Elmlea Woods
Easy, Wooded Trail & Rare Species Habitat
The 42-acres of Elmlea Woods is part of a recreational network connecting to the 57-acre Boxford Common and beyond. It is a natural environment for hiking, bicycling, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing.
Please wait, map is loading.
Location, Directions & Parking
- Captain Cashin Way, Boxford (Opens in Google Maps)
Follow Cashin Way around past the second soccer field, until it ends at the far parking lot. There is ample parking in a paved lot.
There is more than a mile of open trails through protected forest land. Most hikers start from the Boxford Common parking lot. The land borders an open hay field at the corner of Middleton and Main which provides a welcoming view.
At the time of contact with English settlers around 1646, the Indigenous People were the Pawtucket, or Agawam, led by their sachem Masconomet. Boxford was part of the tract of land which was deeded to John Winthrop by Masconomet, but it was not until 1700 that the selectmen of Boxford would pay Masconomet's grandson Samuel English nine pounds for the rights to the town land.
The property had been in the Haynes family for generations. Greenbelt partnered with The Boxford Trails Association/Boxford Open Land Trust (BTA/BOLT) for the acquisition and management of the property. BTA/BOLT manages the existing trails, with assistance from Greenbelt.
The property is an important rare species habitat and contains at least one certified vernal pool. The forest is a mix of hardwood and white pine.
Get GreenbeltGo Trails App
Land Acknowledgment
The properties that Greenbelt conserves are on the ancestral lands of the Pennacook and the Pawtucket, bands of Abenaki-speaking people. Join us in honoring the elders who lived here before, the Indigenous descendants today and the generations to come. Learn more…
Conservation Partners
