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• Volunteer Signup-- Dogtown Trail Race

  • When
    Sunday, May 18, 2025
  • Location
    Rockport and Gloucester, MA (parking by Evans Field, 3 Station Square, Rockport)

  Registration is closed

  Help support our 2025 Dogtown Trail Race by signing up to Volunteer with us on race day!  

  Our Annual Dogtown Trail Race is our only fundraising event of the year (all of our other hikes are free!), and attracts between 150-200 runners and walkers from the North Shore and beyond. The race takes place on a 5.4-mile course that covers trails throughout Dogtown in Rockport and Gloucester (for more information on the race, you can view the Dogtown Trail Race Event Page).

  
  

  This race would not be possible without help from our many volunteers! 

  
  

  
  

       

  
  

  Volunteer needs include:

  Help with parking, race-day registration, taking photos, helping at water stations (one at the start/ finish area, and one out on the course), serving as a safety monitor out on the trails (where you will help guide the participants in the right direction at key junctures), helping to mark the course (the day before the race), helping to take down the course markers after the race (this group will begin walking the course just after the race starts, remaining behind the last participants), and just coming to cheer on our runners and walkers as they arrive at the finish line! 

  (You can indicate any particular volunteer interests or preferences on the registration form when you sign up)

  
  

  Volunteers will also receive a Cape Ann Trail Stewards Dogtown Trail Race T-shirt!

  
  

  
  

  Register here if you are able to help us on May 18, and we will be in touch with you in the weeks prior to the race to finalize plans.

  MANY THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

  
  

  Meeting Spot: Race parking will be by Evans Field next to 3 Station Square in Rockport. To get there, turn into the Whistlestop Mall entrance off of Railroad Ave. (Evans Field is just past the Ace Hardware store-- both the field and the hardware store will be on the right). See the Google map location HERE.

  The race start/ finish area is near the water tower at the top of Summit Ave., which is accessible via a trail from Evans Field.

  Note:  Depending on the volunteer roles, some volunteers may meet and/ or park at other locations.  Details will be arranged with each volunteer prior to race day.

  The race starts at 9:00am, and volunteer needs will be within the timeframe between 7:00am and 12:00pm (volunteers will not be needed or expected to be available for this entire timeframe).

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• Dogtown 5 Mile Trail Race

  • When
    Sunday, May 18, 2025
  •  
    9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
  • Location
    Rockport and Gloucester, MA (parking by Evans Field, 3 Station Square, Rockport)

  Registration is closed

  Join Cape Ann Trail Stewards for our 8th Annual Dogtown Trail Race!

  Runners and walkers are welcome!

  ONLINE REGISTRATION IS CLOSED, but you can still come and register on Race Day!  (pre-race registration from 7:30am to 8:45am).  Hope to see you there!

  This annual race covers a beautiful and challenging 5.4 mile course starting and finishing near the water tower at the top of Summit Ave. in Rockport.   The terrain ranges from carriage roads with minor rocks/ roots, to more extreme technical sections with extensive large rocks (requiring a degree of "boulder-hopping"), and everything in-between! 

  The course travels through many historic and popular sections of Dogtown, including the Squam Path, New England Forestry Foundation's Norton Memorial Forest, Whale's Jaw, the Luce Trail, Briar Swamp, and the Rockport Town Forest.

  
  

  This Race is part of the 2025 North Shore Trail Series.  Go the North Shore Trail Series page on the Trail Animals Running Club website for further information and to sign up for the series.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Online Registration is $25.00 for CATS Members, and $35.00 for Non-members.

  Race Day Registration is $30.00 for CATS Members, and $40.00 for Non-members.

  
  

  BECOME A MEMBER
  

  
  

  
  

          

  Both runners and walkers are welcome to register!  Walkers will start behind the runners, at the same time as the runners (all walkers will start promptly at 9am when the race starts).  The marked course will remain open with support (safety monitors, water stop, etc.) from 9am to 12pm. 

  
  

  
  

  Cape Ann Trail Stewards Dogtown Trail Race T-shirts guaranteed for the first 100 registrants

  
  Prizes for first overall male and female, and for first male and female in the age group categories of 39 and under, 40-49, 50-59, and 60+

  
  

  
  

  Click on the images below to view and download a Course Map:

  
  

  Dogtown Race Course shown on Dogtown Common Trail Map*:

  
  

      

  
  

  Dogtown Race Course Map shown on GaiaGPS  Trail Map:

  
  

  

  
  

  • Click HERE to view and download a gpx file of the route in GaiaGPS.
  • To view and download a full copy of the Dogtown Common Trail Map (without the race course overlaid), click HERE. 

  
  

  *Note that the Dogtown Common Trail Map was first published in 1987 and does not show all current existing trails.  Refer to the GaiaGPS map version of the race course for a more complete reference of surrounding trails.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Meeting Spot:  Race parking will be by Evans Field next to 3 Station Square in Rockport.   To get there, turn into the Whistlestop Mall entrance off of Railroad Ave.  (Evans Field is just past the Ace Hardware store-- both the field and the hardware store will be on the right).  See the Google map location HERE.

  Participants will walk through Evans Field to a trail that will take them to the race registration and check-in area, which is near the water tower at  the top of Summit Ave. (signs and volunteers will guide you on where to go).

  
  

  Registration and race check-in will be from 7:30am to 8:45am.  The race starts at 9:00am.

  For any additional questions about the race, registration, or CATS memberships, email us at contact@capeanntrailstewards.org.

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• Ravenswood Wildflower Walk

  • When
    Friday, May 23, 2025
  •  
    10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
  • Location
    Gloucester, MA
  • Spaces left
    0

  Join waitlist

  Join us for a walk along the Magnolia Swamp trail in Ravenswood to seek out and observe the delicate woodland wildflowers in bloom!

  This hike will be led by CATS trail steward and wildflower enthusiast Holly Tanguay.  We will look for and learn about species such as wood anemone, cucumber root, starflower, low and high bush blueberry, clintonia, and possibly pink lady's slippers, if we are lucky to see any!

  The hiking route will be a total of 1.8 miles in length (with stops for observing the flowers along the way).  The terrain will be a combination of groomed carriage roads, along with single-track trail that will include a long boardwalk, abundant rocks and roots, and some short but steep ups and downs.  Allow  2 hours for the hike, factoring in time for stops.

  View the route in a GaiaGPS map HERE.  

  Click HERE to view the Trustees of Reservations Ravenswood Trail Map.

  
  

  Meeting spot: 

  We will meet at the Ravenswood Park main entrance at 481 Western Avenue (Route 127) in Gloucester.  See the Google map location HERE.

  
  

  Please arrive early (we recommend planning to arrive between 9:50 and 9:55 am in order to be ready for the group's 10 am departure).  The hike will depart promptly at 10 am.

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• Sunday Morning Hike- Manchester Essex Wilderness Conservation Area: Cedar Swamp to West and North Loops

  • When
    Sunday, May 25, 2025
  •  
    10:00 AM - 12:30 PM
  • Location
    Cedar Swamp/ Wilderness Conservation Area parking area, School St., Manchester, MA
  • Spaces left
    0

  Join waitlist

  Join us for a hike in the beautiful Manchester Essex Wilderness Conservation Area, where majestic trees and narrow trails provide a scenic wilderness experience.

  Our route takes us over the boardwalk across Cedar Swamp, then heads west to a loop that includes the Bishop’s Grave Cartway and the Bear’s Den Trail;  then north to a loop over the Sam Hoar Memorial Trail to the Prospect Ledge Trail, which we follow down to the boardwalk and back across Cedar Swamp.  Click HERE to see a map of the hiking route in Gaia GPS.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  (view looking down the Cedar Swamp Boardwalk, entering the Wilderness Conservation Area)
  

  
  

  Manchester Essex Conservation Trust has been working for over 60 years to protect this land.  To learn more about MECT, you can go to their website.  To view and download MECT's map of the Wilderness Conservation Area, click HERE.

  This is a moderate hike on terrain that is up and down throughout, with ample rocks and roots and a few relatively steep sections that require careful stepping. Pine needles and leaves make for soft footing most of the way.  Be prepared for a few possible wet spots.  Total distance is about 3.3 miles; allow just over 2 hours.  (Note: Distance shown on Gaia GPS map is incorrect due to a recording glitch.) 

  Meeting Spot:   We will meet at the School Street entrance to the Wilderness Conservation Area by Cedar Swamp.  See Google map location HERE.

  
  

  Please arrive early (we recommend planning to arrive between 9:50 and 9:55 am in order to be ready for the group's 10 am departure).  The hike will depart promptly at 10 am.

  
  

  Please note that dogs are not permitted on the Sunday Morning Hikes.  If you are interested in getting notified of Dog-Friendly hikes with the Cape Ann Sunday Hikes group, you can join their Google group list from The Cape Ann Sunday Hikes home page.
  

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• Cape Ann Trail Stewards Annual Meeting and "Cellar Holes of Dogtown" Talk

  • When
    Thursday, June 05, 2025
  •  
    6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    Lanesville Community Center, 8 Vulcan St. Gloucester, MA

  Register

  Cape Ann Trail Stewards invites you to join us for our Annual Meeting on Thursday, June 5 from 6-8:00pm, at the Lanesville Community Center in Gloucester.

  We will present a brief overview and photo slideshow of our work over the past year including an annual financial report, and vote in our slate of officers for the year.  Complimentary food will be provided.

  Our guest speaker, Mark Carlotto, will give a presentation on the Cellar Holes of Dogtown.  Mark is an aerospace engineer with over thirty years of experience in satellite imaging, pattern recognition, terrain mapping, and mobile applications, and has published over a hundred papers in various technical areas.  Soon after moving to Gloucester in 2003, Mark got lost in Dogtown.  As a result, he decided to map all of the trails with a GPS, spending hundreds of hours following every path and investigating every cellar hole he could find.

  His 2007 book The Dogtown Guide received a Preservation Award from the Gloucester Historical Commission. His second book, The Island Woods, published in 2012, is a spatial history of the interior of Cape Ann.  Using maps and photographs, he goes back and forth in time, describing the old roads, settlements, granite quarries and enigmatic boulders of the Cape.  In 2015, Mark also wrote the book The Cellars Speak: The Old Cellars and What They Tell Us about Dogtown and Its People.

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  Please register online if you plan to attend  the Annual Meeting, as space is limited!

  
  

  Location:  The meeting will be held at the Lanesville Community Center at 8 Vulcan St. in Gloucester.  See Google map location HERE.

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