Length:                 Bedford Narrow Gauge Spur; 3 miles

                                Bedford trailhead to Letterbox; 1 ½ miles

                                Fawn Lake Conservation Area to Letterbox; ½ mile

Difficulty:             Easy. Flat, hard packed stone dust surface.

Directions:

From I-95, take exit 31B to Routes 4 & 225 northwest for 1.9 miles and you’ll come to Loomis Street.

To start from the Bedford Depot; Turn left down Loomis Street. Just before the intersection of South Road, you will see where the trailhead begins on your right, at a metal gate. Cross over South Road to Railroad Ave and you’ll find the parking lot on your left behind the bike shop. This is also the start of the Minuteman Bikeway, a 10 mile paved trail from Bedford to Arlington, See;  Minuteman Bikeway Letterbox  .

To start from the Fawn Lake Conservation Area; Continue past Loomis Street and you’ll come to the Route 62 intersection. Route 4 turns right (also called North Road). Take Route 4 for 1 ½ miles and turn right onto Sweetwater Road. Travel a ½ mile and you’ll come to the parking lot along the right side, next to where the trail crosses.

The Bedford Narrow Gauge Spur Trail uses the roadbed of the country's first two-foot-gauge common-carrier railway, the Billerica & Bedford Railroad. It extends northward three miles from Loomis Street to the Bedford-Billerica town line. Beyond the town line (marked by gates in the woods) is private property.
The Town of Billerica hopes to build a trail over its five miles of the abandoned railroad right-of-way. It is to be called the Yankee Doodle Bikeway. For more information visit; BEDFORD DEPOT PARK  .    

To access the trail from Bedford; Head back to Loomis Street and cross over to the metal gate. The trail starts out paved and has a small section of Narrow Gauge Track to highlight just how much narrower this railroad track was compared to regular gauge track. The paved section is only a ¼ mile long and ends at Routes 4 & 225. You cross over here to where the trail then turns to stone dust. You cross over two more roads, one at 0.6 miles and another after 0.9 miles and pass by two water towers. A large stone retaining wall will then parallel the trail to your right. At this point keep an eye out to your left for a post with a trail map and a sign posted to a tree. This is the York Conservation Area. It includes a hiking trail that comes out back on the Spur Trail further ahead. Walk about 25 feet down this yellow marked trail to where it crosses a stone wall. Walk right along this stone wall for 10 paces (1 pace = 2 steps) to a White Pine tree next to the wall. Under the pine tree will be a red brick sitting on top of a large flat stone. Underneath this stone is the Bedford Narrow Gauge Spur Letterbox.  Continue along the Spur Trail and pass by where the hiking trail reenters the Spur Trail. After 2 miles you come to a parking lot for the Fawn Lake Conservation Area. A famous resort once stood near here, the Hotel Sweetwater. Its springs were thought to have medicinal benefits, and people traveled to the resort by train to bath in them. A marked walking path circles the pond. See; Fawn Lake Conservation Area  . The trail then ends at a Springs Road after 3 miles.