Chestnut Hill Farm
One of the last working farms in the town of Southborough, Chestnut Hill Farm is a living tribute to the town’s rich agricultural past.
Plan Your Visit
- Overview
- Ideas for Your Visit
- Admission & Hours
- Directions & Contact Info
- What You'll Find
- Property Map
- Regulations & Advisories
Overview
The scenic woodlands and rolling fields of Chestnut Hill Farm are true to its heritage as a working farm, saved from development in the 1960s through the dedication of a local family. Stone walls frame fields and pastures across 170 acres. Loop trails wind through upland forests and along the edges of freshwater wetlands. Meanwhile, designated bird reserves allow for safe nesting habitat for Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, and other ground-nesting species beneath a wide-open sky.
Ideas for Your Visit
Follow a gentle cart path from the parking area through fields of hay, alfalfa, and vegetables into woods dominated by oak, red maple, and white pine to the covered embankment of the Hultman Aqueduct, which provides a backup route for Boston’s water supply from the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs.
The farm runs its popular, certified-organic CSA from early summer through early winter, and provides a wealth of programming and events with a focus on helping families connect with nature, animals, and the working farm.
Admission & Hours
FREE to all.
Open year-round, daily, sunrise to sunset. Allow a minimum of 1 hour.
We welcome school and youth groups for experiential educational programs. Please visit our Education Page for details and to initiate a visit request.
Directions & Contact Info
Chestnut Hill Road
Southborough, MA 01772
Telephone: 508.785.0339
E-mail charlesrivervalley@thetrustees.org
Get directions on Google Maps.
From I-495: Take Exit 59A (old exit 23A) for Route 9 East. Follow for approx. 2.3 mi., then take a right-hand ramp to bear North on Rt. 85 (Cordaville Rd.). Follow 1.2 mi., then turn left on Rt. 30 West (Main St.). Follow 1.2 mi., then turn right onto Chestnut Hill Rd. Follow signs to the parking areas on the right side of the road, past the long grey barn. The first parking area is for general visitors, the Farm Store, CSA pick-up, programs and events. The second parking area is for visitors hiking or walking the trail system.
What You'll Find
Trails
Two miles of trails. Easy walking. Please remember that this is a working farm landscape. Please stay on marked trails and away from any equipment or livestock that you may see. Fences should be presumed to be electrified. Dog walking, horseback riding, motorized vehicles and mountain biking are not permitted on the property.
Farm Store
The Chestnut Hill Farm Store, located in the Beals Barn, is open to the public from April through December. Store hours are Thursdays and Fridays from 12:00PM-6:00PM and Saturdays from 10:00AM-4:00PM. The store features Trustees grown produce, meat and eggs as well as local, organic food from the highest-quality producers. Also available are locally produced pastas, sauces, honey, maple syrup, condiments, treats and more. A curated selection of home goods and gifts includes items which are sustainable or made by women or BIPOC makers.
Property Map
Free trail map distributed from bulletin board in the parking area. Please understand that supplies periodically run out.
We recommend that you take a photo of the map on your phone so you can refer to it during your visit, or download a trail map before you head out.
Regulations & Advisories
- This is an active farm, so please stay on the trails. Trails may be closed periodically to conduct agricultural or forestry operations.
- Please respect restricted-access areas, and do not open gates, touch or feed livestock, or interrupt farm operations.
- Observe all posted signs. Please note that we maintain an electric deer fence around all of our cultivated fields — assume that the fence is on at all times.
- Note that dog walking, horseback riding, mountain biking, all-terrain vehicles, and hunting are prohibited on the reservation.
- Be aware that deer ticks may carry Lyme Disease.
- Authorized bow hunting, only with written permission, is allowed on part of this reservation for a limited number of hunters, according to MasssWildlife regulations from mid October through December each year, from ½ hour before sunrise all day until ½ hour after sunset Monday through Saturday. Hunting is not allowed on Sundays. Signage is posted at the property listing safety precautions, requirements, and rules for the benefit of all visitors. Learn more about hunting on Trustees reservations
- The Trustees reserves the right to photograph or video visitors and program participants for promotional use, and usage of our properties implies consent. Please read our photo and video policy.
