Updated trail map has new navigation aids

By Alice Waugh

Lincolnites can now enjoy the town’s popular public trails using the first new trail map in a decade.

The updated map benefits from the latest technology—all the trails were “re-GPSed” by Conservation Department land manager Dave McKinnon, according to Lincoln Land Conservation Trust (LLCT) outreach coordinator Anna Wilkins—and there are several new features as well. The map shows new trail markers with letter-number combinations or wooden signs in addition to the familiar red metal discs. Also shown are the numbered gates on metal bollards where emergency vehicles can access some of the wider trails.

For those walking on trails that cross town lines, the updated map shows some features in Concord, Weston, Wayland, Minuteman National Historical Park and the Walden Pond reservation, all of which agreed to share their trail data with Lincoln conservation officials. There’s also more information about terrain to aid in navigation, with open fields on public land indicated by yellow stippling.

Also new in this edition: red and white lines showing pat of the Bay Circuit Trail, which curves around Boston near I-95 and goes through Lincoln from Wayland close to Route 126 from Wayland through the Farrar Pond conservation area, Mt. Misery and land around Walden Pond before crossing into Concord.

The map is the product of a year of work by McKinnon, Wilkins and the Trail Map Committee, which includes residents Buzz Constable (president of the LLCT), James deNormandie, Margaret Flint, Ellen Meadors and Ellen Withrow.

“It was tremendous effort by everybody,” Wilkins said.

The tear-resistant, folded trail maps are now available at the LLCT/Rural Land Foundation (RLF) offices above the post office at Lincoln Station), Something Special, the Old Town Hall Exchange, the Lincoln Public Library, the Conservation Department in the Town Office Building, and the Mass Audubon Shop at Drumlin Farm. Maps are $10 each, or $8 for LLCT/RLF members who come to the LLCT/RLF offices in person, where unfolded maps suitable for hanging on a wall may also be purchased.

In coming months, the PDFs of segments of the old map on the Lincoln Conservation website will be replaced by PDFs from the new map, Wilkins said. There are no plans to create an official smartphone app of the maps, “but if there’s anyone out there who specializes in that and wants to help us out as a volunteer, that would be amazing,” she added.