Midstate Trail: Route 2 to Mile Hill Road

A nice workout.

Lots of trees down

We hopped on the trail at the little parking area at Howard Road and did out and back 7 miles. VERY shaded and buggy almost the entire way. Not much to see. Very well marked the whole time. That was the best part. Only a few clearings along the way. Wouldn’t travel out for this one.

Good hike, but gets icy in winter

Finding the trailhead was no problem, and there was plenty of parking. When you first begin the trail is a little overgrown and the markers are hard to spot. We only got about a mile in before turning back due to being covered in ticks and swarmed by black flies and mosquitos. We saw A LOT of overgrown poison ivy running along the creek, trail, and along the road section of this hike which is easily stepped on. We got back to our car and promptly pulled an additional 8ish ticks off of each other's shoes/socks/legs and attempted to get as many off the dog as possible before they stuck in. By now we've pulled 20+ off of her and I'm sure there are more. Do not bring your dog here during this tick season! I would love to come back when the weather is cooler as this is supposed to be a beautiful hike.

First, the positives. It is a lovely trail. The first (Northern) part is along the ridge line. We hiked before deciduous trees bloomed and had lovely views all along the way. There is an awesome rock scramble down a cliff (and then back up as we did it). The southern portion is a lovely walk through the woods with several easy creek crossings. Second, the negatives. We had a very hard time finding the trail. We sent the directions to our phone and it sent us way off the route (north of MA 2), ending in someone's back yard. We then tried to find the northern terminus by map and found absolutely nothing. We then drove along the very straight, unnamed road between Narrows Rd. and Rte 31 and stopped at an unmarked trail and tried it. After some anxious minutes we found a Y in the trail with two signs, one downhill to Rte 31 and one uphill to "The Ledges." We took the uphill trail and it eventually crossed the MidState Trail. At the southern end of the trail we ran into Mt. Wachusetts Ski Resort before we got to the pond marked on the map, got irritated, and turned around. In total we lost two miles (one each way), so our hike was 8.2 miles rather than the 9.9 miles advertised.

crow hills were nice with views to wachusett

Nice trail with some easy ascents and descents. Park by wachussetts state park or a couple of hard to notice parking spaces south of the trail head.

Started on Thompson Road and took the Midstate Trail (Dicken's Trail) north to the summit. Very nice and relatively easy. A few hundred meters before crossing Westminster Road you'll see some beaver activity to the east. Can't miss it. I've done this trail a few times and you can deviate onto various other paths that lead to the summit or just stay on the MST. Either way, lots of nice scenery and wilderness. Total trip up and back is about 5.5 miles.

Went from Redemption Rock to Crow Hill Pond and Back. The trail was well maintained. A few spots of having to scramble on rocks (which I love) and one steep ascent. Rewarded with a beautiful view and a nice dip in the pond. Maybe 90 minutes of hiking in each direction.

Mass Mid-State Trail from Redemtion Rock in Princeton over to Crow Hill Ledges in Leominster State Forest. Great Hike to the Crow Hill Ledges, once at the Ledges you will meet Rock Climbers, very friendly. The climb to the top can be difficult at times but once your at the top, great views.