Estabrook Trails

The fall is here. Days are getting shorter and there is not much daylight left after 5p.m. to go for a longer ride. Despite all this, I decided to revisit the Estabrook Woods trails on Concord/Carlisle border.

 

I have found the entrance to this trail before, from the Red Coat Ln in Concord. From there the trail opens up and leads through the Estabrook forest. After passing Estabrook Rd on the left, the trail gets a bit wider.

Eventually, I reach the Mink Pond on my right. Then I continued north where the trail ended at the paved Estabrook Rd. The full length of the trail didn't take me more than 20-30 min. to ride and I was able to go pretty fast in places, maintaining a speed of about 20km/h (12mph). That doesn't mean that the trail is smooth and easy to ride. There are sections much more suitable for a mountain bike or at least a bicycle with much wider tires and perhaps a front suspension. The trail gets rocky in places so staying focused on the road is important.

My plan was to ride across the forest and find exit to Stearns St but once I left Bellows Hill Rd and entered the next section of the trail, I got lost. I must have taken a wrong path and instead of going north, the path took me south through the middle of Estabrook Woods. It was getting dark so I rode slowly, especially that the trail was even more rocky than before:

Finally, I found a path going left (east) and after a while I ended up at North Meadows Rd. It was getting dark quickly so I decided to go back. I took Monument St to the Reformatory Branch Trail and went back to Bedford.

In general, Estabrook Woods trails are fun to ride but the next time I would stay on the main, western trail only (between Red Coat Ln and Estabrook Rd). The other trails in the forest are just too rocky and riding a bike there is a bit difficult.