Tully Trail - Athol, MA - 4/28/2004

[smitty77]

Where: Tully Trail from Rt. 32, counterclockwise around Tully Lake
When: 5:30 pm, April 28, 2004
Who: Smitty, Frog, Porcupine, and Mika
How Far: Approx 1.5 miles out and back, 3 miles total.

Since dogs weren't allowed at the Quabbin resevoir gates we headed north to Tully Lake off of Rt. 32 in Athol, MA. I've never hiked in this area before but I must say I will be back to explore it further. The entire length of the Tully Trail is 18 miles, but we only cover about a mile and change in the waning daylight last night. Beginning at the flood control dam we headed east with a stiff and cool breeze at our backs. I was worried that the little one wouldn't last too long in the wind, but after five minutes the trail ducked under the cover of tall pines, blocking out the wind. The trail was well graded with only moderate ups and downs as it winds its way along the shores of Tully Lake. Fallen pine needles cushion your stride and the thick forest gives the sense of deep-woods isolation, until a few random houses that abutt the property come into view. After a half hour Mika (our twelve week old siberian husky) was looking a little tired so we decided to turn around and head back to the car. Once she sensed we were heading for home she brought up the pace and help pull me up some of the short knolls on the way back. All in all a nice one hour hike after work without bugs, or any other hikers for that matter. Just one couple playing disk golf by the dam, but they were gone by the time we returned.

After some searching online, I found they have a 35-site campground in the area that is walk-in only but also has facilities, canoe and kayak rentals, and a store. There was also mention of a shelter located somewhere along the Tully Trail. Seems like a nice place to get away after work, and it's only 5 miles from the house.

Smitty

 

[Max]

I've done about a 10 mile section of that trail, a bit further north. If you drive up Rt. 32, somewhere past the road that comes down from Royalston Center (Jacob's Ladder hill), there is a parking area on the right where they have a kiosk and sometimes trail maps are available. Or I believe if you do a Google for the Tully Trail, it'll direct you to the web site where you can send for a trail map. We finished up just south of the NH border by that kiosk, and there is also a small old cemetary behind it with some interesting grave markers from people who had been in the Civil War.

Max

 

[smitty77]

I found a website (TheTrustees.org) that has a trail map in PDF format, but my computer in the lab doesn't have Acrobat and the net connection is too slow to download the reader. :roll: I feel like I'm stuck in the sixties man with this archaic internet connection man at like 26,400 bps man.

Anywho, what's the upper end of the trail like? I was hoping to get out this weekend to do another section of it. What are you up to on Sunday? Froglegs is going to a wedding shower late in the morning so if it's not too buggy Porcupine and I might be up for a short hike somewhere. As long as his latest cold doesn't get any worse. :roll:

 

[sonicboom]

Tully trail

A few summers ago, a friend and I hiked the trail in it's entirety in 2 days. We started out on Butterworth Road, camped near Royalston Falls, and finished the trail the next day. Overall it was a great experience with lots of nice views along the way, however I don't think they designed this trail to be done as a loop, or all at once.

The north western part of the trail goes on a dirt road for 2-3 miles with no scenic views.

Also, the part of the trail near long pond that goes along the power lines wasn't well marked or maintained at all. If we had known we would have brought machetes. It wasn't too fun walking through grass and pricker bushes up to our waist. :x

However it was somewhat worth it because jacobs hill and the ledges were great views.

I'd love to do this trail again at some point.

 

[smitty77]

Thanks for the info sonicboom. I'm not a fan of a lot of road walking, so I'll steer clear of that section. Some work may have been done since you were last there. A new lean-to was constucted recently so I would imagine some trail work has been done to make the trail more "user friendly". I'm hoping to get back out there soon to hike more of that trail. If I do, I'll post another trip/trail report.