Overview
Higgins Crowell is a substantial cross-country MTB trail network located in South Yarmouth. It’s situated between Bayberry Hills Country Club, Sandy Pond Recreation Area and West Yarmouth Rd. There are offshoots which venture into Yarmouth town water department and conservation lands.
Photos
Area Details
Since the trail system is so large, there are various points where it crosses Higgins Crowell Rd. between different areas. These trails are characterized by rolling singletrack with pine needles, loam and sand through stands of pitch pine, scrub oak and locust trees. While not too technical, they do offer some fun short up and downhill sections at various points.
Sandy Pond Recreation Area features a green-level beginner trail around its namesake lake, Little Sandy Pond, plus some other shorter connections with Yarmouth water department land including a dedicated water tower loop.
One offshoot follows Higgins Crowell Rd. north adjacent to the Yarmouth police dept. then behind Mattacheese Middle School. At this point it turns northeast into a bigger loop within more town water dept. property. The Horse Pond trails run directly to the lake, then back behind it through extensive conservation lands towards Plashes Pond.
Directly south of that is another series of loops which explore a little-known conservation plot named Syrjala Trails. All of this singletrack is bordered by Buck Island Rd. to the north, West Yarmouth Rd. to the east and Winslow Gray Rd. to the west. None of the greater Higgins Crowell network trails are particularly challenging, but instead offer fun beginner-level terrain for new mountain bikers of all ages.
Parking & Directions
There is limited parking for this trail system directly on Higgins Crowell Rd. in two separate small pull-in lots which, when combined, accommodate maybe 10-15 cars total. These dual smaller areas offer central access to all of the individual surrounding singletrack networks on both sides of Higgins Crowell Rd. Sandy Pond Recreation area also features copious parking, but less than stellar signage for accessing the lake trail plus other offshoots behind it.