Massachusetts trails · Bay Circuit Trail
Bay Circuit Trail
A 49.7-mile point-to-point in Massachusetts, with 470 ft of climbing. Reaches Pierce Hill and other lake/summit destinations. Managed by MassGIS (Bureau of Geographic Information).
Elevation profile
The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 1,525 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Pierce Hill (summit)
- Noon Hill (summit)
- Bluff Hill (summit)
- Holt Pond (lake)
- Memorial Pond (lake)
- Old Pond (lake)
- Clark Pond (lake)
- Stockwell Ponds (lake)
- Mill Pond (lake)
- Hobbs Hill (summit)
Getting there
BAY CIRCUIT access. 42.17653, -71.27387 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:40 a.m., the sun rises at 6:09 a.m. and sets at 7:21 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:49 p.m. (EDT) — 13 h 12 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 49.7-mile route works out to roughly 18 h 38 min of walking — more than a single day of daylight here, so plan it as an overnight or hike it in sections.
Loop options
- HEART HEALTHY TRAIL + BAY CIRCUIT TRAIL + Unnamed trail — 4.9 mi loop, 522 ft gain
- BAY CIRCUIT TRAIL + Unnamed trail + Bay Circuit Trail — 6.1 mi loop, 583 ft gain
- BAY CIRCUIT TRAIL + Unnamed trail + Bay Circuit Trail — 6.1 mi loop, 583 ft gain
Nearby trails
- Skyline Trail — 13.1 mi
- Mass Central/Wayside Rail Trail — 14.6 mi
- Battle Road Trail (multi-purpose recreational path) — 19.6 mi
- Rock Circuit Trail — 20.7 mi