphUV1Humidity94%
Rained 2.7″ 7 days ago
Hourly temperatureRain chance
65°45° 3 AM: 2% rain5 AM: 2% rain6 AM: 5% rain7 AM: 1% rain8 AM: 3% rain9 AM: 8% rain10 AM: 6% rain11 AM: 22% rain12 PM: 35% rain1 PM: 42% rain2 PM: 50% rain3 PM: 53% rain4 PM: 40% rain5 PM: 32% rain6 PM: 51% rain7 PM: 40% rain8 PM: 34% rain9 PM: 35% rain10 PM: 44% rain11 PM: 48% rain
Sunrise 6:32 AM12 AM3 AM9 AM12 PM3 PM9 PMSunset 6:49 PM
Mon 66°54° 57%
Tue 60°47°
Wed 62°45°
Thu 64°43°
Fri 62°48° 35%
Sat 59°51° 43%

Sunset

The best sunset spot on this hike is 3.3 mi in (~82 min). Leave by 5:07 PM for the 6:49 PM sunset. Back at your car by 8:25 PM, after dark — bring a headlamp.

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