Wapack Trail | |
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Length | 21 mi (34 km) |
Location | Worcester County, Massachusetts and Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, U.S. |
Use | hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, other |
Highest point | Pack Monadnock, 2,288 ft (697 m) |
Lowest point | Spofford Gap, 1,226 ft (374 m) |
Difficulty | easy, with moderately difficult sections |
Season | easiest mid-spring to mid-fall |
Hazards | deer ticks, weather, poison ivy |
The Wapack Trail is one of the oldest public, interstate hiking trails in the United States. Opened in 1923,[1] it follows the Wapack Range north-south for 21 miles (34 km), between Mount Watatic in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, and North Pack Monadnock mountain in Greenfield, New Hampshire. It is designed primarily for day use by hikers, with minimal camping facilities.
The trail passes through the Massachusetts towns of Ashburnham and Ashby, and the New Hampshire towns of New Ipswich, Temple, Sharon, Peterborough, and Greenfield. It also goes over Temple Mountain, and through Miller State Park, Binney Hill Wilderness Preserve, and the Wapack National Wildlife Refuge, as well as numerous privately owned parcels of land. In New Ipswich it skirts Windblown Cross-Country Ski Area, which operated for four decades until closing in 2020.[2]
The trail is overseen by Friends of the Wapack, a non-profit group.[3] Aside from upgrading and maintaining the trail, the group is trying to have the entire length preserved from development.
The southern part of the Wapack Trail overlaps with the northern part of the Midstate Trail.