Greater Boston NEMBA

The grounds of the old Met State psychiatric hospital are a popular riding location for local riders.  This land straddles the towns of Waltham, Lexington and Belmont.  This property is owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).  This property is mostly wooded with some small hills and some wetlands.  For many years this property was unmanaged and as a result, there are a number of illegal users such as motorcycles and ATV users.  The trail system is adequate but not planned with several redundant trails and poor layout.  A Resource Management Plan was implemented by the DCR with input from interested users including NEMBA and local riders.  The RMP was not favorable to trail users since it called for the closure of all the singletrack trails and maintained only the double track cinder roadway.  NEMBA and several individuals sent feedback to the DCR durring the official feedback period.  It is unclear now how the management of this property will proceed but NEMBA continues to monitor this situation and is working closely with the DCR.  In the interium, NEMBA secured an RTP grant to build a new trail and boardwalk on this property linking the east side to the west side.  We have permission to go ahead with this new trail and construction will begin in 2009.  For more information contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .