Massachusetts trails · Essex Railroad Rail Trail
Essex Railroad Rail Trail
A 18.6-mile network in Massachusetts, with 225 ft of climbing. Reaches Sutton Pond and other lake destinations. Managed by MassGIS (Bureau of Geographic Information).
Elevation profile
The climbing leans toward the final third: 55% of the ascent falls between mile 14.9 and mile 22.4. It gives back about 521 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. 42.54648, -70.92068 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On August 31, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 5:38 a.m., the sun rises at 6:07 a.m. and sets at 7:20 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:49 p.m. (EDT) — 13 h 13 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 01 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 1:08 p.m. — 6 h 12 min before sunset.
Nearby trails
- Peabody Bikeway Part 1 — 3.6 mi
- Rock Circuit Trail — 10.9 mi
- Ward Reservation — 11.7 mi
- Mass Central/Wayside Rail Trail — 18.4 mi