Come along the ride with North Quabbin Trails Association (NQTA) as the stewardship contracting services professional organization as we unveil the next Gen. 2 Evolution of the Tully trail.
In 1936 a flood had destroyed the surrounding communities and by 1949 the dam had been completed to help regulate the flow of water. In 1996 the lake had become a favorite recreation spot, so in 1997 the Tully was endorsed as the first project of the North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership and had immense support by the National Park Service’s Rivers & Trails Program and was completed in 2001. The land passes through land managed by the Department of Conservation, MassWildlife, private lands, and The Trustees who have since passed the torch to us!
So here we are, now volunteering countless hours to ensure the safety and enjoyment of the Tully Trails. Since NQTA has been able to maintain trail work “1.2 miles of trail previously was located on a dangerous road. Now it affords views of the unique habitat of Tully Meadow, and a tantalizing view of Tully Mountain itself. Years of careful environmental habitat analysis ensured this new rerouting of the trail would not impact sensitive species.” (Owen Smith, link attached below.) We have also expanded the trails from 22 miles to 30 miles, where in the warm future you will be able to enjoy safely and clearly. NQTA has just completed the installation of 20 signs of the entire outside perimeter of the Tully Trail. In the last 24 years there have been too many issues due to directions not being clear enough, but that problem will no longer be, there are many signs that will guide you in the direction you intend. In the near future we will be having Main Trailhead Kiosk built, and 2 other kiosks in main locations along the trails. All of the work that is done is all volunteer to be able to preserve and grow our beautiful community gem.
If you would like to join us with volunteer work please reach out. Another way you could help is always donating any amount you are able to, and we have a fun way to add to your donating! If you were to donate 100 dollars a directional sign will have your name of the choosing added to it, if you were able to donate 300 dollars we would be adding any name of your choice to one of our three critical informational signs along the Tully trail. So come along with us as the trails transform into a safe experience for all abilities and multi-use capacity. Grab your hiking boots, fishing poles, flying discs, bikes, and paddles and enjoy a day out adventuring!
Source: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/d10de8d92ff54e2797dc1f7f882a506d

The Tully Trail is a 30-mile loop trail that meanders through hilly and mostly undeveloped scenic countryside in the North Quabbin region. The trail was first conceptualized in the 1980s, with Tully Lake and other scenic sites as focal points, and it was launched as a project in 1998. While the trail route has gone through some revisions (and there likely will be more), it was considered complete in 2002 when a map was published and made available to the public for the first time. Much of the land that the trail passes through is owned by the federal and state governments as well as private nonprofit agencies, while some is private property. The trail passes by a campground on Tully Lake operated by the Trustees (formerly known as the Trustees of Reservations) and there is a shelter near Royalston Falls. This is an area of rich wildlife habitat now likely to escape degradation in the future because the Commonwealth of Massachusetts poured more than three million dollars into the area defined by the trail by means of  the Tully Valley Private Lands Initiative from 2000-2002. The funds were used primarily to place privately-owned acreage under conservation easements. In some cases, the state purchased land outright and added it to existing state forests and wildlife management area. Several environment visionaries played a role in the creation and protection of the Tully Trail. The initiators were Dick O'Brien, central region director of the Trustees of Reservations; and Rick Magee, interpretive coordinator of the New England district of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (stationed at Tully Dam). They initially talked about linking Tully Dam property with Trustees properties in Royalston, and some local trails were created. The creation of the North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership (NQRLP) in 1997 took the Tully Trail project to another level, with more people getting involved. Six members of the NQRLP –Trustees of Reservations, Army Corps of Engineers, Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, National Park Service Rivers and Trail Program, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife –worked together as the main trail partners, with important support and participation from the Appalachian Mountain Club and Harvard Forest. As Ann Townsend of Petersham wrote in the pamphlet (out of print) entitled Building the Tully Loop Trail, "Each organization has contributed to the trail partnership in different ways and for different reasons, and each benefits from the trail separately, but the trail itself is the product of the successful collaboration.

The focal point of the trail is Tully Mountain (elevation 1,163 above sea level), a geological feature defined by geologists with a French term "roche moutonnée." The name refers to rounded rock formations ground down by glaciers, so called because they are smooth and rounded like the back of a sheep (mouton in French). Other major points of interest along the trail are Tully Lake, Doane's Falls, Jacobs Hill, Royalston State Forest, Royalston Falls, Spirit Falls, Warwick State Forest, and Fish Brook Wildlife Management Area. There is a trailhead with helpful blazes on Mountain Road in the Tully section of Orange, where the trail climbs up the mountain and also skirts the side of the mountain heading east toward Tully Lake. Tully Mountain is one of the region's most unusual geological features, rising sharply from adjacent flatlands. From the south side, as viewed across Tully Pond and reflected in the water, it looks peaceful and serene, a perfectly shaped mountain. Geology Professor Richard D. Little of Greenfield Community College described the mountain in his book Exploring Franklin County: A Geology Guide: “Most of Tully Mountain in Monson gneiss, formed about 400 million years ago by the great collision of crustal plates that created the Northern Appalachian Mountains. Heat and pressure cause mineral components to flow but not melt, transforming the pre-existing rock, in this case, granite, into finely banded rock, gneiss. Western portions of Tully Mountain have a small body of soapstone, a soft talc-rich rock, formed from metamorphism of volcanic source rocks, such as lava or ash. Around 1890 a quarry was worked for a few years but was ruined by someone, growing impatient with hand tools, used dynamite. The soapstone layer apparently broke into too many small pieces due to the blast.” There is no view from the actual summit (forested), but rocky outcroppings near the summit allow hikers views in various directions. The most popular vista is primarily to the east, with visual access also to the north and south. Visible are Mount Monadnock, Mount Wachusett, Mount Watatic, as well as ponds, houses, churches in Royalston, Orange and Athol.

Tully Trail uses painted yellow blazes on trees to help hikers find their way. Directional signs are limited, but are being added by the North Quabbin Trails Association (NQTA). While initially it was the Trustees of Reservations that took the lead in completing and maintaining the trail, in recent years NQTA has worked hard on trail improvements and maintenance. NQTA President Bobby Curley, assisted frequently by NQTA member Don Shambroom, devoted many hours to this. One important re-routing took place on a long slope, parallel to Route 68 in Royalston, where the trail initially went beneath electric power lines. It was relocated, with the cooperation of land owners, through woodlands closer to the road. A two-mile section of the original trail was on a paved, dangerous section of Tully Road in Orange, but that has been relocated into adjacent forest land – a potentially life-saving improvement. Bobby Curley devoted many hours meeting with staff of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife as well as private landowner Fred Heyes to bring about the change in the trail route.

The Tully Trail was originally publicized as being a 22-mile loop trail but NQTA has determined the length is 30 miles with the addition of a trail segment that goes around the perimeter of Tully Lake and a segment around Long Pond previously designated as a bicycle trail. The original trail had no main starting point or trailhead, but NQTA is creating a main trailhead (with a kiosk) on the north side of the Tully Dam recreational area. Work on an internet-based map is underway with expertise provided by Rob Kearney, a member of the NQTA Tully Trail team, using technology known as ArcGIS. In 2024, NQTA member Owen Smith was assigned primary responsibility for organizing trail maintenance and improvements.

#Note: A previous version of this article, edited and updated in March of 2025 for the NQTA website, was originally included in Allen Young’s book “North of Quabbin Revisited,” published by Haley’s in 2003. Young has hiked most of the Tully Trail, a section of which passes close by his property in Royalston. He is known as the “insultant” to NQTA president Curley, having been a founding member of the group. More about Allen Young can be found at: https://nqta.org/nqtas-outdoor-action-adventure-partnership-and-available-services/