Norwottuck Rail Trail

I found this trail from Unilocal when I was in Northampton for a program at Smith. I ran it every morning, even in the rain. There is a nice paved portion along the west side of the rail tracks as they approach the Northampton station that was just across the street from the Hotel Northampton. To get to the main Norwottuck Rail Trail from there, you either have to loop around through the neighborhood sidewalks (longer, legal way), or run on gravel a short bit, cross the tracks, and hop through a hole in the fence. I did that on a couple of the mornings, but by my last morning there was a sign saying not to…
Or if you head west from there, you’ll end up on the Northampton Bikeway, also a nice trail for running, though slightly more worn.
The paved trail itself is well-​maintained (free of debris, nicely mowed) with good signage. There are a few benches along the route. There are signals for crossing major roads. There is a beautiful bridge crossing the Connecticut River. Near the bridge, there is a trailhead & parking lot with lots of info about the trail and groups that use it.
After cross the bridge, headed east, I did see some distance markers along the trail. Either they were intermittent, or I missed them, since I didn’t see them at regular intervals (some were at a mile, some were at a quarter of a mile).

Pristine! Perfectly paved. Beautiful landscape. Flat grade. A treasure for sure. Not to be missed. Epic bridge bike at the Northampton side.

Very excellent bike trail. It is now (August 2015) completely paved. Really beautiful 11 mile ride from Belchertown to Northampton including old rail bridge across Connecticut river. The Belchertown end is hard to find but worth the effort use Google maps for Warren Wright Rd.

Love this trail! Very scenic and recently got a facelift (new wood on the bridge and new pavement).

The breeze on my face
joyous fields of corn pass by
my heart smiles at the sun.
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
Here’s a video of today’s ride on this spectacular river valley trail:

My boyfriend brought me here this past weekend to check it out. He said they recently re did the bridge that leads to the bike trail and goes over the water, so I wanted to check it out for sure. Let me tell you it’s SO worth going. Especially if you are riding a bike. The trail goes for miles my boyfriend said. Even if your just going for a walk (as we did) it’s worth going just to check out this beautiful bridge they re-​did. It’s soooooo long & feels so sturdy and safe! You get to see a beautiful view of the water in 2 different spots too! If your looking for a walk or bike ride on a beautiful day, this is the place to go! Once we get me a bike we will definitely be going back to bike the trail!

This bike trail is awesome! It goes east for several miles. But that’s no even the best part. You can also go west several miles and can go south all the way to Easthampton.
If you head east towards Amherst the trail is straight and kid friendly. Going the other directions sometimes the trail goes on city streets and is not kid friendly in places.

Beautiful bike trail! Simply one of my most cherished memories. It is well-​marked and an easy ride. As it follows an old rail line, it is one of the best ways to see Northampton — plenty of interesting bridges and it goes through Look Park. Work it!

The trail is beautiful, but the part from Amherst to Northampton is filled with glass and getting flat tires gets old.
I don’t know what genius decided to use glass for this purpose, but it is one of the most idiotic things I’ve ever heard.

A beautiful trail. I was a frequent runner on this trail last summer and loved. The only problem is that there is only one water fountain for a long way. Even when I brought my own water I would run out and almost die of thirst. If a few more water stations go up this trail will def be five star worthy. It is beautiful and mostly shaded perfect paved trail!

Probably the most scenic trail throughout Mass. I just loved all the bridge crossings and seeing the river nearby. It reminded me of a similar one in Nashua, NH. This place has convenient parking at several locations. We parked right in Amherst and did part of the trail. Pretty flat terrain so no trouble biking through here.

thanks to the powers that be for extending the bike trail in all directions! i really love it and can go from eathampton to belchertown and not ride on the road! beautiful in autumn under a canopy of foliage. very enjoyable

Thank goodness for the Norwottuck! It lets me abandon my gas-​guzzler and instead take my bike for a joyride to Hadley, Amherst or points beyond. It’s not a particularly difficult trail, which makes it great for me, and the view is amazing, especially over the bridge. I’ve never had an issue with glass shards in my tires, though I find the trail can be blinding when the sunlight hits it the wrong way.

Overall, this was a great trail not a single flat tire was had by myself or my wife, though at the end of the ride there was a shard of glass in my wifes tire.
The view as you cross the old bridge over Connecticut river is pretty darn nice. I would definitely ride this trail again. The only problem… It’s over 2 hours away.

I love this bikeway… I mean, I WANT to love this bikeway. It goes exactly where I want to go in Hadley in Amherst, saving me from getting moved down on route 9 and instead routed past truly gorgeous farmland. But THE GLASS. I’ve gotten at least 10 – 15 flats on this thing and had to run Mr. Tuffy tire liners when I commuted on it every day. I’ve been informed by Mass Bike that the money for full repaving is there but the permit process is slow. Estimated time on full repaving is 1 – 2 years. :-/

My rating of this trail might be hugely biased because it was the very first one I’d ever tried, but I have so much love for the Norwottuck. It’s showing its age but it rivals the Nashua River rail trail in terms of beauty. This trail is rarely interrupted by roads (you don’t have to cross route 9! the trail goes under it! imagine that!) and goes by a lot of beautiful farmland. There are plenty of rest stops and pit stop areas along the way, and if you start from Amherst (there’s an extension on the UMass Amherst campus that links up to it) and bike towards Northampton, you’re rewarded by a beautiful ride over the glorious Connecticut river. This rail trail is loved by locals for good reason, do yourself a favor and ride it at least once!