Wheaton Farm (Norton, MA)

Since I bought the Cannondale Slate, I've been expanding my riding repertoire to include more challenging and scenic off-road terrain. It can be difficult finding the right balance between road and trail, especially in southeastern Massachusetts. Wider trails tend to be short and muddy, while more technical terrain requires a mountain bike. However, there have been a few spots that have been fun to explore. Wheaton Farm in Easton Massachusetts is one of them.

There seem to be a lot of rules, but I broke them all! Not really though...actually, people leave their dog waste everywhere so be careful. 

This photo was taken on the northern part of the park near Bay Road. Be advised: there are a lot of overgrown trails and dead ends, so proceed with caution. There are also no trail maps in the park. I did find a few colored trail markers, but they're not very reliable. 

This was also taken on the northern edge of the park near Bay Road. Basically, the good trails are along the back edge. If you go straight across the bridge and then go straight again through the next intersection, you'll find some good riding. If you take an immediate left or right at the very beginning it will be very bumpy. On a gravel bike it's a bit much, but with a mountain bike it wouldn't be that bad. Lastly, beware of overgrowth and fallen trees. This area is very slow going in the spring for that reason. 

Overall, Wheaton Farm is a great place to bike through on a gravel bike, and a much better park to explore on a mountain bike. I've incorporated sections of Wheaton Farm into some of my local "gravel" routes.