Maynard, MA

The idea of a backyard road trip is to become a tourist in your own backyard. Truthfully, many destinations that I cover I have been to before. This trip though, which happened in last autumn, was totally new. I had been to Maynard before since my favorite eastern Massachusetts autumnal auto route is up Route 117 from Waltham to Lancaster which skirts through the town, but I had never stopped to see what Maynard offers.  

Recently a good friend moved here and invited us to visit Maynard on an unusually warm day in October. After a cup of coffee at the Serendipity Cafe, we were ready to begin our tour.

The first stop was the Assabet River Rail Trail. Actually, it wasn’t really a stop, since we used it to get from one place to the next. The trail links towns in this area, including a branch from Hudson to Marlborough and from Acton to Maynard. The part of the trail that we walked was through Maynard’s downtown.

I love rail trails. I guess it is the fact that on two wheels or on two feet, I’m observing the surroundings from another perspective, not in a car and not on the sidewalk. The first rail trails or bike paths in general that I ventured on included the Stowe Rec Path, the Shining Sea Bikeway in Falmouth, the Burlington (Vermont) Greenway Path, and the East Bay Bike Path in Rhode Island. The perspective and adventure viewed from these paths are magnificent.

As the idea of the rail trail has become more popular, these trails can be found in all corners of New England. The Assabet follows the river of the same name for a portion of the trail. The part of the trail that I walked on mostly paralleled the river through Maynard’s downtown.

The autumn leaves were spectacular, with hues of red, orange, and yellow. We stopped alongside a turn-off with birdhouses.

At Summer Street, we veered off the rail trail and into a neighborhood. We poked around the art installations on the front lawn of ArtSpace Maynard, which included two modern art pieces that my son was able to explore around.

Walking back on the rail trail, we eventually reached the car. On the way out of town though, I realized that the intriguing factory buildings in the center of town were home to the Battle Road Brewery. I forced myself to squeeze in a little time to try a flight of beer before we left.

Maynard was a surprise. Typically I’d pass through the town on my annual autumnal trip where the focus would be fall fun such as apple picking, apple cider, and pumpkin buying in towns farther west. This time though, I was able to stop to enjoy what Maynard has to offer.