Originally Posted by
autonomy
It's a little bit harder to access (probably best by taking the Mass Ave hill but you could also do the flatter Lincoln St to Marrett Rd. over 95 though that area isn't super great if you're not road-experienced), but the
Battle Road Trail in Minuteman NP has the best gravel surface I've ridden in the area.
The RBT would definitely lose a lot of appeal to me as a paved trail, as the Minuteman-RBFT-Battle Road loop is one of my favorite low-traffic gravel bike loops in the area, and the relative 'wilderness' of RBT is part of the charm. I, too, would like to see it extended to BFRT and even further, connect to the currently-nonexistent Mass Central RT. It would be awesome to have something similar to the C&O Canal Towpath - that is stone dust and is very popular still. I wonder if keeping it stone dust would reduce costs as well.
.
Yes, agreed. After I posted the comment you highlighted I realized I was ignoring Battle Road as a local gravel option. The MM->RBT->Battle Rd->MM loop is also one of my favorites. I usually jump RBT->Battle Road via Monsen Rd -> Old Bedford Rd, and Battle Rd->MM via the Mass Ave hills into Lexington Center. Good stuff!
Tom