Billerica
Billerica is a small trail system in an area of the world I would call, more or less, Almost Nowhere, MA. It's not actually so remote as a western, MA trail system might be. But like Yudicky Farm, it's not really destination material. I also do not think this is "on the way" material, as this is a more technical destination and if you're in a rush, this is not where you want to ride.
That said, I really do enjoy this trail system and I have made it a point to hit it every time I am in the area north of Boston.
All told, you can do the whole thing in about an hour. But several of the trails can, and should, be ridden in both directions. You can do a solid 1.5 hours here, more of you're going slow and trying all of the features. But some features are pretty big league, like this rock below which is a good 6-7 feet tall.
Getting There/Parking
This park is about 45 minutes NorthWest of Boston, right off 495 on the way to Maine, I suppose. The closest town is Chelmsford.
For this park, you should park in the lot off Rangeway Road right in the middle of the system.
General Ride/Trail Notes
I ride the north side of the park as a warmup, which is the tame side of it. You can do this in 15-20 minutes and while there are a few features on this side, it is certainly more tame than the south side.
Once you cross over the street, here is what I ride:
Trail notes:
- Climb Yellow Rabbit. This trail is your entry/exit to the park. Several features can be ridden both ways so take your time.
- Norther Loop - CW
- In the middle of Northern Loop, take Inner Loop. TF says to do this CW but it seems to have recently been made a CCW trail. That said, this is the trail with some of the biggest features that are questionable to hit when solo. Inner Loop is short so you could do this both ways if you want.
- Gilson Hill Loop CCW. This trail certainly rides better CCW.
- One Rock Lollipop Loop. I tend to ride it CCW because somehow I just flow into it this way. I think this is more or less either way. It's just a few minutes.
- At this point you have done all the trails, so I then do...
- Northern Loop - CCW.
- If you are so inclined, you could do the Inner Loop in the other direction on the way back.
- Go down Yellow Rabbit back to the car.
Routes
- My 2022 Strava ride is here.
- First 2023 ride here.
- Second 2023 ride here.
- 2024 ride here which is described above and would be my recommended loop.
Trip Planner
I don't see this place as trip worthy. Perhaps I will throw something together 1 day for "people stuck in this specific area" but really, you should not plan a trip here unless you are on some sort of mission to hit as many parks as you can.
Food & Drink
I think I got pizza once in this area after a ride and it was pretty bad. So I can't recommend that. There's not much here, so I will direct you to the same few places in Lowell, MA that I used for Yudicky Farm which is close enough, but not really close.
- Nibbana Cafe - really, really good coffee shop with excellent pour-over and excellent espresso
- 1981 Ramen Bar - it's ramen, so...