Directions, Parking and Arrivals

Location

Most volunteers are scheduled for tasks on Gaining Ground’s main farm property located at 341 Virginia Road, Concord, MA. Occasionally, corporate teams work at our satellite fields at 955 Lexington Road, Concord, MA. Please check with your group leader or email volunteer@gainingground.org to confirm your team’s volunteering location.

Directions to Gaining Ground

341 Virginia Rd, Concord, MA 01742

From the east, south or north: From I-95, exit onto Rte. 2A west (exit 46B) and follow signs to Hanscom Field. After 1.5 miles, turn right at the blinking light onto Hanscom Drive. After .5 miles, bear left at the fork and through one stop sign.  Turn left onto Old Bedford Road that turns into Virginia Road (Do not go straight into Hanscom Airport or right into Hanscom Airbase). Gaining Ground is on the right after 1.5 miles. Just past Thoreau Farm House at 341 Virginia Road, turn into the parking lot for Gaining Ground. Park nose-in (perpendicular, with the small wooden shed on your right) and walk through the gate out to the sign-in station and then gather at the volunteer pavilion.

From the west: Take Rte. 2 east and bear right onto the exit ramp for Rte 2A/Lincoln/Concord just before the overpass. Turn left on Mary’s Way at the light to go under the overpass. Take a right onto Rte 2A (gas station will be on your left). On Rte 2A, go about .6 mile, then take a sharp left onto Old Lexington Road (through Minuteman National Park). After .9 mile, turn right onto Old Bedford Road. After .5 miles, turn right onto Virginia Road. Gaining Ground’s parking lot is on the left after .7 mile, just before Thoreau Farm House at 341 Virginia Road. Turn into the parking lot, park (nose-in, perpendicular to wooden shed on your right) and walk through the gate out to the volunteer sign-in box and then gather at the volunteer pavilion.

Transportation Assistance

We want to ensure that all have access to transportation to the farm. If transportation is a logistical or financial barrier for you, we may be able to offer an Uber voucher to sponsor the trip to and from Concord. Please send an email to volunteer@gainingground.org for more information about our voucher program.

Parking

Parking is limited; please carpool when you can. Gaining Ground’s parking entrance is marked by the green “Gaining Ground” sign on Virginia Road.  If you pull into the driveway marked with the Thoreau Birthplace Farm sign, continue around the U-shaped driveway and park just past the sugar house (a wooden shed used for boiling maple sap) on your right. Park nose-in, perpendicular with the shed on your right, and as tightly as possible as our parking space is limited. You may not park in the Thoreau Farm parking lot nor beside the red farm house stone wall. After parking, walk through the large gate to the volunteer pavilion where you will meet the farm team and get started!