Bay Circuit Trail

42°37′40.23″N 71°4′6.32″W / 42.6278417°N 71.0684222°W / 42.6278417; -71.0684222

Bay Circuit Trail
At Monument Street in Concord
Length	200 mi (320 km)
Location	Plymouth County, Middlesex County, eastern Worcester County, Bristol County and Essex County, Massachusetts
Use	Primarily hiking.
Highest point	Nobscot Hill, Framingham, Massachusetts, 602 ft (183 m)
Lowest point	Sea level, north and south terminus
Difficulty	easy with some moderately difficult sections
Season	year round (may be ice or snow in winter)
Hazards	deer ticks, poison ivy, road crossings
Maintained by	Bay Circuit Alliance
Website	baycircuit.org

The Bay Circuit Trail and Greenway or Bay Circuit is a Massachusetts rail trail and greenway connecting the outlying suburbs of Boston from Plum Island in Newburyport to Kingston Bay in Duxbury, a distance of 200 miles (320 km).^[1]

Landmarks include Henry David Thoreau's Walden Pond, Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, the Charles River, Massachusetts Audubon's Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary, Minute Man National Historical Park, Lowell National Historic Park, the Merrimack River, and Plum Island.

The Bay Circuit Trail connects to other long distance recreation trails, such as the Warner Trail.^[2] The Minuteman Bikeway provides a connection to downtown Boston with the Somerville Community Path. The East Coast Greenway will also connect downtown if it is completed as envisioned.

The Bay Circuit is open to hiking, trail running and picnicking, and in the winter, snowshoeing. Certain parts of the trail are suitable for bicycling, horseback riding and cross country skiing. Swimming, mountain biking, hunting, fishing, and car top boating are also permitted in some properties the trail passes through.

The Bay Circuit Trail is overseen by the Bay Circuit Alliance, a coalition of state, town, and federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and individuals. The Bay Circuit Alliance is led by the Appalachian Mountain Club which is working to implement the vision of the Bay Circuit by closing the final gaps of the trail, recruiting and organizing volunteers, improving the trail experience through improved maintenance and signage, securing permanent protection for the trail corridor and the greenway, and encouraging the public to get out and explore the trail’s 230+ miles.