Dogtown in Gloucester, MA

Description

Dogtown has a lot of flat riding. Nice single track (with little rocks in the way). Not much technical stuff to fight over, but a good fast ride to get lost. There are two Quarry's nearby (you may bump into them on your travels). One (the one not near the junk yard) is great for swimming in - bring some spare shorts to avoid that wet shorts chafing feeling. Here's Alan powering up Integrity at the start of the Babson Boulder Trail in Dogtown. That's a trek Y22 with flat pedals - yup - no clips for Alan, it was refreshing to see the two bloody imprints on his shins from the pedals at the end of the ride.

From Philip Keyes: Cars parked in the northern parking lot of Dogtown Commons in the North Shore have been broken into over the last few weekends. The police recommend parking in the southern parking lot. The thieves have been taking wallets and valuable, but leaving bike accessories.

Click on the maps for a bigger version and directions

Directions

Dogtown Commons Parking

From Chuck

Take 128 north towards Gloucester. Before you get into the city limits of Gloucester you will pass over a Large bridge spanning a salt water river. Shortly after you pass over this bridge, route 128 will enter a large traffic circle (Grant Circle). Follow this circle 270 degrees around and exit off on route 127 (towards Annisquam). Follow route 127 for about 1/2 mile and it will curve to the right and pass over a small bridge and some salt water. Immediately after you cross the bridge, route 127 will curve around to the left. You do NOT want to follow 127 to the left, instead look to take a right onto Reynard St. Follow Reynard to the end (1/4 mile) and turn left onto Cherry St. Look closely to your right for a small, broken-down (almost a driveway) looking road, with a small sign for Dogtown commons at the end. Follow this road to the end until you come to a gate and can not go any further. Park your car.

O'Maley School

From: Carol

Directions to Dogtown (O'Maley School parking lot): Take 128 north towards Gloucester. Before you get into the city limits of Gloucester you will pass over a large bridge spanning a salt water river. Shortly after you pass over this bridge, route 128 will enter a large traffic circle (Grant Circle). Follow this circle 270 degrees around and exit off on route 127 (towards Annisquam). Turn immediately right on Poplar Street then left onto Cherry Street. The O'Malley school is approximately a half mile down, on the left. There are two lots - park in the one nearest Cherry Street. 2 min. ride to trails. (I think this is where they park for the Marblehead bike shop rides)

Trail Ideas

From: Carol

And another thing, it's no wonder so many people have navigational difficulties if you are using the beta from the Nemba website. According to Leo, the ride descriptions are awful. They suggest going due north from Whales Jaw to Goose Cove Reservoir which is wrong. Goose Cove is Southwest from Whales Jaw. Due north will take you to Johnson's Quarry and maybe Steel Derek Quarry assuming that you know which of the many trails to take. The description for the expert ride is also really useless.

Related Sites

• NEMBA - Dogtown