Location
Behind the Town Hall at 100 Peck St, Seekonk, MA
Trail Length
0.85 miles
The Runnins River Trail is a mostly flat 0.85-mile in-and-out trail that winds through wetlands and upland forest and crosses the Runnins River. It includes bog bridges, boardwalks, and a footbridge over the Runnins River.
The trailhead is on Peck Street behind the Seekonk Town Hall where you will find plenty of parking, signage, and a town playground. The main trail ends at Arcade Avenue where you may turn back, or continue north on the sidewalk and turn left onto Ledge Road to access the 2.7-mile Turner Reservoir Loop trail spanning Seekonk and Rumford, RI. There is also a connection to the 0.6-mile YMCA trail close to the trailhead.
The trail is a great spot for birdwatching and nature study. Insect and tick repellent is recommended. Expect some wet, muddy areas during rainy seasons. It is a kid-friendly walk and the nearby picnic tables and playground make for an enticing post-hike reward.
Trail Development History
The Runnins River Trail is the result of the successful collaboration between the Land Trust, multiple town departments and committees, and resident supporters. Our vision was to create a greenway connecting the Town Hall and YMCA trails to the 2.7-mile loop at the beautiful Turner Reservoir.
In 2010, the Seekonk Town meeting approved the purchase of 4.3 acres of land on Arcade Avenue using Community Preservation Committee (CPC) funds, enabling the proposed trail plan to move forward. Additional CPC funds were approved for trailbuilding in 2015. With the assistance of our land conservation specialist Kelley Whitmore, Seekonk conservation agent Jennifer Miller, and the CPC, we worked to secure private donations and a state grant enabling the hire of Trailbuilders, a professional trailbuilding firm, to bring the project to fruition. The Runnins River Trail was completed in 2017.
The bridge building team.
We celebrated the trail’s opening in 2017 with a ribbon cutting by local Girl and Boy Scouts.