Trails & Maps
There are three main trails at the Acton Arboretum, with several interconnecting paths. Click here for the map. The main trails are the Orchard Loop, the Wildflower Loop, and the Highland/Bog Loop. Sidewalks on both sides of Main Street connect the town center with Acton Memorial Library and Town Hall to Taylor Road, a 1/2 mile walk south.
At the intersection of Taylor and Main, there is an entrance to the Arboretum’s Orchard and Wildflower Trails marked by a carved sign on granite posts. This entrance also serves as the Taylor Road sidewalk. It passes through the Arboretum’s Hosta Garden and crabapple collection. Follow the crosswalks across the Arboretum driveways to continue down Taylor Road.
One can also enter the Arboretum at the intersection of Minot Ave. and Forest Road via a paved sidewalk down to the Bog, with handicap accessible boardwalk through the Bog and informational panel and a bench. Click the image below for a trail map. A third entrance is at the end of Wood Lane. The Highland/Bog Loop has many roots, rocks, and uneven terrain.
The Orchard Loop Trail follows the perimeter of the upper area of the Arboretum, together with the old orchard grid. The Orchard Loop Trail is a smaller part of the Wildflower Loop Trail, and is approximately 0.2 miles. It begins at the Taylor Road parking lot and is handicapped-accessible with benches along its length. Gardens along this trail include the Herb Garden, the Butterfly Garden, the Hosta Garden, the Grape Arbor and the Swale, all situated around an open grassy area. There are picnic tables and a stone reading circle. Situated along the more southerly reaches of the Orchard Trail are the sun meadow, sun pond, the back side of Dawn’s Pond, and the Rhododendron Garden. Inside this trail is the Rock Garden. The Orchard Trail is bounded by the small utility shed.
The 1/2 mile long, handicap accessible Wildflower Loop Trail continues down the paved asphalt trail, beyond the Orchard Loop Trail and utility shed. A blue trail bisects the Wildflower Loop Trail and leads to the China Trail and the Rhododendron Garden. These connect to the Fragrance Garden.
Features along the 1/2 mile long Wildflower Trail are two ponds, an extensive Wildflower Collection and boardwalk, several benches, and a Fern Boardwalk crossing Mary’s Brook. In the summertime, the two ponds are solid green with duckweed and host many frogs and turtles.
The Highland/Bog Loop Trail is a 3,500-foot (0.7 mile) journey from the highest area in the Arboretum to the lowest. The 40 acres traversed by this trail comprise a wide variety of forest types, succession growth, and geological features. It is based on old farm roads, cow paths, and foot trails, and is not handicapped-accessible. A most unusual feature of this area is the art installation of “Forest Stones,” subtly scattered by the trailside. This collection of twenty-two fieldstones, each inscribed with a single word, was retained by popular demand from the 1995 Environmental Sculpture Exhibit.
Along the southwestern portion, the trail follows a narrow, long hill or esker that is a raised gravel stream bed left by the melting of a receding glacier. After descending the esker, the trail crosses a quaking peat bog along a zig-zagging boardwalk, also accessible from Minot Ave. In a short distance, the trail leads back towards the main Arboretum, passes through a meadow, and completes the Highland/Bog Loop.
There is a blue trail to the northeast that leads past a rocky outcropping of bedrock. Glacial Striations may be seen gouging the surface of the bedrock.
