Massachusetts Central Rail Trail offers a track through time, place and nature

Editor’s note: This is part of a series on winter walking places in and near Worcester. Let us know your favorite walking places at wmeditor@gatehousemedia.com.

When walking on the Holden and West Boylston stretch of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail, it’s easy to imagine taking the same route as a train passenger a century earlier.

In 1924, someone would have had the same view from a train on the Central Massachusetts Railroad that hikers have from the trail today, gazing out the window at the sun sparkling off the Quinapoxet River and the snow on the ground.

The Massachusetts Central Rail Trail is an ongoing effort to turn 104 miles of abandoned railroad track into a green area for hikers and wildlife alike, stretching from Northampton to Boston, and Worcester County is home to some of its most scenic sections.

When Worcester Magazine visited, the trail was covered in a thin layer of snow from a recent storm and the river rushed alongside and underneath. Along the way, tiny streams of snowmelt water bubbled on either side, eventually flowing into the river next to a trail bridge.

Winter Walks: Nature returns to the Mass. Central Rail Trail in Holden

This week’s Winter Walk took us on a route in Holden that was once a busy railroad and is now home to hikers, runners, dogs, and thriving wildlife.

Making tracks

From the parking area on River Street in Holden, there are two paths to take. One of these paths begins directly at the uphill end of the parking lot and meanders northwest through the forest, and this path was never part of the railroad, but it is as well-maintained as the former tracks.

The other path is the rail trail itself, a three-mile segment of what was once the Central Massachusetts Railroad that follows the Quinapoxet River from Holden to the western corner of the Wachusett Reservoir in West Boylston.

The railroad, built during the late 1800s, experienced its heyday at the turn of the 20th century, doing booming business as a way to travel between Northampton and Boston and to any point along the way.

In 1902, construction began on a new route that would take trains around the soon-to-be-filled Wachusett Reservoir, and trains continued bringing passengers and freight between Massachusetts’ western and eastern ends.

As the decades wore on, cars became the dominant mode of transportation, and the Central Massachusetts Railroad felt the effects. Although the MBTA used the tracks as a commuter route for a period of time, a significant amount of the railroad was abandoned by the 1980s.

New vision, new life

In 1995, the nonprofit conservation organization Wachusett Greenways formed and began buying land that contained old sections of the railroad in Central Massachusetts, starting with the West Boylston section. Wachusett Greenways now maintains 17 miles of trails on and around the old railroad.

Statewide, the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail currently offers hikers more than 60 miles, although those miles are split up by closed sections and protected conservation land.

There is another open section of rail trail in Holden, starting on Quinapoxet Street, and Oakham, Rutland, and Clinton are all home to open sections as well.

The rail trail is wide and has no steep hills, its surface is made up of densely packed stone dust, so when we visited, there was no need for mud-friendly boots despite the melting snow. Its accessibility makes this Winter Walk more of a laid-back walk than a hike.

Parking for the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail is available on River Street in Holden and Thomas Street in West Boylston. To learn more, visit masscentralrailtrail.org.