Parks with Canals Offer Best Access to First Day Hikes

Winter view along the towpath shows a frozen canal.

        A visit to Riverbend Farm in Uxbridge offers a unique opportunity to walk along a historical canal. I stopped there this week to check out accessibility of both the "towpath" and the exhibits at the Visitor Center. This location is on DCR's offerings of First Day Hikes on January 1, 2023. 

        First Day Hikes are especially worth mentioning since this national phenomenon first started at a DCR State Park in 1992. There are seven Massachusetts State Parks offering a First Day Hike for 2023. Of the seven, two parks have reasonably accessible trails, both along canals. The Great Falls Discovery Center, adjacent to the Canalside Rail Trail in Turners Falls near Greenfield, is offering a 3-mile excursion along the paved trail and Riverbend Farm has a 1.5-mile trek planned on its towpath. Both outings offer hot chocolate back at the Visitor Center afterwards. Hiking the full distance is probably not a hard and fast requirement to achieve the reward! 

Towpath view of wooded swamp and pebbly trail surface.

        I enjoyed the gentle walk at Riverbend Farm, with the canal on one side and a wooded swamp on the other. This is a popular walking trail any day of the week and I saw quite a few walkers, usually spaced well apart. The trail is hardpacked stone and dirt. If you use a wheeled mobility device, I recommend air-filled tires. Medical wheelchairs or walkers with solid tires will make for a bumpier experience along the pebbly surface. 

        The towpath is an "Easy Walk" or "Easy Hike". Though not designed as an accessible trail, it is level all the way, with a 6-foot wide trail. 

Parking lot with visitor center distant.

        If you go, be aware that the parking lot is on a hillside, so there is a grade, with accessible parking spaces located in the flat zone on the high end of the hill. This does mean you would have to travel downhill to access the towpath. Someone could also be dropped off, if need be, right at the start of the towpath where a lane loops on flat ground to link two parking areas. There is a slight threshold onto a brief bit of gravel, and you must travel across the ground and over a bridge to reach the towpath. The bridge is slightly eroded at either end so some assistance might be required to navigate a mobility device over a 1-2" lip. Use caution as the lip is variable in depth. The far side is more eroded than the near side.

 Bridge to the towpath with eroded threshold. Near side shown.

        If you like birding, this is a great place to frequent. An open field, a shrubby wetland and the wooded swamp, plus the canal and nearby woodlands, make for an intermingling of habitats that is often prime for birds, especially in migration. 

        Whether you join a First Day Hike or go on your own, these are two good places to visit year-round. Don't expect the trail to be plowed if there is snow. If conditions are melted out, as they are now, take advantage of the opportunity to get out!  And if the conditions aren't navigable when you arrive, there is a nice experience inside the visitor center, with accessible restrooms and exhibits well worth investigating. 

Inside Riverbend Farm's Visitor Center, you'll find excellent exhibits
on the history of the Blackstone Valley.

        For further information about hiking the towpath at other times of year and Easy Walks, check out Marjorie Turner Hollman's website. A hiker with disabilities, Marjorie has written several guidebooks about Easy Walks in southeastern Massachusetts and shares her experiences and advocacy.

        DCR (Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation) advocates for people to be mindful of the pandemic situation and follow current safe practices outlined by the CDC and Massachusetts Department of Public Health.