Callahan has become my hometown after-work ride since moving to Framingham due to proximity. It’s a healthy mix of XC trails with lots of roots and small rocks, allowing you to give yourself a little more of a bumpy ride than some of the other nearby trails. The north side (Millwood St entrance) isn’t huge and doesn’t have too many big climbs; mostly hills with trails crossing them laterally. The south side (Edmunds Rd) is a much more technical challenge with big roots and some gnarly rocks on the trail, but this isn’t a place for drops. You can put together 2 hours of riding between the two for a great workout and ride miles, but it’s not really a “wow, definitely go ride there!” kind of locale.

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Parking on Millwood St dumps you into the mix of trails quicker depending on which part of the field you enter. I’d recommend bearing left along the dam past the corn field, then roll left down the hill and climb up into the woods. Then get lost, eventually look at your map, and ride back to the car. Conversely, park at Edmunds Road and enter the trail on the right (Rocky Road) and, again, get lost, look at a map after awhile, and ride back.

I have ridden the South side of the park, south of Parameter/Edmunds road. I used the Pipeline trail to get in, and I must say I am glad I took that hill at the beginning instead of at the end. It will suck the wind right out of you.

The time I went there were a lot of hikers and dog walkers down near the dam. Once you got into the woods you saw other bikers.

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Explore them all. Take a compass or GPS with back-tracking function and don't forget a trail map. Some trails are marked others are not. It is very easy for the first time rider to get confused and turned around. When I visited, I intended for a quick one or two hour ride. It ended up being almost three hours as a got twisted around and slightly lost. That is not a good thing to do when the clouds get dark and you hear thunder rumbling.

The southern side of the park has some great single track with both moderate ups and downs with a few steep climbs and descents, which is typically great for a warmup.

The southern side has a combination of single and double track, though starts off with a tough, technical climb.

This is a great after work ride, as there's enough for 1-2 hours of exploration.

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Start on the North, then move to the South of Edmunds Rd.

This is one of the better places to take a decent ride around if you dont have all day. I prefer to ride the north or marlboro side on Edmunds Road. Theres alot of small side trails that will take you all over so you gotta be heads up of where your going. There is some quick downhill sections and a better one on part of the Bay Circuit Trail.

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Both the North & South side are worth being explorer. Parking areas are on Millwood Street & Edmunds Road.

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Vietnam

Callahan is a great mix of trails for a range of abilites. I go riding on the Framingham/south side with my girlfriend (who is pretty new to MTB riding) and it she enjoys it. It can be very fast in here with many weaving trails. The Marlborough/north side offers much more technical climbs and descents. Again there are many trail combinations and a lot of the better trails don't show up on the map. The positives are that it is almost impossible to get lost on the south side. The trails will lead you around the park and you have to cross a road to get to the north side. One drawback is the amount of people with their dogs in the south side of the park. Most dogs aren't leashed but I've never seen anyone get attacked by one. They have every right to be there but you may have to slow down around them.

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For more technical riding stay on the Marlboro/north side, for less technical, faster, and wider trails go with the Framingham/south side.

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Ashland Town Forest

I live less than 1/4 mile from the Marlboro/north entrance of the park, so I'll ride there on average 3 times per week. There are a lot of unmarked single-track trails which offer some of the best riding. I've found this park to have the best diversity in terrain, when compared to other local state parks. Again, the Marlboro/north side offers a lot of technical climbs and descents, while the Framingham/south side offers some fast cruising trails.
I've found the Framigham/south side gets much more use, both by bikers, hikers, horses, and dog owners, than the Marlboro side. This is probably due to it's easier access and more accommodating parking.
One other observation, in the spring time, the Framingham side can get very wet and muddy. The Marlboro side, with it's rolling terrain (and more rocks) appears to drain better allowing the condition of the trails to stay more consistent through out the year.

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This is a great park for all abilities. The Marlbor/north side is technical with many climbs and descents. This side is definitely geared towards intermediate/advanced riders. The Framingham/south side is much flatter and less technical. The Framingham side is a great place for beginning riders, however there are some good trails to challenge intermediate and advanced riders.

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Stow Woods and Upton State Park.

The Marlborough side is for advanced riders, it is very rocky, which means suspension is a must. There is a lot more ups and downs, and if you like to bomb through places at high speeds than you should bring some band-aids and an extra tube. The Framingham side on the other hand is much faster. There are less rocks, but this doesn't mean it's any worse. There is a short downhill on this side where i've hit 39 mph once and there are some fun jumps. One is a whoop-de-do, where you can get some phat air. The side is aimed more towards intermediates and beginers, but is a fun trail to bomb around for the more advanced riders. I don't know of any other trail which has a more vast variety of terrains.

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There are two sides of this park. The Framingham side and the Marlborough side. The better of the two is the Marlborough side.

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None.

Callahan is a killer trail ride with lots of drop offs, and technical sections. I'm a downhill rider, and get a lot of great practice on these trails.

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take angelica rd. trail to pipeline to pincone

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Hopkinton state park

Marlboro side is great, technical and some good climbs and downhills. The cross over to the Framingham is a steep rocky uphill to a steep singletrack downhill with rocks in the side of the, dont hug the left side going down or you will tumble. I'm almost 17 now and I've been riding here since i got my first mountain bike when i was 13, this is where i learned to rip and love it, go out and have some fun.

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No recomemended route just go nuts and find some new trails, and rip the ones that are already marked.

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Leominster State Park, Burbank Hospital in Fitchburg, Nashua Green Way in Lancaster on Route 70 north, Stow Woods, Go to your local bike shop to find more places to ride or use this web site

The Framingham side is good if you dont want anything technical. THere are some climbs and downhills, and one ride down through a small stream. The Marlboro side is AWESOME. Coming from the Framingham side, there is a really tough climb through some technical single track, then the trails go off every which way. Be careful though, there are at least two dead ends that feed into some guys farm....had to turn around. And somehow ended up in the Parking lot of Raytheon on Rte 20. It was worth it though, the riding was awesome!!!

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If starting in Framingham by the golf course, go straight through to the back where you have to cross a street, this is where ALL the good riding is here! Getting home might be difficult though...

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Vietnam