Mast Yard Rail Trail, Hopkinton NH


• 3-star trail
• 1.7 miles each way
• Medium difficulty | Easy elevation
• Hopkinton - Concord, NH | Merrimack Region
• Driving directions: Trailhead


The long straight rail trail through Mast Yard State Forest.

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Part of the former Concord to Claremont line, and due to be a section of the Concord to Lake Sunapee Rail Trail this section of the line located on the boundary of Hopkinton and Concord is a stretch of trail through the quiet woodlands of Mast Yard State Forest.

Parking is only available at the East end of the trail by the Horse Hill Road trailhead. The trail heads West across a long bailey bridge spanning the Contoocook River thanks to its use of the old railroad bridge piers. Then it's under a wide power line corridoor followed by a straight shot towards Rattlesnake Hill. The trail terminates at the West, before Penacook Road due to restrictions across private property.

Hardpack, Access, Historic. Expand Map

Mast Yard Rail Trail 3★
1.7 mi ea way, Medium, Elevation nominal.
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The neighboring riverside trail is a charming little single track trail which can be easily incorporated to make a much better looping route than the otherwise straight out-and-back. Check out the Riverside Loop on our Mast Yard State Forest trail review. We found it to be fun non-technical mountain bike route, with a couple of small hills that we walked our bikes up. Note that the riverside trail can be difficult to find from the West side thanks to a mess of logging trails.

Trail Conditions:
Grassy hardpack recommended for mountain bikes & rugged bicycles. Mostly flat, 20ft/mi descending West.


The NH Heroes River Crossing spanning the Contoocook.


The little folding bike we use to power along trails.

Tangents:
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Nearby Trails:
• CLSRT: Route overview
• 2 miles: Fisherville Rd RT (4★, 3mi)
• 6 miles: Stevens RT (3★, 2mi)
• 6 miles: West Hopkinton RT (3★, 2mi)
• Show on map: All nearby rail trails

Concord-Lake Sunapee RT
The Concord-Lake Sunapee Rail Trail (CLSRT) is looking for volunteers and donors to help to link Concord and Lake Sunapee.

Our Bicycles
We get questions about the folding bikes that we commonly ride. Check out this article for more information about the self-propelled and electric bikes that we regularly use on the rail trails.
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