Harold Parker State Forest Headquarters

Directions to parking for the Harold Parker State Forest Headquarters

The Harold Parker Forest, surprisingly accessible from Route 128, is one of the area's "monster" greenspaces. It's three thousand acres are, according to the Department of Conservation and Recreation's (DCR) website, "within an hour's drive of three million people". And, providing all three million don't elect to visit simultaneously, it, also according to the site, "offers quiet seclusion to off-road hikers and bikers". Our trips there, at least those we've made when the local sportsman's club wasn't conducting target practice, confirm this. The Parker's thirty five miles of easy-riding logging roads and who knows how many miles of single track hiking trails make it a vast and varied playground for cyclists and walkers alike. Here's a little history (also lifted from the DCR's site): "The forest consists of rolling hills, low lying swampy areas, rock outcrops and six ponds. The landform was created by glacial movement, and evidence of glaciers exists today in the form of glacial erratics. The area was inhabited by Pentacook Indians until it was settled by English farmers around 1650. By the mid-nineteenth century agriculture was abandoned, and a new forest grew up. The sites of an 18th century sawmill and homesteads can be found. Tradition has it that many of the homes surrounding the forest were used as Underground Railroad hideouts in the 1850s. Secret doors and chambers can still be seen in local homes. Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe and William Lloyd Garrison were frequent visitors to families in the area." Getting to the Forest is straightforward, and to find the Headquarters once you've reached the Forest is only a little more taxing. Here's how (if you don't trust us, try MapQuest):

From Route 128/95

Drive 128/95 to Exit 37B, take it, and go north on Route 93 toward Concord, NH about 6 miles. This will bring you to Exit 41 for Route 125 north; take this Exit and get onto 125, being careful to aim for Andover/N. Andover. Continue along Route 125 for 2.6 miles to the stop lights at Harold Parker Road (State Police barracks on the right). Turn right onto Harold Parker Road and drive 1.5 miles to the stop sign at Jenkins Road. (This intersection is a "T"; continue straight through it and you'll find yourself in a parking area, but it's not the one you're looking for). Turn left onto Jenkins Road and continue 0.8 miles to Salem Road and turn right (Salem becomes Middleton Road when you cross (quietly) into North Andover). Drive another 1.2 miles along Salem/Middleton Road (past Stearns Pond Road (no sign) at about 1.0 miles) to Forest Headquarters and its nicely paved parking lot (and porta potty), all on the left.

MapQuest estimates about a 20 minute driving time from Route 128 to the parking lot (if Route 93 is congestion-free).

From Burlington

If you are fortunate enough to live in Burlington, here's another, much less stressful route. Take Route 62 toward Wilmington; when you reach Route 38, go straight across and continue on 62 another 2.1 miles to Middlesex Street. Turn left there. Middlesex Street quickly becomes Route 125; stay on it as it crosses over Route 93; continue all the way to the lights at Harold Parker Road, and from there follow the directions given above.

For those navigating to the start with MapQuest or a GPS system:

172 Middleton Rd, North Andover, MA 018451 or N 42 36.929, W 71 04.371

To contact us call 978-808-0900

Good Luck !!!