Our guests often enjoy getting outdoors for hiking, kayaking, bird watching, biking, snowshoeing, skiing, and other recreational activities. Here is a partial list of local recreational areas and the links for more detailed information.
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation:
The forest offers recreational opportunities year round, ranging from mountain biking and swimming in the summer to cross country skiing and snowmobiling in the winter. Nature lovers will enjoy the numerous hiking trails, the prolific mountain laurel bloom in late June, early July and the opportunity to observe all kinds of wildlife.
This 119 acre park features a 20 acre pond, walking trails, swimming, fishing, picnicking, public programs, and play equipment. Private canoes and non-motorized boats are allowed on the pond. In the winter the trails are open for cross country skiing, ice skating is allowed on the pond and often there is a fire blazing in the visitors center’s fireplace. All activities offered by the park are accessible to people with disabilities.
Lake Dennison Recreation Area:
Lake Dennison is a section of the Army Corps of Engineers Birch Hill Flood Control Project. The DCR, via Otter River State Park staff, manages 4,221 acres of Corp land for recreational use. Located in Winchendon, the park has 150 campsites. There is a swimming beach on Lake Dennison.
Wachusett Mountain State Reservation:
Recreational opportunities abound at the reservation including hiking, nature study, hawk watching, picnicking, and skiing. The Reservation offers 17 miles of hiking and walking trails, including 3.9 miles of the Midstate Trail, which runs from Ashburnham to the Rhode Island border.
Rutland State Park is a 300 acre recreation area with developed facilities for fresh water swimming, picnicking and boating. At Whitehall Pond, there is a swimming beach and adjacent picnic area.
Mass Central Rail Trail
This is a work in progress. The entire corridor when done will be over 100 miles long making it the longest single rail trail in New England. However, it is not really traversable right now from Northampton to Boston in a safe fashion. Click on this link to go to information about the currently open sections.
The corridor has about 25 miles +- that are currently open.
We envision an expanded network of trails and roads for non-motorized recreation and transportation in the towns of Holden, Paxton, Princeton, Rutland, Sterling and West Boylston (in Central Massachusetts, USA). Our largest current project is the Mass Central Rail Trail, of which 10 miles have been completed and 30 miles are under development.
Massachusetts Audubon Society
Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary:
Twelve miles of trails at Wachusett Meadow include such highlights as a 80-acre beaver pond alive with beaver, mink, otter, wood ducks, and herons.
Located in the Wachusett Mountain highlands, the sanctuary’s 1300 foot summit offers excellent hawk watching in the fall.
