battle road trail

Walk out of the Minuteman Park visitor center and the historic 5 mile "Battle Road" beckons. I walked the historic road (which is actually a well worn path) each night and on one occasion went about 4 miles out and 4 miles back to the parking lot at the visitor center). You will encounter, joggers, bikers, families, and history buffs all along the trail. Every so often you can take a break and read the historic signs along the way that talk about events that occurred only steps from where you are standing. This trail is one of the most historic American war trails in all of the USA and our freedom and future depended on the initial actions that took place on this road/trail. FASCINATING and FREE!

While it was a privilege to walk on such an important trail, because I left our vehicle at one of the NPS's visitors center, I left my family to go back and get it. Because I wasn't closely paying attention, even though I stayed on the trail, I got lost. My advice: closely watch the signs and don't get too lost in history.

We drove the road and stopped at sites along the way. It would be nice to bicycle, though, if you have the time. The road is busy, not self contained. The Visitor Center is excellent and the rangers are knowledgable. The usual souvenirs are available.

Awesome time with family, boys learning how to be minute men and shoot/hold a musket at the Hartwell Tavern. NPS does an awesome job!

the Battle Road Trail is both interesting and beautiful. I wish that I had dedicated more time to it, and I also wish that it was set aside purely for those who wanted to see the Revolutionary locations, rather than a road for locals to speed along as rapidly as possible. There are a lot of places to stop, parking lots, interesting sites, but there always seems to be an extensive walk from parking to house or site. I only wish I had been able to spend more time. One could spend hours here.

Biked the Battle Road Trail this weekend and really enjoyed it. Any average cyclist with the correct bike can do this. There are a few soft sandy parts and inclines/declines but overall the trail is hard compact dirt or crushed gravel. You will be biking through history which is very unique and can stop along the way at the interpretive signs. You will bike past historical homes, old foundations, grave markers, and through pristine farmland, woods and battle fields. It was a beautiful spring day in New England and fairly busy on the trail with bikers, walkers and baby strollers galore. I can see this trail becoming quite busy. If a visit can be arranged during the week, it would be worth the effort.

At the Minuteman Visitor Center, they show a ~15-20 min video that is great to tell you the history of Paul Revere's ride, the "Shot Heard Round the World," and so on. We loved being able to walk down the dirt road where so much history happened. There are several signs along the way as well that let you know what happened, and the cell-phone audio tour adds a little something extra (it's free). We didn't walk the entire trail but would park and walk to something then come back to the car and drive to the next parking area. We loved it!

Well-signed, great for walking or bicycling on the packed dirt road. Combine this with a visit to the Minute Man Visitor Center for a well-done multimedia production.

This is a great place to take a relaxing stroll or a jog. Careful though, I was stung by a bee! When the runners jog by they rattle the bridges going over the swamps and bother the bees nests underneath them. Don't walk by when they're aggrivated! It's great that they have signs walking you through the history of the trail, but it's long, we didn't walk through the whole thing.

I found the whole Battle Road area beautiful, interesting, and informative. When you are on a dirt road surrounded only by woods and an original colonial house, it's not hard to imagine what it was like to live here at that time. The area is quiet and peaceful and you can walk for hours or minutes or drive site to site. The most interesting thing I discovered was at the site where Paul Revere was 'captured'. The British held him for a while but then only confiscated his horse and let Paul Revere go free. So different from what you hear about militant captives today!!! At the North Bridge where the 'shot heard round the world' was fired it is explained that because of the rifle technology of the day, someone shooting from one side of the Concord River to the other may or may not hit their intended target. Firearms were not very accurate at all. When you see how narrow the river is this will amaze you. You could throw a rock across it. Obviously there are roads and automobiles and planes but there are many places where you can feel all alone and just picture the colonists making history. There are a lot of park rangers, enactors, and other means of getting information and as I recall there is no charge for parking or seeing most if not all of the sites. It's a great place to take the family, a date, or to wander around alone.

We walked most of the trail and visited most of the sites. Is a nice easy walk, but you have to watch out for the locals running or biking the tail. How cool it must be to do that everyday knowing this is where to battle for liberty began. Sites are well marked with info plaques. We went late Sept. but was not very crowded.

A very nice historical walk. A must not miss that we visited along with the North Bridge. On a nice cool day this is a nice flat trail with stops along the way.Probably took us a couple of hours

This is the Route 2-A "campus" of the Minute Man National Historic Park. To understand the events that transpired here it is a good idea to also visit the Liberty Street "campus". Before you leave this site be sure to see the site where Paul revere was captured by the British before he reached Concord - a great example of "spinning" the facts to make a good story - in this case a poem.You may also want to see my review of the Liberty Street "campus' of the Park'

The trail itself sometimes follows the old road network, but the real stars of the show are the beautifully restored old buildings. The Park Service sometimes has reenactments of the events of 1775 and colonial life, many of which are very good.

Historic and long enough for a good workout, whether you walk or run. I recommend avoiding the dead of winter unless you have snowshoes; also, if you dislike crowds, avoid leaf-peeping season (September-October) and summer (tourists abound). However, early morning will give you some peace and quiet. A lovely and educational trail dotted with historic farmhouses from which the locals watched (or were engaged in) the British troops march on Concord.