Rides
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"Tour(s) de Bedford"
Short Rides Organized by Bedford’s Bicycle Advisory Committee
While the hum-drum buzz of everyday life takes place all around us, most busy people are ignorant of what lies a few tens of meters from the Town’s major highways, where three “off road” thoroughfares (The Minuteman Commuter Bikeway, the Narrow Gauge Rail Trail, and the Minuteman Extension or Reformatory Line) come together at Depot Park, making Bedford a cyclist’s Mecca. Paralleling the Town’s most heavily used travel corridors, these greenways offer cyclists safe, relaxing, traffic-free routes to Bedford Center from the east, north, and west. To explore them in their current state and showcase their potential as alternatives to riding the Great Road, North and Springs Roads, and Route 62 west, the Bicycle Advisory Committee has mapped some short “Tours” starting from Depot Park and, between them, covering the entirety of all three bike paths in a grand loop around town. Furthermore, in keeping with the celebration of Bedford’s 275 years of incorporation, the loops are designed to pass by a number of historic sites and through many of the Town’s thirty-plus conservation areas. Anyone (including minors accompanied by a parent or guardian) sufficiently fit to cycle a dozen miles in two hours over a variety of surfaces, some unimproved, is eligible to participate.
The Tours cater both in length and difficulty to casual riders operating mountain and/or hybrid bicycles comfortable on both paved and “civilized” off-road surfaces; employing the latter as “short cuts” between relatively traffic-free neighborhood ways avoids high-speed, high-volume roads. Because of this, the routes are not suitable for “tag alongs”, trailers, or kiddy seats.
In addition to bringing a bike in good working order, all participants MUST wear a properly fitting Snell or ANSI approved helmet and carry some form of identification. A spare tube and a means of inflating it are useful adjuncts; ride leaders will carry tubes and pumps suitable for their own bikes and these may serve in a pinch, but there’s no guarantee. Leaders will also carry a few tools just in case something heavier than a flat happens and a quick improvisation is needed to enable a rider to limp home. Participants with medical conditions (asthma, anaphylactic reactions, poison ivy sensitivity, etc.) are expected to bring any medicines they need with them; leaders are not authorized to dispense drugs and won’t carry them.
Guided Tours are occasionally organized by the BBAC, and will be posted on the calendar page of this website.
- Tour 1 – Distance and total climbing: 12.6 miles and 270 feet
Total | Segment | Turn Street/Instructions 0.0 0.0 Start: Depot Park (Loomis at South St., Bedford) 0.1 0.1 R Just before Elm Brook R into the woods on trail 0.7 0.6 L Reformatory Line (railroad bed) 1.4 0.7 ST STOP - Hartwell Road 2.2 0.8 R STOP - Concord Road/Route 62 2.3 0.2 L Sherman Road - CAREFUL Xing Route 62 2.5 0.1 R Mae Road - 1st R - may not be a sign 2.6 0.1 L STOP - Davis Road 2.6 0.0 R Entrance to Davis School 2.7 0.1 R Paved path descending R 2.8 0.1 L Glennridge Drive - continue to Notre Dame Road 3.4 0.6 R Notre Dame Road 3.5 0.1 L FORK - STAY L on Hillcrest Road 3.6 0.1 R STOP - Davis Road 3.8 0.2 L William Street 4.0 0.2 R Jeffrey Circle - ride to its end 4.2 0.2 ST Thru shrubs into field - ride mowed path 4.3 0.1 L L thru tall grass to path behind houses 4.4 0.2 R Exit to Winterberry Lane 4.6 0.2 L STOP - Route 225 4.9 0.3 R Old Causeway Road 5.3 0.4 L L through gate to path - ride thru to Pickman Drive 5.5 0.2 R Pickman Drive - continue to Dudley Road 6.0 0.5 L STOP - Dudley Road 7.1 1.1 ST Enter Billerica 8.1 0.9 ST STOP - Route 4/Chelmsford Road - X to Dudley Road 8.6 0.5 R STOP - Concord Road 8.6 0.1 L Technology Park Drive - CAREFUL Xing Concord Rd 9.2 0.6 R STOP - Orchard Road 9.3 0.1 L Middlesex CC entrance - ride thru to exit on Springs Rd 10.2 0.9 L Springs Road - GO L ON SIDEWALK 10.3 0.1 R Fawn Circle - CAREFUL Xing Springs Rd 10.4 0.1 L Paved path - CAREFUL - twisty - fast - stairs at end (fun!) 10.5 0.1 ST Climb stairs to Sweetwater Avenue 10.6 0.1 L Narrow Gage Rail Trail - WATCH FOR WASHOUTS 11.7 1.1 ST STOP - Pine Hill Road 12.0 0.3 ST STOP - Springs Road 12.3 0.4 ST STOP - Great Road - CAREFUL Xing 12.6 0.3 R Loomis Street - X to sidewalk and ride to Depot Park 12.6 0.0 End Depot Park - Tour 2 – Distance and total climbing: 12.0 miles and 340 feet
Total | Segment | Turn Street/Instructions 0.0 0.0 Start: From Depot Park ride the Bikeway toward Lexington 1.0 1.0 ST Wiggins Avenue - X to Bikeway 1.1 0.1 STOP Shawsheen River - Under bridge to Bikeway Artists' Gallery 1.1 0.1 R Return to Wiggins Avenue - Go R 1.5 0.4 ST X buffer strip to parking lot 1.6 0.1 R Trail - X Shawsheen River to Bridge Street 1.7 0.1 L Pine Street 1.9 0.2 ST STOP - LIGHTS - Great Road/Route 225 - X to Cemetery 2.5 0.6 R R to trail at break in fence 2.7 0.3 L West end of Reservoir - Ride/walk trails to here and go L 2.8 0.1 R Shawsheen Road - R on sidewalk 2.9 0.1 STOP Historic Shawshine House 3.0 0.0 R Page Road 3.1 0.1 L Hemlock Lane 3.4 0.3 R Hilltop Drive - climb 3.5 0.2 R R at circle - still Hilltop - climb some more 3.8 0.3 L Wilson Road - no road sign 3.8 0.1 R Robinson Drive - no road sign - climb and descend 4.5 0.7 ST Thru boulder barrier to Ledgewood Drive 5.0 0.4 R Robinson Drive 5.0 0.1 R Wilson Mill access road 5.1 0.1 STOP Wilson Mill site - ride thru to sidewalk 5.2 0.1 L Route 62 - L on sidewalk - ride to its end 5.4 0.2 R X Route 62 to Earl Road 5.5 0.1 R Meadowbrook Road 6.0 0.6 R Sherwood Drive 6.3 0.2 R Route 62 - ride toward Bedford 6.6 0.3 R Old Billerica Road 6.6 0.0 L X Old Billerica to trail 6.7 0.1 R Trail forks - stay R 6.7 0.0 R Bedford Court - ride thru Carlton-Willard to main entrance 6.9 0.2 L Old Billerica Road - go L on sidewalk 7.1 0.2 L Wagon Wheel Drive 7.3 0.2 R Old Stagecoach Road 7.6 0.2 R Sweeney Ridge Road 8.1 0.5 R Old Stagecoach Road 8.2 0.1 R FORK - Go R on Temple Terrace 8.3 0.1 L Alcott Street 8.5 0.2 L Gould Road - descend and climb 9.0 0.4 L Springs Road - ride sidewalk L 9.5 0.5 L VA Hospital loop road - ride past golf course 10.0 0.6 L Springs Road - ride sidewalk L 10.2 0.1 L Springs Brook Park access road 10.3 0.1 R Woodchip trail just beyond 9-11 Memorial 10.6 0.4 STOP Springs Brook Pond and facilities 11.0 0.4 L Springs Road 11.2 0.2 ST 4-way STOP - Pine Hill Road 11.3 0.2 L Narrow Gage Rail Trail 11.7 0.4 ST STOP - Great Road - X and continue on Rail Trail 12.0 0.3 R Loomis Street 12.0 0.0 End Depot Park
- Riverfest Ride
Start at Bedford's boat landing off Carlisle Road.
Go west on Route 225 to Skelton Rd. in Carlisle
Left onto Skelton Rd. to River Road.
Left on River Road which becomes Monument Street in Concord.
Follow Monument Street, cross the Concord River and stop at the Old North Bridge.
you may be able to walk your bikes across the bridge up to the Buttrick House and out to Liberty Street. If not, go back to Monument Street, go left, back across the river to Liberty Street.
In either case go left on Liberty Street to Lowell Road.
Left (south) on Lowell Road, cross the river again, and go immediately right into the parking area to view the confluence of the Sudbury and Assabet Rivers into the Concord River.
Continue south on Lowell Road (go right out of the parking area). Shortly turn left onto the old railroad right of way that goes east to Monument Street.
Cross Monument St. continuing the old railroad right of way.
Follow the rail bed to the driveway of Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. If you turn left into the GMNWR, you will find a fun viewing platform.
Continue on the rail bed to Concord Road in Bedford.
Cross Concord Road onto the Minuteman West trail.
Follow that trail to a break in the guard rail on the left onto Caesar Jones Way. (If you reach Hartwell Road you've gone too far.)
Straight across Concord Road onto Ten Acre Drive.
Ten Acre Drive to Norma Rd.
Left on Norma Rd. to Glen Terrace.
Right on Glen Terrace to Glen Ridge Drive.
Right on Glen Ridge Drive to Notre Dame Rd.
Right on Notre Dame Rd. to Hillcrest Rd.
Left on Hillcrest to Davis Road.
Right on Davis Road to William St.
Left on William St. to Jeffrey Circle.
Right on Jeffrey Circle, pass Madel Lane, to the end.
There is a hole in the hedge, cross a field.
Approaching the rear of the houses on Winterberry Lane, go left onto the right of way between their rear property line and the Great Meadows NWR property and out onto Winterberry Ln.
Go left on Winterberry to Carlisle Road (route 225)
Left on Carlisle Road and return to the boat landing.
BikeBedford.org > Routes & Rides > rides > routes > maps
Routes
- Down-town Bedford Bicycle Routes (jpeg 90KB 640x480 pixels) - a map of Bedford with cycle routes anotated (or full-size: jpeg 762KB 2600x1800 pixels)
BikeBedford.org > Routes & Rides > rides > routes > maps
Maps
- Bedford GIS Mapping System at http://host.appgeo.com/bedfordMA/Map.aspx
- Historic USGS Maps of Bedford
- MSN TerraServer aerial view of Bedford - click on photo to zoom in!
- Mapquest Map of Bedford
- Yahoo Map of Bedford