Start the New Year by connecting with nature! The Town of Hopkinton is celebrating with a 1st Day Hike.
Plan your First Day Hike on January 1! Celebrate our community as we recognize and appreciate the value of our trails and lands in Hopkinton. Meet us at Kimball Cabins at 11 am for a hike around the Greenway Trail Loop with volunteers from the Hopkinton Conservation Commission. The hike will conclude with hot cocoa and treats at the cabins. This event is free and is weather-dependent. If we need to cancel for inclement weather, we will post that on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/hopkintonNHRecreation/
Hike details:
Kimball Lake to Hopkinton Center: 1.23 miles
Beginning at the parking area at Kimball Lake, the trail follows an old woods road along the lake. The trail skirts the edge of the water, then winds by wetlands and streams before joining the unmaintained section of New Road. Turn right on New Road and continue to South Road. Follow South Road to the center of Hopkinton by the Hopkinton Village Store.
Interested in exploring the Greenway Trail at your own pace from another location? Try one of these:
Hopkinton Center to Route 103: .84 mile
At the Hopkinton Village Store, cross Route 202, turn left (Veteran’s Park will be on your right), and follow along the road to Old Putney Hill Road. Follow Old Putney Road .3 miles to a woods road on the right. The trail winds its way through forested land owned by the Hopkinton Village Precinct and the town’s Aqueduct Lot. Cross Route 103 to pick up the trail on the opposite side of the road.
Route 103 to Stagecoach Rd at Sweatt Preserve: .61 mile
This section begins on the northeast side of Hopkinton Road on the Ransmeier Woods property. A short section crosses over boardwalks and bridges before joining the existing blue trail of Ransmeier Woods. Turn left at the trail junction and follow the blue trail to its intersection with the Greenway. Turn left on the Greenway, heading north across private land to the junction with Old Stagecoach Road. The trail emerges directly across from the trail on the Sweatt Preserve.
Note: From the parking area at the Ransmeier Woods trailhead (next to the Police Station on Hopkinton Road), follow the orange trail to the blue trail, cross over the footbridge and continue on the blue trail to its junction with the Greenway.
Stagecoach Road to Hawthorne Forest trailhead: .79 mile
Turn right on Stagecoach Road and continue .2 mile to Briar Hill Road. Turn right on Briar Hill and look for the Greenway trail on the left. The trail follows an unmaintained town road up the hill to Rollins Road. The upper portion of the public way serves as a driveway for several homes off Rollins Road. Cross Rollins Road and pick up the trail on the other side. The trail parallels Rollins Road until it joins the trailhead parking area at Hawthorne Forest.
Hawthorne Forest trailhead to Kimball Lake trailhead: 1.15 miles
Follow the Hawthorne Forest trail from the parking area, through the woods and across the footbridge. After the bridge, turn right and follow the yellow blazes to the connector trail to Main Street. Turn right on this trail (marked “to Main Street”), and turn right again on Main Street. It is .3 mile back along Main Street to Kimball Lake.
Connector from Greenway to Putney Hill Road and Dolly Road
In the fall of 2014, a new trail section was built to connect the Greenway to the historic sites on Putney Hill Road and to Dolly Road via the First Parsonage Road trail. The trail connector begins on Putney Hill Road at the historic cellar hole identified as the “First Parsonage”. To the east, the trail crosses a field and follows stone walls on the Aqueduct Lot town forest where it connects with the Greenway. Along this section of the trail, recent logging opened a view to the northeast. To the west of the First Parsonage site, the trail follows the old roadway downhill to Dolly Road.