All Persons Trail at Wachusett Meadow

On the All Persons Trail, you can listen for songbirds, frogs, sheep, and beavers, visit grassland and wetland habitats, and learn about the animals that make Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary their home.

Distance

The trail is four tenths of a mile long, beginning at the Visitor Center and then traversing to its destinations. It is an out and back trail, not a loop.

Features

• A historic barn
• A rain garden
• A boardwalk that overlooks a beaver wetland
• Eight interpretive stops featuring the history and natural history of this wildlife sanctuary
• A life-size tactile sculpture of a snapping turtle

Description

The trail can loosely be thought to be “Y” shaped with the initial section 342 feet in length, and then branching to a 338-foot leg and a 405-foot leg. Seating along the way includes a garden swing, benches, flat boulders, rocking and stationary chairs, and accessible picnic tables. Note that the Pavilion, located directly behind the Visitor Center, is also an accessible picnic space. Trail surfacing varies and includes sections of pavement, brick path, crushed gravel, and grass paving. There are no stairs, and the surfacing, width, and slope are ADA-compliant. Grass paving remains firm and level in all conditions and the trail is maintained with regular mowing, but it is not cleared of snow in winter.

The full tour typically takes an hour to complete.

More Information

Experience this trail in your own way or follow the interpretive tour, which is available as an audio recording or in a printed booklet (pre-designed or customizable) or braille formats. The trail tour booklets, as well as a tactile trail map, are available at the visitor information desk in the Office. When the Office is open, a staff member can be reached at 978-464-2712.

These items are available for you to borrow: trail wheelchair, rollator walker, seat cane, walking stick, binoculars, hands-free optics, audio player, field guides, and family-friendly education and activity materials.

Please Note: All trails are open year-round, however trails are not maintained during winter weather so surfaces and footing may be slippery.

Audio Tour

The audio tour is available to listen to or download onto your personal audio player. The audio tour is also available on an audio player that you can arrange to borrow by contacting us in advance by phone at 978-464-2712or by emailing [email protected].

Audio Stops

For more information on Mass Audubon’s accessibility work and other All Persons Trails, please visit massaudubon.org/accessibility.

Special thanks to the accessibility consultants, volunteers, and all others that helped to make this project possible.

Mass Audubon thanks the following organizations and individuals for their generous support: