W 34, Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton MA.jpg
John Phelan · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pepperell Pond–Eagle Loop, 3 sights is a 6.3-mile out-and-back in J. Harry Rich State Forest near Paper Mill Village, MA. The route reaches Pepperell Pond. It is mostly level, with 66 ft of elevation gain, and mostly dirt. It scores 4/100 on the Ambleway Wildness scale: paved and peopled.

Elevation

0 mi200 – 289 ft6.6 mi

Getting there

Trailhead: Unnamed 42.63217, -71.57563
Nearest town Paper Mill Village, MA

Directions

AMBLEWAYwww.ambleway.com

Pepperell Pond–Eagle Loop, 3 sights

6.3 mi · ▲ 66 ft · 2 hr 8 min

Elevation 199–288 ft

Out & Back · J. Harry Rich State Forest

Trailhead: 42.63217, -71.57563

Weather Sep 20: sunrise 6:32 AM · sunset 6:49 PM

Parking lot at the trailhead

  1. Start at the trailhead, heading N.
  2. 50 ftContinue straight onto Nashua River Rail Trail, heading N.
  3. 0.5 miBear right, heading N.
  4. 500 ftSharp left, heading W.
  5. 0.5 miSharp left onto J. Harry Rich Trail, heading S.
  6. 50 ftPass Pepperell Pond.
  7. 1.2 miTurn right, heading S.
  8. 0.3 miTurn right, heading W.
  9. 0.1 miSharp left onto John Tinker Trail, heading NW.
  10. 300 ftSharp left, heading NW.
  11. 250 ftTurn right, heading S.
  12. 350 ftTurn left, heading S.
  13. 0.3 miSharp left onto J. Harry Rich Trail, heading N.
  14. 0.3 miBear right, heading W.
  15. 0.2 miTurn right, heading NW.
  16. 0.4 miTurn left onto Eagle Loop, heading NE.
  17. 0.7 miBear left onto J. Harry Rich Trail, heading NE.
  18. 0.1 miTurn right, heading E.
  19. 0.4 miSharp right, heading S.
  20. 0.2 miTurn left onto Nashua River Rail Trail, heading W.
  21. 0.8 miArrive back at the trailhead.

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

Trail surface

77% dirt22% paved1% gravel

Weather

Sunrise 6:32 AMSunset 6:49 PM

Sunset

The best sunset spot on this hike is 0.6 mi in (~14 min). Leave by 6:16 PM for the 6:49 PM sunset. Back at your car by 7:18 PM, after dark — bring a headlamp.

More sunset hikes nearby

Good to know

  • Parking lot at the trailhead

Other ways to reach this destination

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