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Bald Hill Conservation Area with your dog: 25 miles of Boxford woods

Bald Hill

Bald Hill Conservation Area with your dog: 25 miles of Boxford woods

Bald Hill is where Essex County Greenbelt began: three neighbors started the land trust in 1961 to keep these woods from being developed. Today the area is a patchwork of state, town, Greenbelt and forestry land with no blazes on its loops. This page covers whose rules apply, the three loops and their trailheads, what lives in the wet places, and fall safety.

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Last reviewed October 10, 2026 · by the Dogtown team · rules checked for fall 2026

Whose rules

Five landholders and three towns share Bald Hill, so the leash stays on

Greenbelt protects 25 parcels inside the larger protected area, and its 2022 map shows how the rest divides: about 1,410 acres held by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, 528 by Greenbelt, 141 by the Town of Boxford, 103 by the New England Forestry Foundation and 85 by the Town of Middleton, with the state's Department of Fish and Game named among the partners. The property page adds that Bald Hill adjoins Boxford State Forest and the John Phillips Wildlife Sanctuary.

Each owner brings its own rule. DCR's dog guide asks for a leash no longer than ten feet in its on-leash areas and a leash in all of its parking areas, and nothing in Boxford appears on its off-leash list. Boxford says plainly that it has no leash law, while the Middleton Rail Trail Alliance states that the town requires dogs to be leashed whenever they are off the owner's property. Greenbelt asks you to carry a leash and use it where required. The boundaries are not signed on the trail, so a leash of ten feet or less covers every owner.

Landholder	Acres on Greenbelt's 2022 map	Dog rule we could source
Mass. DCR	1,410	Leash of 10 feet or less outside listed off-leash areas; leashed in parking areas
Essex County Greenbelt	528	Carry a leash; leash where required or posted; carry out the waste
Town of Boxford	141	No town leash law
New England Forestry Foundation	103	Not published on the pages we read
Town of Middleton	85	Leashed at all times off the owner's property

The loops

Three loops from three trailheads, and none of them is blazed

Greenbelt's property page describes three loops. The Towne Pond Trail, a 3.7-mile loop rated easy to moderate, starts at the North Parking Area on Middleton Road and passes Towne Pond and a beaver dam. The Crooked Pond Trail, a 1.9-mile moderate loop, starts at the South Parking Area on Middleton Road, and beaver flooding can cover parts of it. The Fuller Loop Trail, two miles and easy, starts at the Sharpner's Pond Road parking area and passes an old quarry and a wooded wetland good for birding.

Carry the map, because the 2022 version carries a warning: the loops are not marked in the field, and so many small foot paths cross the area that there are more trails on the ground than on paper. The map gives slightly different lengths, 1.7 miles for the Crooked Pond loop and 2.2 for the Fuller Pond loop, and it numbers the junctions so you can track your progress. Greenbelt's total is 25.2 miles over moderate terrain, and each trailhead has room for several cars.

01
Download Greenbelt's 2022 Bald Hill map at home
02
Pick a loop by trailhead: Middleton Road north, Middleton Road south, or Sharpner's Pond Road
03
Clip the leash on in the lot, since DCR wants dogs leashed in parking areas
04
Follow the numbered junctions on the map, because the loops carry no blazes
05
Turn back where beaver water covers the path rather than wading through
06
Check your dog for ticks before it gets back in the car

Wet places

Beaver ponds, two dozen vernal pools and a spring chorus

Bald Hill is wetter than its name suggests. Greenbelt counts about two dozen vernal pools where salamanders breed in spring, with spring peepers calling from them. Crooked Pond and the slopes of Bald Hill are known for breeding birds in April and May, and beavers keep making new ponds, which is why parts of the Crooked Pond loop flood. In winter, Greenbelt points to the tracks in the snow as part of the appeal, a record of everything that has walked through.

For a dog, all of that means mud, standing water and a great deal of scent. Keep the leash short beside vernal pools in spring, when salamanders and frogs are on the move, and do not let a dog dig at a beaver dam; Greenbelt's policy asks owners to prevent digging. The land also holds a ceremonial stone landscape and the stone walls of old woodlots and pastures. Let your dog sniff those, not climb or scratch at them, and bring drinking water so it is not lapping from the ponds.

Spring: vernal pools and nesting birds, so keep the leash short
Beaver flooding on the Crooked Pond loop
No digging at dams, walls or stone features
Pack drinking water and a bowl

Fall

In hunting season, wear orange and put an orange vest or bandana on your dog

Neither Greenbelt's Bald Hill page nor its map says whether hunting happens here, and Greenbelt's policy says only that hunting is allowed with written permission on some of its land and without it on a few properties. With state, town and private conservation land side by side, assume you may share the woods in the fall. MassWildlife advises everyone in the woods during hunting seasons to wear blaze orange, and says pets should wear an orange vest or bandana for visibility.

Ticks are the steady cost of these woods. The CDC says ticks live in grassy, brushy and wooded areas, are most active from April to September, and recommends walking in the center of trails and examining pets afterward. On Bald Hill's narrow foot paths the center is hard to keep, so make the check at the car thorough: inside the ears, under the legs, between the pads and beneath the collar. For a firm answer about hunting before a fall visit, call the Greenbelt office at 978-768-7241.

Blaze orange for you during hunting seasons
An orange vest or bandana for your dog
A tick check at the car after every loop
Call Greenbelt at 978-768-7241 with hunting questions

After Bald Hill

Twenty-five miles of mud end well with a bath at Dogtown

Woods this wet send a dog home dark to the elbows, often with burrs in the feathering. Our bath and brush is $55 for a dog up to 25 pounds, $65 up to 50, $75 up to 90, $85 over 90 and $95 for an extra-large long coat. De-matting, at $15 per 20 minutes, works out the knots that burrs leave behind, and the groomer confirms the final price at check-in after looking at the coat. Grooming needs no evaluation, so book online or in the Dogtown app.

Boxford, Middleton and North Andover are outside the Pup Van towns, so ask us about pick-up, or drive over: Route 114 or Route 62 lead east to Route 128, which runs north to its end in Gloucester near 210 Eastern Ave. For the weeks you cannot get out to the woods, daycare is $42 a full day in a playgroup of 7 to 10 matched by size and temperament, after a free evaluation on a weekday between 6:30 and 9:30 AM.

At Dogtown

After the long loops

Baths and de-matting in our Gloucester studio, plus matched daycare for the weeks the trails have to wait.

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Asked and answered

Questions people ask about this

Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.

Are dogs allowed at Bald Hill in Boxford?

Yes. Essex County Greenbelt lists dog walking among the activities at Bald Hill Conservation Area. Greenbelt asks you to carry a leash, use it where required or posted, keep your dog under control and carry out the waste. A large share of the land is held by the state, where DCR asks for a leash of ten feet or less.

Do dogs need a leash at Bald Hill if Boxford has no leash law?

Keep one on. Boxford has no leash law, but the area also covers Middleton, which requires a leash off the owner's property, and DCR land, where the limit is ten feet outside listed off-leash areas. Boundaries are not signed along the trails, so a leash is the simple way to stay within every owner's rule.

Where do I park for Bald Hill?

Greenbelt lists three trailheads with room for several cars each: the North Parking Area and the South Parking Area on Middleton Road, and a lot on Sharpner's Pond Road. The Towne Pond loop starts from the north lot, the Crooked Pond loop from the south lot and the Fuller loop from Sharpner's Pond Road.

Are the Bald Hill trails marked?

The loops are not. Greenbelt's 2022 map notes that the Bald Hill trail loops are not marked in the field, and that numerous small foot paths mean there are more trails on the ground than the map shows. Carry the map, follow the numbered junctions, and turn back if you lose the route.

Is this the same Bald Hill as the one in Andover?

No. Bald Hill Conservation Area lies in Boxford, Middleton and North Andover and was Greenbelt's founding project in 1961. Andover's Bald Hill-Wood Hill Reservation is a separate town property on High Plain Road, next to the Andover dog park, with Andover's own conservation rules. Our Andover dog park page covers that one.