Oakland Trailwalk

Person Walking on a TrailAbout the Area

  • Facilities:
    • Parking for a few cars is available at the entrance to the trail (on the pebbles). You can also park on the side of the street.
    • There are no bathroom facilities.
  • Features:
    • mostly soft, easy on the feet surface throughout
    • one muddy patch which can be walked around
    • one dip that can be wet after rain
    • beautiful tall tree canopies throughout
    • peaceful, non-taxing, mostly flat, relaxing hiking
  • Activities Permitted:
    • All passive recreational activities including hiking, cross-country skiing snowshoeing, educational studies, and nature observation are permitted.
    • Please be careful not to leave litter and not to deface the property.
    • Please park in the designated area and be respectful of the neighbors in the area.
  • Length of Trail:  full loop: 1.24 miles / 2 small loops: 0.7 of a mile and 0.8 of a mile
  • Hiking Directions:
    • Start at the entrance area parking lot.
    • From this spot, head straight out until you come to a big pine tree.
    • At this point there are three possible routes.
    • Heading to the right or left will put you on the wide loop trail.
    • Heading straight out will take you to the small loops. Going off to the right at the south juncture will take you through the 0.8 loop with the dip in elevation. Going off to the left at the south juncture will take you through the flat 0.7 loop.
    • Since the trails intersect, when you circle around to the big pine tree, you can continue on the loops as long as you wish to hike.
    • Just keep the big pine as your reference point and know that you can quickly get back to the parking area from there.
    • Keep the other features of the map in mind (the junctures, the dip, etc.), and you will know where you are at any given time. Since most of the trail looks the same, this is important.
    • Since all of the trails are short, you can’t really get too far from the entrance, but you can end up continually going in circles if you don’t look out for the features.
  • Location:
    • The Oakland Trail is at the intersection of Meadow View Road and Oakland Street.
    • To get there from Crane Park on Main Street in Wilbraham, travel south towards Hampden.
    • Just before the Hampden line, take a right onto Oakland Street.
    • Follow Oakland for about a mile to the intersection of Meadow View.
    • The trail is on the left, directly across from the intersection.
  • Elevation Factors:
    • The trek starts at the 150 foot level and is mostly flat varying only 10 feet or so up or down except for the middle of the western part of the wide loop which has a dip of 40 feet that is a bit steep.
    • The bottom of this dip area can be wet after rain.
    • At the dip the trail goes down and then quickly goes back up 40 feet where it turns back to a mostly flat hike.
  • Map: View the map (PDF).
  • Waypoints:
    • Oakland Entrance - N42 05.280 W72 26.648
    • Big Pine - N42 05.210 W72 26.649
    • Muddy Patch - N42 05.198 W72 26.550
    • East Juncture - N42 05.189 W72 26.502
    • South Juncture - N42 05.098 W72 26.720
    • Mountain View Drive, Hampden - N42 05.072 W72 26.950
    • Dip - N42 05.156 W72 26.946