Steamline Trail Park - Fitchburg, MA

On Monday I had the chance to check out a park I never knew existed, and I never would have noticed on the side of the road, if it weren't for geocaching. I knew there were some caches in this park, so I took the boys to check it out.

The Steamline Trail Park is on Rt. 31 in Fitchburg; you can get there by taking Rt. 31 north from Rt. 2. The trail was developed by Eagle Scout Benjamin Lessard in 2009 with sponsorship from many local businesses. The steamline is a series of pipes that connected a steam plant to nine different paper mills along the Nashua River at this location. The steam was used to power the machinery before electricity, but later than direct water power.


The area that the park is located in is still an industrial zone, and it almost feels surreal to be walking along side old boarded up factories and crumbling railway structures. A an active rail line parallels the trail, but is safely up a steep embankment and behind a fence, so my sons were excited to see a large freight train rumble past so close to them. Along the trail are several educational displays discussing the history of the steamline, the companies that used it, and the Nashua river. At one point near the falls, a fenced area provides bench seating where you can sit back and enjoy the river.


The trail is flat and easy to walk. The self-guided tour portion of the trail is about a half mile, but the trail extends further south along the Nashua river. This is a great place to get out and get some exercise and learn about an important part of the history of north central Massachusetts.