Hiking trail around Ashland Reservoir
TLDR
Ashland State Park is a State of Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) property. There are 470 acres, and 157 of those are covered by a reservoir. There is a 4.5-mile hiking trail that loops around the reservoir, with a few short stub trails off the main one. The trail conditions were excellent, and they are very smooth and level on the west side of the reservoir. The trails are pretty rocky with lots of roots on the east side. You could do an accessible hike from the parking lot to the dam if your mobility is limited. I’ll defer to the expert on whether this should be considered an Easy Walk. Trail markings are mediocre, but you follow the lake the whole way around, so it would be hard to get lost. Dogs are allowed on a leash, mountain biking, boating, fishing, and swimming are also allowed. Grilling and picnic areas are available, and restrooms are open from May 14th to Labor Day. This park is probably pretty crowded on nice days because of the amenities it offers. I’d definitely go back. I’m putting this one on the kayak trip list.
Background
I was in this area running some errands, so I planned a hike to take advantage of the nearby attractions. Life completely fell apart shortly after getting home from this hike, so it has taken me a week to finally have time to get to this post. One fun coincidence is that Ashland is next to Hopkinton, which is the starting point of the Boston Marathon. Without considering this at all beforehand, I was here the day before the Boston Marathon to hike at this park. I saw a lot of people taking selfies at the starting line and along the route when I was passing through the area. It was pretty cool to see.
Where to access
The listed address for the park is 156 West Union St, Ashland, MA. I parked on State Park Road, Ashland, MA because the entrance to the park was closed for the off-season. The parking lot is for a soccer field, community center, and playground just outside the park entrance. Other hikers and dog-walkers were using this lot to access the park on the day I was there. There is another access at 210 Spring St. Ashland, MA. This is the boat ramp access for the reservoir. This entrance has the advantage that you wouldn’t have to pay the entrance fee during the season, which is $30.00 for nonresidents. This entrance is VERY popular, even on my fairly early spring visit there were 3 boaters and a bunch of hikers and dog walkers parked in this area.
What to see
The main feature of this park is the reservoir, and the trail goes right along the shore the whole way around. There aren’t many houses close by on the west side, so it has a little more of a wilderness feel. There is a girl scout camp: Camp Winnetaska on this side as well, but it closed in 2015. On the east side there are a lot of houses that closely border the park, and the roads are close so there is noise from that. There is also a conference center and inn on this side, and they have some amenities set up for their guests. There were boat racks, a beach house, and a frisbee golf course right next to the trail. Most of this is probably being used most heavily during the week, so it could get crowded in the afternoon when conference sessions are over.
There is a lot of beaver activity along the eastern shore. I heard a beaver splashing around in the water, but I didn’t get a good look at him, even though I waited patiently for a glance. The area around the park is pretty built up, so you won’t likely see too much wildlife, but there were a lot of birds.
The dam itself is pretty cool. It’s an 83 foot tall earthen dam on Cold Spring Brook, built in 1885 as part of the water supply system for the City of Boston. Maximum depth is 50 feet, and the average depth is 25 feet. DCR manages the reservoir along with the property around it now, and any connection to the Boston system is no longer used. The dam is on the National Register of Historic Places, but the information isn’t available online yet. The outlet of the dam is a very beautiful curved granite stepstone cascade, and the rush of the water down the steps drowned out any noise of the people enjoying the dam. It was a nice place to stop and rest and enjoy the day for a minute.
There were a lot of people at the park on the day I went, I’d estimate about 50. For the most part they were around either the boat ramp, the beach, or the dam, so most of the hike was pretty quiet and uncrowded. This is a really beautiful park, and I really enjoyed this hike.
