About a mile west of Sudbury's Diamond Junction, an old granite marker stands on the left side of the Mass Central Rail Trail. It reads "B21 / N83." The railroad set it 21 miles from North Station in Boston and 83 miles from Northampton. The Mass Central Rail Trail group's Sudbury guide logs the marker at mile 1.9 and the Diamond at mile 3.0, which puts the stone a little over a mile west of the crossing. It still counts toward both cities. The paved trail beside it reaches neither one yet.
That gap between the map and the pavement explains this fall's trails better than anything else. For the first time, the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and the Mass Central Rail Trail are both open in Sudbury, and they cross at the Diamond near Union Avenue and the old train depot. Four arms leave the junction. Two of them run for miles. The other two end close by.
What is officially open, and what is still waiting on a ceremony
Most of the Mass Central's ceremony took place at the Diamond itself. Sudbury Weekly reported that the town held the ribbon cutting for the newest Mass Central section at the junction in mid-July. Select Board Chair Janie Dretler told the crowd, "May this trail remind us that when we invest in connection, we build not only better paths, but stronger communities." The same report said the ceremony was likely to amuse Sudbury residents a little, since the trail had been heavily used since paving was largely finished the year before. The trail exists because Eversource buried a transmission line in the old MBTA right-of-way through Sudbury and into Hudson. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation then paved the corridor.
The Bruce Freeman is further along in practice than on paper. The Town of Sudbury's rail trail page, updated September 24, 2026, says the 4.4-mile Sudbury section is open to the public. MassDOT handed maintenance to the town in July 2026. Accessibility work was still pending, so MassDOT had not set a grand opening, and the town hoped for one later this fall. A town memo from late summer 2026 says the remaining work is at the Broadacres Farm access ramp and plaza. The ribbon has not been cut, but you can ride the trail now.
The four arms of the Diamond, as of this fall
| Direction from the Diamond | Trail | Where it takes you now | What comes next |
|---|---|---|---|
| West | Mass Central Rail Trail | Through Stow to Wilkins Street in Hudson, where it meets the Assabet River Rail Trail | Already complete |
| North | Bruce Freeman Rail Trail | Across the Concord line into West Concord and beyond | Sudbury grand opening still unscheduled |
| East | Mass Central Rail Trail | Ends just east of Landham Road | 1.9-mile link to Wayland center, construction expected to start in 2028 |
| South | Bruce Freeman Rail Trail | Ends at the junction near Union Avenue | 1.5-mile extension to Eaton Road West in Framingham, in design |
On a weekend ride, the table boils down to this. Pick west or north, or ride one out and come back by the other.
West: pine barrens, a Babe Ruth stop, and a pint in Hudson
According to DCR's Mass Central project page, the Sudbury to Hudson segment runs 7.5 miles from the Sudbury Substation to Wilkins Street in Hudson, where it meets the Assabet River Rail Trail. The segment was built in 2025. The trail group's guide marks the Sudbury stretch by mileage from the town's western edge. Read in reverse from the Diamond, the landmarks come up in this order:
- About 1.1 miles out: the granite "B21 / N83" marker on the left.
- About 2 miles out: the Dutton Road crossing, a former Wayside Inn train stop. The guide notes that Babe Ruth, who lived nearby, rode to Boston from here, and that the Wayside Inn is 2 miles south on Dutton Road.
- About 2.3 miles out: the Hop Brook wetlands.
- About 2.4 miles out: side trails head south into the Sudbury Valley Trustees' Memorial Forest, with its pine barrens and sandy "desert" area, and north to the town's Hop Brook Marsh.
Closer to the Diamond, the trail crosses Route 20. The Wayland Post named the Dunkin' Donuts and Lotus Blossom on either side of the crossing as landmarks.
Past Stow, the Mass Central reaches the Assabet River Rail Trail. The trail group's Hudson guide gives the route into downtown. Follow the Assabet River Rail Trail to Broad Street, then go two blocks west on South Street. Bike racks are at Cellucci Park and on Main Street, one block north. Downtown Hudson has plenty to stop for. Discover Hudson's schedule for September 28 to October 4, 2026 listed happenings at Cafe 641, Medusa Brewing Company, Finnegan's Pub, Amaia Martini Bar, The Horseshoe Pub and The Evergreen Room.
The western arm turns a trail ride into a trip with a destination. You can leave from a 10-space lot in Sudbury and end at a brewery in Hudson without riding on Route 20.
North: Sudbury Center, Broadacres Farm, and the West Concord village
The Bruce Freeman runs north from the Diamond through the middle of Sudbury to the Concord line. The trail group's guide puts Sudbury's historic Town Center 1.5 miles north of the Diamond. The town describes Broadacres Farm at 82 Morse Road as town-owned open space with walking trails and parking, and the property connects to the Bruce Freeman. That is why the access ramp there matters. Broadacres is the main way onto the northern half of the Sudbury section, and it is also where the last pre-ceremony work is happening.
Over the Concord line, the trail reaches West Concord. Discover Concord's coverage traces the route through the village, past Junction Park, the commuter rail station and Club Car Cafe. A September 2026 Discover Concord piece on West Concord names Eva's Little Kitchen as a current business and describes the refillery at Debra's Natural Gourmet.
North of West Concord, the trail continues toward Acton. The Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail scheduled this year's Trek or Treat Ride for October 27 at 4 p.m. The ride starts behind 40 Beharrell Street in West Concord and ends at 129 Concord Road in East Acton. Riders can bring a bike or borrow one from bike share.
East and south: the two arms that end close to the Diamond
Heading east, the Mass Central ends just east of Landham Road. The next piece is a 1.9-mile link from the Sudbury Substation over the Sudbury River to Route 126 in Wayland. It would join the five-mile Weston to Wayland segment that opened in 2019. DCR lists the link as in design. Sudbury's late-summer memo expects construction to start in 2028. Until then, a Sudbury to Weston ride by trail alone is not possible.
Heading south, the gap is longer. The town page describes another 1.5 miles of Bruce Freeman, from the Diamond to Eaton Road West in Framingham. That piece is in design, and the Boston Region MPO has included construction funding for federal fiscal years 2029 and 2030. The town's memo describes the same funding over a 2027 to 2031 window and says the designer expected to submit plans for conservation review this fall. Framingham's piece starts at Eaton Road West. The city's June 2026 notice describes an 8,600-foot segment from Eaton Road West to Frost Street, with a 31-space parking area on Water Street. The city's public-meeting responses say the schedule depends on design milestones, environmental permitting, right-of-way reviews and funding through MassDOT's Transportation Improvement Program.
The full Bruce Freeman is planned to run 25 miles between Lowell and Framingham on the old Lowell Secondary Track. Sudbury's 4.4 miles are now part of the connected trail north of the Diamond. South of it, the trail is still a design.
Where to park, since the Diamond has room for about ten cars
Being the crossroads does not make the Diamond the easy place to start. The town counts 9 to 10 parking spaces at the junction. The Broadacres Farm lot on Morse Road is the other named access point, and the town has talked about adding parking near the Chiswick Park driveway. For the summer ribbon-cutting ride, the Sudbury Weekly event notice pointed riders to Parkinson's Field at 40 to 46 Hudson Road, with the lot behind Town Hall as a backup, because Diamond parking was not available that day. If you want coffee before setting out, the trail group's guide says Union Avenue has a coffee shop, food stores and restaurants a quarter mile south of the crossing, and it warns that the road is busy.
When MassDOT does set the Bruce Freeman's grand opening, look for it on the town's rail trail page. The town posts updates there and runs an email list for project news.
If you own a home near Broadacres Farm, Union Avenue or another Sudbury trail access point and you're wondering how the Diamond and the trails around it might affect its value, the Salem Coughlin Team can talk it through with you in confidence. Request a Confidential Market Valuation whenever you're ready.
