Best Hikes Around Andover

All over Andover I have been exploring the innumerable trails with my camera and I have found some favorite spots, trails, and different views along the way. With Harlold Parker Forest in my backyard growing up, I was familiar with the state forest but nothing else.

AVIS trail signs are evident everywhere around town but I always seemed to think that those wooden signs pointed to boring trails in the woods.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

The biggest surprise and the number one view has to be Bessie's point in the . The surroundings at the very tip of the peninsula breathtaking on a nice day. You are surrounded by beautiful plants and flowers and have a nearly 360 degree view of a wetlands area on the edge of Foster's pond.

The best hike I have found for a simple, relaxing, and easy walk is probably not a secret to many, but in all my years in Andover I had never walked it until I began this column. has a great trail system around it. The trail around the pond is really flat, making it very accessible, and you have a great view at the waters edge with many places to stop.

The next fantastic area is along the banks of the Shawsheen River right before it flows into Ballardvale. The area historically has been a place for putting in rental canoes, having a picnic, and even a dance hall in the woods. There are great areas on opposite sides of the river, on one side is and on the other is .

Pole Hill has some , a great view of Ballardvale and a large open picnic area alongside the river. The hiking trails here are nice too, but the real treat is across the river at Serio's Grove.

Serio's Grove is less accessible as you have to cross train-tracks, park down near Wyeth on Lowell Junction Rd., and, depending on the time of year, lots of mosquitoes.

However, when you do make it out there you have a great view of a beautiful part of the river, and the town has a spectacular set up back there for family picnics. The property features a whole slew of fire pits to cook over, picnic tables galore and a covered pavilion to sit under.

Take some time to explore these areas if you get the chance and if you are up for an adventure check some of them out in the winter with snowshoes. Some other great spots I would recommend to visit are , and the Mary French Reservation, as well as the the .