A "new" rail trail

I like running on Rail Trails, must be the flat terrain and lack of traffic.  In 2024 I ran over 1,600 miles on the Methuen Rail Trail including over 500 times from the Methuen Depot to the NH state line.  Of course, I enjoy heading off on other rail trails and especially enjoy finding new trails.  Last month I ran with Jim Pawlicki on the Danvers RT and we checked out the little section that branches off to the west.  It was nice but only 6/10ths of a mile.  Joe Shairs mentioned that he’d done a short run on the Middleton RT (which will eventually connect to that 6/10ths section) and that got me wondering how much of the trail was completed.  I did some research on the web page (middletonrailtrail.org) and checked out Google maps and from what I gathered I’d be able to park in North Andover and go to Danvers. One thing lacking on the website was a map with the parking shown, they are separate and if you don’t know the specific locations it is hard to figure out where parking is.  I hope they add parking to the map or add trail distances to the parking descriptions, both would be helpful in planning.  This seemed like a good adventure for December 24 which the President granted as an additional Holiday for Federal workers.  Description of the trail follows, but it is very easy to follow since rail trails tend to be straight! 

 

I parked at 361 Sharpners Pond road in North Andover where you can safely park at least four cars on the side of the road.  There is a small sign for the rail trail.  I was surprised by the steep little downhill from the road to a small foot bridge.  My first thought was “this is going to be a trail with lots of up/down”.  I was wrong.  This was the only hill of any kind on the entire route, and the only part of the trail that is in North Andover (.02 miles).  There was a dusting of snow on the ground and there would be snow showers throughout my run. At 1.46 miles cross Leitner road (private road). Note that there is signage here about it being private and the placement of the signs implies that the trail itself is private (it is NOT).  Ignore the signs and continue on. At 1.61 miles the trail ends at the junction of Essex Street (route 62) and Old Essex Street.  Turn left on Old Essex (which is one way and you will be going against traffic). At 1.87 miles you will rejoin Essex street.  Use caution crossing and at 1.89 miles at the junction of Essex and Dixey Drive the trail continues. At 2.29 cross Essex street again. At this point the trail become wider and is a packed dirt surface for the remainder.  At exactly 3.0 miles reach the road behind Howe Manning School.  There is parking available here for 28 cars (45 Central Street, Middleton MA).  At 3.6 miles cross Essex street again. At 3.84 miles the trail ends at Oak street, turn left on Oak and right on Essex (route 62) to cross over the Ipswich River.  There is parking at the boat launch on route 62 right before you cross over the river, maybe four cars could park here.  At 3.94 miles take a right on Perkins and return to the trail.  There is parking for about 10 cars available across the street at 210 Maple Street, Middleton. At 4.15 miles cross Gregory Street, there is some on-street parking available near the intersection of Gregory, East and Maple (route 62).  At 4.52 miles reach the (marked) Danvers town line.  The trail continues in Danvers for another .85 ending at 5.37 miles at the access road for Hathorne.  The map below shows my route with arrows pointing to the parking.  You can also pull up the GPX of the route here:

https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/6368112547/

It was a long slow run for me with the snow in Middleton at about 4 inches deep and mostly unpacked.  There had only been a little traffic on the trail, although I did see some snowshoe prints.  I only saw 4 people in the nearly 2 hours I was out there.  I really enjoyed the run after turning and heading back despite the snow getting a bit heavier.  I ended up adding another 1.2 miles on the road at the end to get a 12 mile run which was only the 6th time I’ve run longer than 10 miles in 2024.