It was 78 degrees in October today. We had a half day of school. The only question was which trail to hit. We ended up at the Woodland Trail at Mittineague Park in West Springfield. Despite visiting the playground and stream here countless times we had never actually hiked the trail. Our loss. So glad we finally discovered it for ourselves because it will definitely be in regular rotation. You can pick up the trail at many locations throughout the park but we started near the parking lot for the soccer fields (just follow the signs). This is also near the Unico Playground. Which is actually why we started here. Because, playground. Wherever you decide to pick up the trail, look for the blue blazes.
This is such an easy, pleasant hike. The trail is wonderfully maintained. If you have a hardy kiddo I'd even say you could bring a jogging stroller through here (let's just say I've brought a jogger on trails worse than this). There are some slight slopes but no big climbs. Also, the only thing you need to worry about while hiking with littles is that a portion of the trail parallels active train tracks. Very closely. So, you definitely want to keep hands on little daredevils as you approach the tracks. This could be a real treat for any little Thomas enthusiasts. Alternately, it could be a nightmare for sensory sensitive kiddos -- the train screams through here.
There are a lot of trails (over six miles of them) throughout the park but this blue line trail is about a mile. Just follow the blazes. But even if you take an alternate trail, you will still end up on a park road or on the disc golf course and and be able to find your way back to where you parked. No worries about getting lost here.
Planning for an hour on the trail is a fair guess if you're hiking with kids. And, of course, if anyone needs a little inspo to keep going, there is this super fun playground to celebrate the end of the hike with:
Mittineague Park is located at 1695 Westfield Street in West Springfield. You can also access the park off of Park Drive, Harwich Road, or Churchill Road -- head down any of those streets and you'll find Mittineague. There is plenty of free parking on site. The park is open daily dawn to dusk. We hope you enjoy this explore as much as we do. See you on the trail!
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