We biked 35 miles from Boston to Lowell, Mass., 90% on trails

My ears perked up when a friend told us that you can now bike from Boston to Lowell on a string of connecting trails.

It turns out that wasn’t quite true — we still had a couple of road miles. And you’ll need cue sheets, your Garmin or a helpful friend who knows the way to keep the ride going smoothly.

But it was still a great 35 miles or so.

We started at Boston’s North Station. It’s just a couple of blocks to the North Washington Street Bridge over the Charles River and into Paul Revere Park. And we got to experience an almost-finished protected bike lane on the bridge. That made it worth not taking the more direct option of the locks (sandwiched between I-93 and this bridge).

We zig and zag for a couple more blocks and we’re on the new section of the Somerville Community Path. This was a huge win for advocates, who kept insisting that it be part of the T’s Green Line extension to Tufts/Medford. you know it’s soon going to be crazy busy with commuters. That little section just needs some wayfinding signage for us out-of-towners or newbie commuters — and, sure, include signage for the USS Constitution and Bunker Hill, both nearby.

At least there’s a bit of signage on the trail!

And check out that sharp bridge on the Somerville Community Path … always an expensive but crucial piece for connectivity. I don’t even want to think about how complicated this one was to design given everything it had to go over.

Loved the art we spotted along the trail in Somerville. Would my town go for anything like it? The one with running shoes seems easy to built, and the fish using old records seemed particularly creative.

We pedal through Davis Square — a bit complicated so hello wayfinding? — and onto Alewife Station on another community path, then toward Arlington and the Minuteman Bikeway, a popular commuter route and one of the early rail-trail conversions. We grabbed lunch at the Kickstand Cafe along the trail, where we hear that perhaps 70% of its business comes from people on bikes.

I like how someone used an old frontloading washer or dryer door to give this free library a unique look.

Onto Lexington and then Bedford. We’re 15 miles into our ride when the Minuteman Trail comes to an end, and I puzzle why the entire route we’ve taken so far isn’t rebranded the Minuteman Trail. How many people know or care about the other names? And Paul Revere’s midnight ride — didn’t he leave from just on the other side of Somerville in Charlestown?

After a quarter-mile on the road (wayfinding!), we pick up the unpaved Reformatory Branch Trail to reach Concord, 4 miles away. Locals recently voted against paving this trail. I can see why you feel that way if you’re a gravel rider or mountain biker, but I’d have to pass when it’s muddy. To me, it (or a parallel paved path?) would make this trail much more of a year-round amenity both for walkers and runners.

In Concord, we switch to the road for about 2 1/2 miles. Oh no, did we miss a turn? But soon there’s a sign for a trail crossing and we are on the Bruce Freeman Trail. This is a paved trail between Sudbury (and one day Framingham) and Lowell, now 18 miles that will one day grow to 25 miles and cross the developing Mass Central Rail Trail.

Who’s Bruce Freeman? A former state representative who advocated for what was then called the Lowell-Sudbury Rail Trail but didn’t live to see it built.

We have almost 14 miles to go as we head north, skirting a pond, then over the bridge over Route 2 that opened in 2023 — wow.

Acton, love your signs!

More art along the trail:

We finally make it to Lowell. Lights in the tunnel under Route 3 — a nice safety touch!

But oops, I don’t think we were supposed to park here on a weekday! Phew, no ticket. And the parking lot wasn’t full. Nor was the parking area for the office complex next to it. And we saw cars with bike racks in both places. It’s a straightforward bike ride to the Lowell train station to reach Boston (just be aware of rush-hour restrictions for bikes). Of course you can park at the station too.