The Wapack Trail is one of the oldest public, interstate hiking trails in the United States. Opened in 1923, it follows the

Wapack Range The Wapack Range, sometimes referred to as the Pack Monadnock Range, is a range of mountains in south-central New Hampshire and adjacent Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. The range is considered very scenic and rugged with many ba ...

north-south for , between

Mount Watatic Mount Watatic is a monadnock located just south of the Massachusetts–New Hampshire border, in the United States, at the southern end of the Wapack Range. It lies in Ashburnham, Massachusetts and Ashby, Massachusetts. The Wapack Trail and t ...

Ashburnham, Massachusetts Ashburnham () is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 6,315. It is home to Cushing Academy, a private preparatory boarding school. Ashburnham contains the census-designated place ...

, and North Pack Monadnock mountain in Greenfield,

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. It is designed primarily for day use by hikers, with minimal camping facilities. The trail passes through the Massachusetts towns of Ashburnham and

Ashby Ashby may refer to: People * Ashby (surname) * Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby (1267–1314), governor of Rockingham Castle and steward of Rockingham Forest, England * Walter Ashby Plecker (1861–1947), American physician and publi ...

, and the New Hampshire towns of

New Ipswich New Ipswich is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,204 at the 2020 census. New Ipswich, situated on the Massachusetts border, includes the villages of Bank, Davis, Gibson Four Corners, Highbridge, New ...

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

Sharon Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname. In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

, and Greenfield. It also goes over Temple Mountain, and through Miller State Park, Binney Hill Wilderness Preserve, and the

Wapack National Wildlife Refuge Wapack National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located in southern New Hampshire. It was the state's first refuge and was established through a donation by Lawrence and Lorna Marshall in 1972. The refuge is loc ...

, as well as numerous privately owned parcels of land. In New Ipswich it skirts Windblown Cross-Country Ski Area, which operated for four decades until closing in 2020. The trail is overseen by Friends of the Wapack, a non-profit group. Aside from upgrading and maintaining the trail, the group is trying to have the entire length preserved from development. The southern part of the Wapack Trail overlaps with the northern part of the Midstate Trail.

History

The trail was born in a conversation in the summer of 1922 at the Shattuck Inn in

Jaffrey, New Hampshire Jaffrey is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,320 at the 2020 census. The main village in town, where 3,058 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Jaffrey census-designated place (CDP) a ...

between Allen Chamberlain, who later became president of the

Appalachian Mountain Club Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) is the oldest outdoor group in the United States. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., with 12 chapters stretching from Ma ...

, and Jaffrey farmer Albert Annett while overlooking the

, then known as the Boundary Mountains. The two talked about the possibility of a skyline trail along the ridge of the Boundary Mountains from Mt. Watatic to North Pack Monadnock. Later, Albert brought the idea to fellow farmers Frank Robbins and Marion Buck of

Rindge, New Hampshire Rindge is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,476 at the 2020 census, up from 6,014 at the 2010 census. Rindge is home to Franklin Pierce University, the Cathedral of the Pines and part of Annett State ...

. The three started cutting the trail near the end of the summer using hand tools. The trail was opened in 1923. Buck named it by joining the ''Wa'' from Mt. Watatic and ''Pack'' from North Pack Monadnock, and soon the Boundary Mountains became known as the Wapack Range.

Trail running races

There are two running races along the trail. A race in May was started in 2007 by Bogie Dumitrescu. It is and goes the whole length of the trail beginning at the northern terminus. A longer out-and-back

ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

version starts at the southern terminus and runs all the way to the northern terminus and back. An out and back segment to Binney Pond is added to bring the distance to 50 miles. Slower runners are stopped after . On

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

in early September, a race coordinated by Paul Funch covers the southern part of the trail. It starts at the Windblown cross-country ski area and proceeds to

and back.

References

{{Authority control Hiking trails in Massachusetts Hiking trails in New Hampshire Sports in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Tourist attractions in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Tourist attractions in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Protected areas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts Protected areas of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire