Snow Vehicle Use
Welcome to the Department of Conservation and Recreation! We invite you to enjoy your outdoor recreation activities this winter and experience the fun of snowmobiling at forests and parks across the Commonwealth. To assist you in your planning, we would like to acquaint you with the regulations for snow vehicle operation, as well as state properties open and closed to snowmobile use. Come out and play! We look forward to meeting you on the trails.
304 CMR 12.29 Snow Vehicle…Operation
304, Chapter 12, Section 12.29 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations governs the use of snow vehicles within the property of the Commonwealth under the care, custody or control of the Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of State Parks and Recreation. The following regulations specifically apply to recreational snow vehicle use:
(2) No person shall operate any snow vehicle…upon or over any property of the Division unless that vehicle is registered under M.G.L. c. 90A or c. 90B.
(6) No snow vehicle is allowed on Department property unless the Director has opened that property to use by snow vehicles. Upon request to the Director and at the headquarters building in each Department property, the Division shall make available a list of all Department properties where snow vehicles are and are not allowed. (See list following regulations.)
(7) In those areas opened by the Director pursuant to 304 CMR 12.29(6), snow vehicles may be utilized on any unplowed forest road or forest way unless posted to the contrary or prohibited by regulation.
(8) No person shall operate a snow vehicle upon Department property unless the area superintendent has determined the sub-surface soil of the land of a particular Department property to be solidly frozen and completely covered with a minimum of four (4) inches of hard packed snow or ice. The Division shall post these lands as open or closed in accordance with existing weather and snow condition. The Division may post this information at the park headquarters, at the trail head, by written public notice or a combination.
(9) When the Division has posted the frozen waters to prohibit it, no person shall operate a snow vehicle upon the frozen waters of the Department. In the absence of such a posting, persons utilizing frozen water bodies do so at their own risk and the Division assumes no responsibility either implied or expressed for the safety of any person who voluntarily assumes a known and obvious risk inherent in such activities. No person shall operate…a snow vehicle upon any frozen Department waters under any circumstance unless a minimum of five inches of solid ice cover is present. The operator shall determine the thickness of the ice, and assumes all responsibility in undertaking an activity with an inherent and known risk.
(10) Each snow vehicle operated upon Department properties shall carry a spare spark plug, flashlight, and spare drive belt and sufficient tools to effect minor repairs.
(11) No person shall operate…a snow vehicle in or upon the unfrozen waters or wetlands of the Department except for the purpose of crossing a stream over a bridge, culvert or similar structure or by operating the vehicle at the minimum speed required to maintain controlled forward movement and crossing in the most direct manner to minimize the potential for erosion of the bed or banks of the stream.
(12) No person under 12 years of age shall operate any snow vehicle…upon or over any Department property.
Southeast – Region 1
Freetown-Fall River State Forest, Freetown
Myles Standish State Forest, Carver
Northeast – Region 2
NOTE: All use of snow vehicles in Region 2 permitted only during daylight hours.
Billerica State Forest
Bradley Palmer State Park, Topsfield
Georgetown-Rowley State Forest, Georgetown
Lowell/Dracut/Tyngsboro State Forest
Wompatuck State Park, Hingham (See Special Restrictions)
Central – Region 3
Douglas State Forest, Douglas
Hopkinton State Park, Hopkinton
Leominster State Forest, Leominster
Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend
Rutland State Park, Rutland
Spencer State Forest, Spencer
Upton State Forest, Upton
Whitehall State Park (See Special Restrictions)
Willard Brook State Forest, Townsend
CT Valley – Region 4
Brimfield State Forest, Brimfield
Erving State Forest, Erving
Lake Dennison Recreation Area, Winchendon
Mt. Grace State Forest, Warwick
Holyoke Range State Park, Amherst
Hubbardston State Forest, Hubbardston
Northfield State Forest, Northfield
Otter River State Forest, Baldwinville
Petersham State Forest, Petersham
Templeton State Forest, Templeton
Warwick State Forest, Warwick
Wells State Park, Sturbridge
Wendell State Forest, Wendell
Berkshires – Region 5
Balance Rock State Park, Lanesborough
Bates Memorial State Park, Hancock
Becket State Forest, Becket
Beartown State Forest, Monterey
Blackberry River Flood Control Area, New Marlborough
Bryant Mountain State Forest, Cummington
Buckland State Forest, Buckland
Catamount State Forest, Colrain
Chester-Blandford State Forest, Chester
Clam Dam Flood Control Area, Sandisfield
Conway State Forest, Conway
DAR State Forest, Goshen
Florida State Forest, Florida
Gilbert A. Bliss State Forest, Chesterfield
Granville State Forest, Granville
H.O. Cook State Forest, Heath
Huntington State Forest, Huntington
Kenneth Dubuque Memorial State Forest, Hawley
Middlefield State Forest, Middlefield
Mohawk Trail State Forest, Charlemont
Monroe State Forest, Monroe
Mt. Greylock State Reservation, Lanesborough
October Mountain State Forest, Lee
Otis State Forest, Otis
Pittsfield State Forest, Pittsfield (See Special Restrictions)
Peru State Forest, Peru
Rowe State Forest, Rowe
Sandisfield State Forest, Sandisfield
Savoy Mountain State Forest, Florida
Tolland State Forest, Otis
West Lake/Abbey Lake Recreation Area, Sandisfield
Windsor State Forest, Windsor
Worthington State Forest, Worthington
Special Restrictions, Certain Areas
Ashuwillticook Rail Trail: Closed, except for special use licenses or agreements.
Whitehall State Park: Snowmobiles are only permitted during daylight hours and are to be operated only on frozen waters for ice fishing purposes.
Willowdale State Forest: Snowmobiles are prohibited except to access the trail to Bradley Palmer State Park.
Wompatuck State Park: Snow vehicles permitted on portion east of Union Street only.
The following areas are closed to snowmobile use at all times:
Southeast – Region 1
Acushnet Cedar Swamp State Reservation, Dartmouth, New Bedford
Borderland State Park, Sharon and Easton
Bristol-Blake State Reservation, Norfolk
Cape Cod Rail Trail, Eastham, Harwich, Brewster and Orleans
Cushing Memorial State Park, Scituate
Demarest-Lloyd State Park, Dartmouth
Dighton Rock State Park, Berkley
Ellisville Harbor State Park, Plymouth
Fall River Heritage State Park, Fall River
F. Gilbert Hills State Forest, Foxboro
Fort Phoenix Beach State Reservation, Fairhaven
Franklin State Forest, Franklin
Hawknest State Park, Harwich
Horseneck Beach State Reservation, Westport
Manuel F. Correllus State Forest, Martha’s Vineyard
Massasoit State Park, Taunton
Myles Standish Monument State Reservation, Duxbury
Nantucket State Forest, Nantucket
Nasketucket Bay State Reservation, Mattapoisett
Nickerson State Park, Brewster
Pilgrim Memorial State Park, Plymouth
Scusset Beach State Reservation, Sandwich
Shawme-Crowell State Forest, Sandwich and Bourne
South Cape Beach State Park, Mashpee
Watson Pond State Park, Taunton
Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Falmouth
West Bridgewater State Forest, West Bridgewater
Wrentham State Forest, Wrentham
Northeast – Region 2
Boston Harbor Islands State, Boston Harbor
Boxford State Forest, Boxford
Captain William K. Webb Memorial State Park, Weymouth
City Square State Park, Charlestown
Great Brook Farm State Park, Carlisle
Halibut Point State Park, Rockport
Harold Parker State Forest, Andover, North Andover
Lawrence Heritage State Park, Lawrence
Lawrence Riverfront State Park, Lawrence
Lowell Heritage State Park
Lynn Heritage State Park
Maudslay State Park, Newburyport
Plum Island State Reservation, Ipswich
Roxbury Heritage State Park, Roxbury
Salisbury Beach State Reservation, Salisbury
Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich
Walden Pond State Reservation, Concord and Lincoln
Warren Manning State Forest, Billerica
Willowdale State Forest (See Special Restrictions)
Central – Region 3
Ashburnham State Forest, Ashburnham
Ashland State Park, Ashland
Ayer to Dunstable railroad, right of way
Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park, Northbridge and Uxbridge
Callahan State Park, Framingham (the former Glick & O'Donnell properties)
Cochituate State Park, Natick, Wayland and Framingham
J. Harry Rich State Park, Groton
Lake Park, Worcester
Lancaster State Forest, Lancaster
Marlborough-Sudbury State Forest, Marlborough, Sudbury
Moore Memorial State Park, Paxton
Nobscot Hill Property, Framingham
Oakham State Forest, Oakham
Purgatory Chasm State Reservation, Sutton
Quinsigamond State Park, Worcester
Sutton State Forest, Sutton
Wachusett Mountain State Reservation, Princeton & Westminster
CT Valley – Region 4
Carroll A. Holmes Recreation Area, Shutesbury
Chicopee Memorial State Park, Chicopee
Connecticut River Greenway State Park (Elwell Recreation Area), Northampton
Dunn State Park, Gardner
Federated Womens’ Club State Forest, Petersham
Gardner Heritage State Park, Gardner
Hampton Ponds State Park, Westfield
Holyoke Heritage State Park
Joseph Allen Skinner State Park, Hadley
Lake Lorraine State Park, Springfield
Mt. Sugarloaf State Reservation, Deerfield
Mt. Toby State Reservation, Sunderland
Mt. Tom State Reservation, Holyoke
Norwottuck Rail Trail, Amherst, Northampton
Red Bridge State Park, Ludlow, Wilbraham and Palmer
Robinson State Park, Agawam
Shutesbury State Forest, Shutesbury
Streeter Point Recreation Area, Sturbridge
Tully Recreation Area, Athol and Royalston
Berkshires – Region 5
Appalachian Trail, Berkshire County
Ashuwillticook Rail Trail (See Special Restrictions)
Bash Bish Falls State Park, Mt. Washington
Campbell's Falls State Park, New Marlborough
Clarksburg State Forest, Clarksburg
Clarksburg State Park, Clarksburg
Cookson Property, New Marlborough
Deer Hill State Reservation, Cummington
East Mountain State Forest, Great Barrington & Sheffield
Fountain Pond State Park, Great Barrington
Gardner State Park, Huntington
Jug End State Reservation and Wildlife Management Area, Egremont
Krug Sugarbush, Chesterfield
Leyden State Forest, Leyden
Mount Everett State Reservation, Mt. Washington
Mount Washington State Forest, Mt. Washington
Natural Bridge State Park, North Adams
North East Branch State Forest, Cummington
North Silver / South Silver Flood Control Area, Sandisfield
South River State Forest, Conway
Taconic Trail State Park, Williamstown
Wahconah Falls State Park, Dalton
Western Gateway Heritage State Park, North Adams