Freetown-Fall River State Forest (Assonet, MA)

Today I decided to take the opportunity to explore a new-to-me park. For one reason or another, I landed on the Freetown/Fall River SF. I have never been there before, and I'm always impressed by its large presence on Google Maps.

When I pulled into the Forest HQ I found the parking lot empty. I wasn't completely surprised because the morning temperature was only about 35 F. My first venture into the park was to explore a few 'motorcycle' trails. This, however, quickly dampened my spirits. Each trail seemed to be a never ending pit of rocks and mud. These weren't just any rocks either, they were basketball size boulders that choked most of the narrow trails. I can't imagine what it must be like to dirt-bike over these things! Oddly enough, the rocks seemed to ONLY litter the trail. As I looked to my left and right, I saw only soft swamps and wooded thickets. Where did all these boulders come from? It seemed strange to me, because I couldn't imagine someone taking the time to place a ton of rocks ON a trail. Wouldn't they want to remove them from the trail?

After fleeing the trails, I spun around the dirt roads for a bit. This seemed to be the best bang for my buck for the morning. The trails were smooth and well packed, especially compared to 'Miles-of-Sandish' SF. There were a few pleasant climbs and even a few fast descents. At one point, I barreled down Payne Road at 24 mph. Of course I had to climb back up, but that's all part of the fun. Nothing aside from these roads seemed to be as enjoyable. I could almost imagine taking an old klunker and shotgunning down these roads like they did back in the 70s.

After spinning a few miles on the roads I attempted another single-track excursion. According to the DCR map, Massasoit Trail seemed to be my best bet for getting in some solid saddle time. Wrong. What I encountered were narrow, flooded, and littered trails. Even if you could navigate through the water and thorns, the dead trees at the end of the path would force you off your bike. There was no hopping over these trees either. They had too many branches and were about waist high. The best I could do was convince myself that there were better trails ahead.

At last, my trip had one redeeming feature: Profile Rock. Down the street (Slab Bridge Road) on the right is Profile Rock. On a whim, I rode down here to check out the adjoining trails. They were pretty much the same as earlier, so I decided to at least enjoy the vista from atop the rock. I could see all the way down to Somerset and beyond. Here's a picture of the cooling towers:

Aside from that, the ride was a bust. What I should've done is checkout the Fall River side of things. From the map, it seems to not have as many swamps and ponds. Who knows, if it keeps on being in the 50s, I just might get the chance later this weekend.