The Johnny Appleseed Trail spans a section Massachusetts Route 2 through the rural area of north central Massachusetts.

The name Johnny Appleseed gives recognition to the many farms and orchards in the region and to one of the area’s most famous sons - John Chapman, born in 1774 in Leominster in the heart of the trail.

John Chapman left his native Massachusetts at an early age and headed west towards Ohio.

He became nationally famous as a skilled nurseryman specializing in planting apple orchards which earned him the nickname of Johnny Appleseed. His love of nature and animals and discovering new territories to plant his nurseries kept him a wanderer all his life. He never married and when he died around 1845 - there is some dispute on the actual year - he had accumulated an estate of 1,200 acres of nurseries left to his sister.

John Chapman was a pioneer and legend in his own time and though his work was done outside his home state of Massachusetts, today the trail that marks his name showcases a region in Massachusetts that saw its own pioneering spirit in early colonial days.

Apart from the pick-your-own farms and orchards dotted along the trail there are museums, outdoor adventurer tours such as canoeing and whitewater rafting, mountain hikes and forest walks, and many seasonal events. Fall is a particularly active time with festivals, apple-picking time, and of course the splendid foliage colors on display during October.

Start your journey along the trail with an orientation at the Johnny Appleseed Trail Visitor Center in Lancaster on Route 2 and pick up information guides and brochures on attractions, things to see, and suggested tours.

Picking Your Own Fruit and Places for Kids:

Popular farm destinations include Bolton Orchards in Bolton, Marshall Fun Farm in Fitchburg, Red Apple Farm, Phillipston, Sholan Farms, Leominster - Johnny Appleseed’s birthplace town - and Westward Orchards in Harvard. Some of the orchards specialize in apples and are only open after September, but most have a variety of fruits for picking and can be enjoyed throughout the growing season.

Popular destinations for kids include Davis’ Farmland in Sterling which from August to October turns its cornfields into MegaMaze - a place to have fun and “get lost - and the unusual Top Fun Aviation Toy Museum in downtown Fitchburg. The toy museum is the only known one devoted to aviation-related toys, and in addition to discovering many toy builders’ ingenuity you can visit a virtual airport or test-fly your own model. Many of the farms and orchards also have pony or hay rides and ice cream stands.

Culture Stops along the Way:

In addition to the toy exhibit, other museums to visit include the Fitchburg Art Museum, the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard with its miles of walking trails and scenic views, and exploration of an early commune attempt by the Alcott family. In nearby Leominster, the birthplace of the plastics industry, you can visit the National Plastics Center and Museum and discover both natural plastics and an exhibit on the many uses of recycled plastics.

Tower Hill Botanic Gardens in Boylston offers a chance to stroll through landscaped gardens, conservatory buildings containing exotic plants, and wildlife refuge trails and woodlands for exploration - this is one of Massachusetts’ best kept secrets.

Outdoor Adventures for all the Family:

Within the Johnny Appleseed Trail you’ll find plenty of outdoor activities to enjoy the natural resources of the area. Mount Wachusett in Princeton at 2,000-feet is central Massachusetts’s highest peak and includes miles of trails for hiking to the summit - yes you can drive if you want - and it’s an active ski resort in winter. Take the sky ride from the base lodge to the summit during fall for one of the best foliage views in the area.

On the western fringe of the trail in Charlemont on Route 2 you’ll find the family-owned Crab Apple Whitewater who offers full and half-day guided raft and inflatable kayak trips daily April-October along the Deerfield River. One of my colleagues has been on a Crab Apple trip and he has promised to write about it soon. Zoar Outdoor also organizes whitewater trips and again is based in Charlemont. And finally Northfield Mountain Recreation Center in Northfield offers riverboat tours, cross-country skiing, canoeing and camping along a stretch of the Connecticut River.

While the Johnny Appleseed Trail is a great journey during the fall months, there’s plenty to see and do throughout all four seasons, and for more details about places mentioned in this article and to get a downloadable brochure visit the official trail guide site at www.appleseed.org

For more suggestions and ideas on other destinations in Massachusetts visit my special guide to Massachusetts by clicking here.

There’ll be another post on a New England attraction in a few days time so come back or better still just subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking here and get our posts delivered automatically to you in your RSS reader.

Cliff Calderwood
Publisher
New England Travel Online Magazine

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