An Eight Community Recreational Path
Thirty Miles Long
The Border to Boston Trail is a proposed, 30-mile rail-trail linking eight Essex County communities. Numerous neighborhoods, schools, parks, recreation facilities, commercial and transportion centers lay along the trail. When completed, this non-motorized, multi-use trail, with links to many more miles of trails, will be one of the region’s most outstanding recreational assets.
The trail’s route is formed by two connecting sections of the former Boston & Maine Railroad - the Eastern Route Main Line and the Newburyport Branch). The property is principally owned by: National Grid (formerly Massachusetts Electric, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), and Guilford Transportation, LLC, a private railroad holding company. Portions of the rights-of-way in Newburyport, Salisbury, and Topsfield are or will be available via 99-year leases with the MBTA.
All of the trail lies within the Essex National Heritage Area, designated by the US Congress in 1996 to recognize the national significance of the region’s abundant historical, cultural, and natural resources. Together, the eight communities contain over 3,100 properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places as well as four National Historic Landmark properties.Within close proximity of the trails lies a national wildlife refuge, three state parks, three state forests, two state wildlife management areas, and properties owned by The Trustees of Reservations, Essex County Greenbelt, and other land conservation organizations. Salisbury, Newburyport, and Newbury abut the Great Marsh, the largest salt marsh in New England and a regionally significant natural, historical and economic resource. Virtually all these resources, including the Bay Circuit Trail, can be accessed via a link to the proposed trail.
