Mazurenko Farm with your dog: North Andover's trail rules and hunting season

North Andover's Trails and Open Space Rules and Regulations, effective since September 2007, cover every town open space parcel, Mazurenko Farm among them. The dog line is plain: dogs shall be leashed at all times and kept on the trails so they do not disturb the wildlife or damage vegetation, and owners must pick up the waste and dispose of it properly. The same sheet asks everyone to stay on the marked trails, carry out whatever they carry in, and leave natural resources, historical features and town property alone.

The parcels are open from sunrise to sunset. Alcohol, motorized vehicles and fires are banned on town property, and camping or overnight use needs the Conservation Commission's authorization. Violations can be reported to the North Andover Police Department at 978-683-3168, to MassWildlife at 978-263-4347, or to the Conservation Department at 978-688-9530. There is no off-leash exception anywhere on the town's open space, so the leash stays on from the car to the far field and back.

The Friends' autumn 2025 hike met at the Mazurenko Farm main parking area on Bradford Street, which the event listing gave as 592 Bradford Street, and their trail guide sends Carter Hill walkers to the Carter Hill lot. Neither the town nor the group lists a fee. Because the town's rule is a leash at all times, clip it on inside the car, then walk to the kiosk with your dog on the side away from the road.

Rea's Pond is the place to slow down. It was the first land North Andover bought for conservation and watershed protection, in 1975, and the farm itself was bought in 1988 partly to protect the Lake Cochichewick watershed. The rules keep dogs on the trails, so the pond and the wetland crossing are for looking at, not wading into. Trees felled by beavers on the pond's north side show who else lives there, which is one more reason to keep a curious dog close.

A loop through Mazurenko's fields and across its wet crossing tends to send a dog home with burrs in the feathering and mud to the elbows. A bath and brush at our studio, 210 Eastern Ave in Gloucester, is a warm bath, blow-dry and brush-out, priced by size from $55 to $95. For a long coat that has collected tangles, de-matting is $15 per 20 minutes. Grooming skips the evaluation; book it online or through the Dogtown app.

North Andover is outside the Pup Van towns and about 50 minutes from us outside rush hour, by our estimate, so pair the bath with a daycare day or a trip you were making to Cape Ann anyway. Nail clipping adds $16, and booking the next groom at pick-up saves $5 on it. We do not take dogs to Mazurenko Farm or any North Andover land; the leash, the orange vest and the walk are yours.