Start at the Wilkins Street trailhead the way you always have, and for the first time in twenty years the path underneath your feet isn't just the Assabet River Rail Trail anymore. It's also the Mass Central Rail Trail, laid down this year on top of an old Eversource transmission line easement, and for about a mile the two run together as one paved surface before quietly splitting apart again at Priest Street. Most people walking it this month won't notice the difference. That's kind of the point, and also the thing worth understanding if you live here.
The Trailhead That Now Splits Two Ways
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation finished the first three miles of the Mass Central Rail Trail's Wayside section through Hudson in the fall of 2025, building it directly over the buried high-voltage line that already cut through town. The grand opening landed in July 2026. For anyone who's used the Assabet River Rail Trail as a familiar loop toward Marlborough, this is the part that changes the math: at the Route 62 parking lot, the new trail ties directly into the old one, and the two are contiguous from there toward downtown.
The Community Advocate reported on the funding behind the next stretch back in mid-2025, and it's worth knowing where that money actually goes. Hudson secured $727,780 in federal transportation funds and another $181,940 through its Community Preservation Committee, a combined $909,720, to finish full design work on the segment running from Priest Street to Felton Street. That's the piece that comes right after the fork. Right now, if you hit Priest Street and keep walking, you're not choosing between two finished trails. You're staying on the Assabet River Rail Trail because that's the only one built that far. The Mass Central's own path west of the fork is still moving through design.
What the Utility Corridor Actually Feels Like
If you've walked the Assabet stretch through the woods and along the river, the new mile feels different, and that's not an accident. It was built over a transmission-line right-of-way, which means it runs straighter and more open where the old trail curves through tree cover and hugs the riverbank. Neither is better. They're just built for different reasons, and knowing which one you're on tells you what kind of walk you're getting.
Here's the part that actually matters for anyone heading out this fall: the trail isn't blazed yet. There's no signage distinguishing Mass Central from Assabet along the shared mile, and DCR is currently working with local trail volunteers to get markers and better access points installed. If you've walked it recently and felt slightly unsure which direction led where, that's not you missing something obvious. The town hasn't finished telling you yet.
The Landmarks That Tell You Where You Are
Until the signage catches up, the fixed points along the shared stretch are doing the job markers usually would. Coming in from the Route 62 side, you'll pass a cluster of carved and welded sculptures, then a piece locals call the fish xylophone, positioned near a restored 1921 Boston and Maine Railroad caboose painted blue. A little further along, a mural depicting Hudson's history marks the spot where the trail crosses Route 62 at a pedestrian light, right before the corridor opens into Hudson's commercial district.
Push past that into downtown and the trail system connects to Cellucci Park on South Street, where Hudson's Riverwalk begins. That stretch has overlooks and benches along the river, plus a skate park, a playground, and a splash pad within easy reach. None of that is new this year, but it's the payoff at the end of the new mile, and it's easy to miss if you turn back at the fork instead of continuing through.
Keep going past Cellucci Park and the Assabet River Rail Trail runs another four and a half miles beyond the Main Street parking lot, ending near the Old Common Cemetery in Marlborough, a block off Main Street with its own run of shops and restaurants.
Why the Fork Actually Matters Right Now
Here's the claim most casual write-ups about this trail are going to miss: Hudson didn't just extend a trail this year. It created a junction, and right now that junction only works one way. The Mass Central Rail Trail ends at Priest Street because that's as far as it's built. The Assabet River Rail Trail continues because it's been finished for two decades. So for the next stretch of time, every walker or cyclist who hits that fork is making a choice that only has one real answer.
That changes once the Priest Street to Felton Street design work Hudson funded finishes and construction follows. It changes again further out too. The town also received a FY2026 Mass Trails Grant to complete 25 percent design on the next segment after that, from Felton Street out to the Berlin town line. Both of those are still in planning, not pavement, but they tell you the direction this is heading. The Mass Central Rail Trail is part of a much bigger plan, a continuous corridor eventually stretching roughly 104 miles from Boston to Northampton, of which about 63 miles already exist somewhere along the line. Hudson's three miles are a small piece of that spine, but they're the piece that decides whether the corridor actually reaches this town's downtown or just skirts past it.
What This Means for a Fall Walk
If you're heading out on the trail system this September, the practical version of all this is simple. Park at the Route 62 lot the way you always have. For the first mile, you're on both trails at once, so don't worry about which one you're technically standing on. When you reach Priest Street, there's only one direction that continues as finished trail right now, and it takes you toward downtown, past the caboose and the mural, into Cellucci Park and the Riverwalk. The other direction, the one that will eventually run toward Felton Street and beyond, exists on paper. It'll exist on the ground eventually, funded and moving, but not yet.
That's worth knowing not because it changes your walk this weekend, but because it explains why the trail feels a little unfinished in exactly one specific spot. It's not confusion. It's a town mid-build, and this is what mid-build looks like from ground level.
If you're thinking about buying, selling, or just want to talk through what's happening in Hudson's market this fall, Mollie Reynolds is always glad to connect. Let's Connect.
