Massachusetts trails · Essex Railroad Rail Trail

Essex Railroad Rail Trail

A 18.6-mile network in Massachusetts, with 194 ft of climbing. Reaches Sutton Pond and other lake destinations. Managed by MassGIS (Bureau of Geographic Information).

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Length

18.6 mi

Elevation gain

194 ft

Difficulty

Hard

Max grade

18%

Steepest mile

+112 ft

Tread at ≥10% grade

0.2 mi

Shape

network

Managed by

MassGIS (Bureau of Geographic Information)

Elevation profile

The climbing is spread fairly evenly along the route. It gives back about 481 ft along the way, so it rolls rather than climbing steadily.

3-D terrain

USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5

Reaches

Sutton Pond (lake)
Mill Pond Stevens Pond (lake)
Stevens Pond (lake)
Osgood Pond (lake)

Getting there

Essex Railroad Rail Trail access. About 25 min drive (17 mi) from Gloucester. 42.54648, -70.92068 · directions

Daylight at the trailhead

On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 6:26 a.m., the sun rises at 6:55 a.m. and sets at 6:03 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 6:31 p.m. (EDT) — 11 h 08 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 18.6-mile route takes roughly 7 h 00 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 1:55 p.m. — 4 h 08 min before sunset.