Trail Marking System

Trail Markers: Finding your way

Trails start with either a kiosk or a simple routed white "Trail" sign. These are mounted either on a post or a tree. Routed natural wood signs with trail names in either green or white lettering will be found at the start of most trails.

The Trails Committee is installing numbered trail intersection markers. Each conservation parcel has its own letter (e.g., B for Benfield) and each marker is numbered. The new intersection marker numbers are included on the maps in the 2018 Edition of Trails in Carlisle. Each marker displays beautiful nature-themed artwork by students in the Carlisle Public School Middle School Art Club under the direction of teacher Rachel Levy.

Towle Land QR CodesThe Trails Committee is adding QR Code strips on the side of all of its trail marker posts. Each QRC strip includes four QRCs which provide on-the-spot information. The example to the right is for Towle Land T15 post. Trail users use their smart phones to:

  • display the location of the post on an OpenStreetMap© map of the immediate area
  • display the Carlisle Trails Committee map for the parcel the post is contained in
  • link to the Trails Committee town website to obtain further information;
  • report trail issues, make suggestions, or ask questions to the Trails Committee.
Trail Intersection marker

A blue disc with a figure of a hiker located about six feet from the ground marks the way along most Carlisle town trails. Some of the older trails have a blue paint blaze the size of a dollar bill. Historically trail markers for some of the older conservation parcels such as Davis, Greenough, and Great Meadows, have the original red paint blazes or can tops. Trails in Great Brook Farm State Park are marked with paint blazes or blue plastic triangles.

Trails Marker

Bay Circuit Trail (BCT)

The BCT is a 230+ mile multi-use trail through Greater Boston where you can walk, hike, ride, ski, or just get some fresh air. The trail corridor is T-accessible and traverses Eastern Massachusetts’s beautiful natural landscapes, passing through 38 towns, from Newburyport to Kingston.  Two Carlisle trails are part of the BCT: a short part of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, and the Valentine Trail (no bikes), which connects the Freeman to Acton Street.  The Valentine Trail is marked with BCT circular metal discs.


The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) trails in the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge are marked with dollar-bill-sized plastic tags that have the department's duck logo on the top. These trails run parallel to the Concord River and are open only for walking, due to the delicate habitat. We wish to thank the USFWS for working with us in providing public access to some of their lands in Carlisle. 

USFWS Trail marker

Seasonal Trails

Access to some of Carlisle’s trails is seasonal due to weather conditions or agricultural usage. In the Concord River Meadows Reservation, for example, the River Trail is often literally under water in spring and early summer, but during winter when the river freezes it's a spectacular setting for skiing and hiking or snow-shoeing. Similarly, leased farmlands offer limited perimeter access after planting and before harvest, but are open for cross-country skiing and even hunter pace events in late fall and through the winter.