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Don’t miss out on the North Shore outdoor event of the year!  The ECTAthlon is a 4-part team relay, bringing trail runners, mountain bikers, equestrians and paddlers together for a friendly competition over come of the most beautiful public and private trails in our area!  Don’t have a team?  We can add you to a list of individuals looking for teammates!

This unique event, which will be held on Saturday, June 1^st,  was envisioned as a way to bring diverse trail users together in a fun and exciting way, and to highlight the incredible network of trails in our area.  The June 1^st date also coincides with American Hiking Society’s National Trails Day, a series of nationwide events celebrating trails and trail access.

The event begins at 10:30 am at Bradley Palmer State Park.  Runners will start off the relay with a 3.5 mile loop through the northern part of the park, returning to the start where they will pass their number over to their mountain biking teammate.  Mountain bikers follow a similar course through the park and into nearby Black Oak Farm, about 3.8 miles.  Riders and their equine counterparts will then follow a 4-mile course through private trails east of Winthrop Street.  This “optimum time” course challenges riders to pace themselves to fall within a predefined time range – times too fast or too slow will be penalized.  Finally, kayakers will meet their equestrian teammate at the north end of Winthrop Street where they will launch into the Ipswich River and paddle to Peatfield Street in downtown Ipswich.

Teams will race to cross the finish line in downtown Ipswich, where they will celebrate with lunch and live music during the awards ceremony.  Friends and spectators are welcome to attend the post-race celebration.  In addition to prizes for first through third place teams, there will also be awards for the Highest Combined Age, Lowest Combined Age, Best Team Name and Best Team Attire!

If you need help finding team members, contact ECTA and they will help you put a team together.  There will be a pool of equestrians willing to help complete a team.  Entry fees are $50 per person or $200 per team and proceeds benefit the Essex County Trail Association, a non-profit organization that helps to maintain and protect access to the trails and open lands in Ipswich, Hamilton, Wenham, Topsfield, Essex and West Newbury.  For information, call 978-468-1133 or email ashley@ectaonline.org.

Click here to download a brochure of the event.

Click here to view the 2011 course map (very similar to 2013)

Visit our Facebook Page to see photos of past events and to see updated information!

Thank you to our 2013 Sponsors!

On Saturday, May 18th, Essex County Trail Association invites you to join us at a grand re-opening celebration and trail walk for the Discover Hamilton Trail. The Discover Hamilton Trail was created in the 1990s as an 8-mile loop that would highlight the significant open spaces and natural features of Hamilton, including Harvard Forest, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Bradley Palmer State Park, The Trustees of Reservations’ Appleton Farms Grass Rides and Essex County Greenbelt Association’s Pingree Reservation.  ECTA has been working with the Town of Hamilton and private landowners over the course of the last year to re-route the starting location and portions of the trail off of roadways to create a safer and more welcoming experience.

We will meet at Patton Park, behind the baseball field, at 9:00 am for a brief celebration and thank-you to those involved with the creation of and recent improvements to the trail.  We will then begin our trail walk, which includes a 1.2-mile walk through the Myopia Schooling Field and Harvard Forest to access the start of the 8-mile loop trail.

Walkers are welcome to join us for the full 10 miles, or follow us to one of 3 stops along the way and be shuttled back to the start at Patton Park.  Our “halfway” point will be at the Topsfield Road footbridge to Bradley Palmer State Park.  We should be at this point by about 11:30 am.  Refreshments will be provided at the bridge.  10-mile walkers will continue on the loop trail and should finish at Patton Park at about 2:00 pm.  Well-behaved dogs on leashes are allowed on all parts of the Discover Hamilton Trail.  Please register here.

Join us for the 18th Annual Equine Expo & Paraphernalia Sale from 9am – 3pm on Saturday, April 27th at the Topsfield Fairgrounds Arena Building in Topsfield.  A large marketplace of businesses, groups and individuals will be selling many types of items (new and used) as well as services for the horse and rider/driver.   The horse enthusiast will find a wide variety to choose from at this one-stop shopping experience- tack, riding apparel, stable equipment, giftware, herbal products, supplements, equine massage, photography, equine publications, tack trunks, rescue organizations, home décor and more.   A silent auction will offer many items and gift certificates for bid.

Demonstrations will be going on all day in a ring inside the building.  Local trainer Kaitlyne Wadman, Sharon Linnea-Smith, Deb Ramsey and her Paso Fino horses, New England Equine Rescue, Carlene White/Service Dog Project, Dana Stillwell and her twin mules and Lincoln Barton Equine Dentistry are scheduled.

Several tables will offer information on land organizations, trail maps, state parks, etc.  A food vendor will be there all day.

The event is universally accessible and there is plenty of parking.  Admission is $5 and children under 10 are free.

Vendor spaces are still available for $75.  Sponsorships for this event start at $200.   We are currently accepting donations of items for the ECTA table.  For more information call 978-768-6275 or email us.

To download a vendor contract, click here.

Please join us April 9 at 6pm for our Spring Annual Meeting at the Gould Barn in Topsfield.  Learn more about the organization that helps to maintain and protect access to over 450 miles of trails within Essex County.  Runners, hikers, bikers, equestrians, birders, dog walkers…all trail enthusiasts are welcome!!

We are excited to welcome our guest speaker, Lily Stewart, a sled dog musher from Ipswich who recently took home bronze at the World Sled Dog Championships in Alaska.  Hear about 16-year old Lily’s adventure as she drove across the continent and pursued her dream of competing against the world’s best dog sled teams!   Read more about Lily on her blog.

Light refreshments provided.  Click here for directions to Gould Barn.

28 volunteers from ECTA, REI, the Town of Ipswich, the Bay Circuit Trail Alliance and Americorps joined us on Saturday, November 3rd to improve the Dow Brook Conservation Area trail network.  We accomplished our three main goals of rerouting a section of trail, starting construction on a boardwalk through the wetland area, and adding crushed stone a muddy part of the trail.  We were even able to work on a few more sections of the trail!

By the end of the day, the boardwalk was about 90% complete, which was more than we had anticipated!  We would like to recognize the volunteers who stayed after lunch to continue to work on this project with designer and contractor Bob Weatherall: Dave Carpenter, Mike McGarty, Zach Abuzza, Rick Silverman, Steve Haberek and Norm Marsh.

Special thanks to Dominique McLean from REI of Reading, who volunteered with us and also presented ECTA with the grant award from REI, which funded this project.

Thank you also to Beth O’Connor, from the Town of Ipswich, for working with ECTA on this project and for all of her support for trails on public properties throughout Ipswich, and to Dani Christopher for organizing our Americorps volunteers.

You can view pictures from the workday on our Facebook Page and at Shutterfly.

Our next volunteer opportunity will be at the New England Sled Dog Races at Appleton Farms on January 19th and 20th.  Mark your calendars for this fun and unique event!  Click here for more information >>

Thank you again for all of your hard work!

We have been busy working at the New England Biolabs campus in Ipswich and Hamilton over the last few months, and the trails are in fantastic condition!  In addition to our earlier trail widening work, we have now filled in holes, raised the trail level in wet areas, and have added new surfacing to many of the trails throughout the property. 

These trails are open to all non-motorized trail uses, including walking, hiking, running and horseback riding.  This is a great spot for birding with a mix

Please be respectful of posted signs for areas restricted to Biolabs employees only.  This property is privately owned and is generously opened to the public.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the ECTA – Essex Heritage Trails & Sails events over the past two weekends.  Walkers and volunteers found that even on a misty morning, there is still fun to be had on the trails!

On Saturday, September 22nd, Board Member Deb Hamilton led a group of walkers on a trail walk through the Riverbend Conservation Area in West Newbury.  They crossed over the Indian River to explore some of the new trails created this summer by volunteers.

On Saturday, September 29th, we had two great events to choose from!  Carol Lloyd, Director of Trail Management, introduced walkers to the recently re-routed Discover Hamilton Trail.  A new leg of the trail starts at Patton Park, so that walkers no longer have to start at the Hamilton Town Hall and walk along Rt 1A.  The walk continued through the Pingree Reservation and Bradley Palmer State Park.  Most of the group ended here after nearly 5 miles, but a few ambitious walkers continued on with Carol to complete the full loop of almost 10 miles!

Our friends at REI organized a trail work day with the staff at DCR’s Bradley Palmer State Park.  We worked on the Accessible Trail, clearing overgrowth from the river side of the boardwalk.  The brush, mostly invasive species such as buckthorn and bittersweet, completely blocked any views to the Ipswich River.  We cleared out the invasives and left beneficial shrubs like native winterberry holly.  Now everyone can enjoy a scenic view of the river, and it will be much easier for park staff to maintain regrowth in this area.  Special thanks to Mayer Tree and Stihl for donating great new tools for our volunteers!  To see more pictures from this event visit our Facebook  Page.

ECTA is participating in the Essex National Heritage Area Trails & Sails weekends with three great events!  On 9/22 join us for a trail walk at Riverbend in West Newbury.  On 9/29, choose from the Discover Hamilton trail walk or the REI Volunteer Work Day at Bradley Palmer.  All events are free and open to the public!

ECTA recently collaborated with the West Newbury Open Space Committee and several volunteers to begin trail work on the Ocean Meadows trail easement. This trail is a critical link in the “emerald necklace” of West Newbury.
Read the full article from the Daily News >>