Assabet River Rail trail

I was looking for places to bring my kids and I was actually investigating the local mall. I Googled the nearby rail trails and checked this one out. I'm glad I did!
I started at the beginning on Lincoln Street on Highland Street in Marlborough and ended just past the crossing 🚸 at Sasseville Way. Even with Tropical Storm Lee overhead, people were biking, jogging 👟 and walking on the trail.
All of the trail is paved. It has access to a dirt trail as well as two other trails. Trash cans and benches are available. The information ℹ️ kiosks don't have a map 🗺️ but one did warn of ticks and invasive species of plants, none named Robert, and insects.
There are multiple street 🚸 crossings and not all of the buttons on the crossing lights work. Traffic did stop as I approached without touching the buttons.
What stood out to me was the flora and insects that I observed! All sorts of colorful wild 😜 flowers 🌸 and it attracted pollinating insects such as 🐝 bees and even a monarch butterfly 🦋. I haven't seen many this year so it caught my attention. I did find a lot of English Oak tree acorns.
There was a small stream running along part of the trail. One area of the trail has a great view of the Assabet River!
There is a bike 🚲 repair station with tools and a manual air pump.
I didn't hear or see to many 🐦 birds. I did see 🙈 🐿️ squirrels.
There are community contributions along the trail.
I am going to recommend this rail trail and I want to explore it in full!

I love that this rail trail has so much paved ground, it's something the other local ones are lacking and makes the world of difference when pushing a stroller. Great balance of sunny and shade on the trail, Porta potty available on trail if needed. Only downfall I found was the lack of designated parking lot.

As it currently exists, I'd give this trail 3 and a half stars. I gave it four because there is no half star option. So here is the good, bad and ugly of this trail with some caveats. First, starting at the Marlboro end, I rode a criterion type bike the length of the trail. This type frame I'd fast, maneurable, and known to give a hard ride. It has one inch wide tires to reduce friction and increase speed. Since the first 1 to 2 miles is down hill, it was a real rush. Without pedaling I was pushing 20 MPH most of the time. But use caution, on this hot July morning, there was moderate foot and bike traffic. There are also many road crossings which demand a full stop with dismount. One inch wheels don't like curb drops of any height. This is an urban trail but much of it is deeply shaded green stretches broken by road crossings. There is a lovely panoramic view about 3 miles into the ride. There are many quiet, shaded spots to stop with a friend for lunch. There are some age bumps as the pavement crosses the line into Hudson. Then pavement smoothes our nicely. Unfortunately there are several complicated crossings in Hudson, some are dangerous towards the last few miles. The areas of Broad St, Loring and Vila Do Porto are difficult. At one point I had to stop and go to the Trail Forks app to figure out where the trail resumes in the mass of Intersecting roads . A sign would help but there was none. Traffic crosses at perhaps 270 degrees here and the traffic lights help little as the pedestrian function is quite short. To make matters worse, there is some road construction in progress and there are some nasty uneven pavement in several places, remember, 1 inch wheels! In spite of the issues, ARRT is mostly a pleasant, fun ride. I hope at some point the difficult intersections can be modified. The drivers in the area were pleasant and courteous and often waived right of way.

Very beautiful trail that's almost completely flat, clean, and well maintained. Nice place for a stroll and pretty trees. A few short side trails that can be fun to poke around in.

It was a nice easy riding rail trail. The only downsides is there is lots of intersections to cross.

Lovely easy trail, mostly flat. Increased foot traffic in the evenings but for the most part it's mainly bicycles and there's enough room. Less than 300 ft elevation gain.My seven year old did this in 80+ minutes with some breaks.

Really nice trail. Friendly people also walking. Just wish they had some benched. We are handicapped and it would have been nice to sit. We would have been able to walk much further.