Callahan State Park Is About To Increase In Size

MARLBOROUGH, MA — One of the largest state parks in the region that shares borders with Framingham, Marlborough and Southborough is about to get bigger.

The city of Marlborough, the Sudbury Valley Trustees and the state Department of Conservation and Recreation combined funds recently to purchase about 33 acres of farmland in Marlborough to add to the park. The new parcel will be located near the intersection of Parmenter, Edmands and Pine Hill roads where the three communities intersect.

Marlborough will pay about $150,000 for the land, the SVT $100,000 and the rest from the state. The land was purchased from the owners of Spring Hill Farm. The parcel has been on Marlborough's Open Space and Recreation Plan since the 1970s.

Although technically private land, Callahan State Park visitors may have already used the parcel.

"Visitors to Callahan State Park have likely crossed the O’Donnell Property without realizing that it was privately owned," SVT said in a news release this week. "Nearly a quarter mile of the Beebe Pond Loop Trail cuts through the property and connects two portions of the Callahan State Park trail system. By protecting the land and adding it to the park, the project partners have ensured that the public will always have access to the full trail network."

The SVT this week also completed the purchase of Chickatawbut Woods in Framingham. SVT on June 28 closed on the purchase of 19 acres at the end of Chickatawbut Road from from Impact Framingham.

The acquisition is just the latest for a state park that has more than doubled in size since it was created in the 1970s.

The first portion with 425 acres opened in northwest Framingham in 1970. The park is now nearly 1,000 acres split between the original Framingham section and the section in Marlborough across Edmands Road. The park contains over 7 miles of hiking trails, plus one of the largest unfenced dog parks in the region.