When René Marro loaded a rubber ball into a green ‘Chuckit!’ and flung it across his lawn, his three black labs sprinted after it, tongues lolling out the sides of their mouths.
Raven, the smallest but by far the fastest of the trio, snatched it up first. René then tossed a second ball for Gunnar, a 14-year-old golden mix with a careful gait, who stood waiting.
In the trees behind them, a lone hiker strode through the woods. The ball-obsessed pups in the yard didn’t seem to notice, but Tysen, an 185-pound English Bullmastiff whose main form of exercise these days is moving from a dog bed under the TV to another dog bed beside the couch, could hear the rustling leaves from inside the house. He let out a few deep-bellied barks before calming.
The hiker’s path was a few dozen yards from René and his wife Beth’s backyard, and offered a clear view of their small deck, grill and patio furniture. But the gray-clad figure didn’t seem too interested. A few steps down the way, he rounded a turn and passed the Marro’s prominent trail camera, accompanied by a Gadsden flag, a scarred-up plastic mannequin head on a pike and signs marking their private property and warning of their nearby firing range.
Not every interaction between the Marros, their five dogs, and people on the trail has been so mutually indifferent.
Several times, a tiff between them and people walking on the trail has ended with calls to or visits from Concord Police. Walkers have said that Marro fired a gun because they were near his property. They’ve said the dogs attacked them when they were on the trail, none of which has been substantiated in police reports.
Marro has reported that hikers’ off-leash animals have come onto his property and tangled with his dogs. He’s also called the police about people using the nearby gravel trailhead parking lot as a bathroom.
“We sound like crazy people out here,” Beth Marro said as Tysen, the mastiff, snored in his bed. “But people have made us crazy.”
The Marros, the city and local outdoorspeople have been at odds over a small section of the West End Farm Trail for more than six years. In broad strokes, the dispute is a common one: a park or trail passes someone’s home, and the rights of bikers and hikers to enjoy a public trail butt up against the homeowner’s right to enjoy their property.
After years of messages to city officials, the growing divide has culminated in a request from the Marros for the city to close or reroute the part of the trail that runs behind their house. Some hikers have accused them of NIMBY-ism. Others have pointed out that the trail doesn’t have to close for things to change.
Rural appeal
The West End Farm trail runs through and around historic farmland in Concord’s West Side. René bought his land, once connected to nearby Beech Hill Farm, and built his home in 2003. The rurality of the area was part of the appeal. He added a gun range not long after moving in, he said.
For most of the 23 years René has lived there, snowmobilers had used a trail behind his house. The path, mostly on a neighboring lot, wound into his woods without issue, he said. He was more wary of hunters trudging nearby – with them or him ending up in each other’s crossfire – and posted signs on trees warning about his range.
The City of Concord acquired the neighboring land in 2010, and opened the West End Farm Trail in 2016. Currier Road, where the Marros live, intersects the trail.
Hikers didn’t show up much until 2020, René said, when COVID lockdowns had people flocking to outdoor activities. As the trail got busier, the city built a small gravel parking lot.
Things grew bitter after that. That spring, a tree was felled, blocking the trail, according to city records. Marro determined that a portion of the trail ran through his property, and the city rerouted it. Per city records, both Marro and the city accused the other of putting up or taking down signs on the other’s property.
In emails from the time, the city forester noted “two music speakers on the Marro property that were facing the trail and playing non-stop heavy metal/grunge type music. All in all, a typical day.”
The Marros have reached out to city officials repeatedly throughout the years with complaints about trail users and unwanted people in the parking lot.
Around the beginning of 2023, they said, they put up trail cameras at the advice of a lawyer, in addition to the security cameras in their yard, driveway and home.
René has used the footage both to send police documentation of people loitering or relieving themselves in the parking lot and also to have evidence for his own defense.
In 2024, the Marros had an argument with a hiker whose dogs needed to be leashed. The female hiker told police René had “let his dogs loose and then discharged a firearm,” a police report states.
René showed Concord Police a video disproving the claim, per the report. He’d instead gotten in his truck and gone to run an errand.
“There’s a ton of people that shoot out here. Most of the time, you can’t even tell where it’s coming from,” René said. “We’re always blamed for it regardless.”
The Marros have long felt the city needed to do more to be a good neighbor and shield their privacy and property from a “super-human highway.” They don’t feel they can let their dogs lay in the yard unsupervised anymore, and the hostility they’ve received from some hikers has made them worry about their safety.
In letters to the conservation commission, people praised the West End Farm Trail as a scenic and low-key hike that has more continuous length than many other paths in Concord. Snowmobilers pointed to the section as a prime link between their trails in the region, one they’ve used and tended for decades.
Many said the Marro’s claims about litter and heavy hiker volumes are exaggerated.
“I rarely see other users, occasionally one or two others. With many of our trails seeing heavier use, this trail provides relative solitude and an opportunity to ‘get away’ without extensive travel,” Danny Taffe wrote. “I have never seen trash or litter on the trail, and it is clearly being well-maintained; it would be difficult to argue that the trail is an eyesore.”
Other hikers see the Marros as the problem. Faded Trump signs on trees face the parking lot (though René said he has mixed feelings about the current president). The trail camera and mannequin head beside it on the path both communicate: “you’re being watched.” The signs warning of the nearby firing range read, to some, as threatening.
“This homeowner has made the trail so unpleasant to use that I stopped going there,” Jeff Fullam wrote. “I suspect many other community members made the same choice, as I believe it is only a matter of time before a potentially explosive conflict arises.”
The Marros concede that their emotions run high around the issue. In a community filled with passionate hikers and bikers, they said they feel vilified.
At a recent Conservation Commission meeting, the Marros, who train service dogs professionally, brought their three black labs with them. One hiker accused the couple of bringing someone else’s dogs as props.
Other residents have noted steps the city could take to resolve the issue that don’t require closing the trail.
“It seems there exist alternative solutions to address the property owner’s concerns, which stop far short of closing and banning the area in question,” Sean Reese said in a letter. “Fencing, gates and better signage are a few that quickly come to mind.”
The Marros agree. If the city put up a fence between their backyard and the trail, closed the trail at night and required people to leash their dogs in the area, René said, “that would solve the vast majority of the problems.”
They won’t put up a fence themselves because they don’t think they should have to pay for it. Fences are expensive, and they were there first.
Over the last few months, as talk about the trail has spread, hikers have increasingly come out to see what the fuss is about, the Marros said. They feel watched, and it prompted them to request a police detail near their home.
“We have people walk out, point, and say ‘is that the house?'” Beth said.
The request, currently before the Conservation Commission, will evenutally work its way up to the Concord City Council. The commission hasn’t made any formal recommendation yet.
Overwhelmingly, people who live or work in Concord have pleaded with the city not to close the trail. But some have encouraged officials to find a way to better work with the Marros, and for both sides to turn down the temperature.
“If you’re walking dogs on trails near people’s backyards, you’ll likely need your dogs on leashes. Too many owners think their dogs are better trained than they prove to be,” Andrew Buckley wrote to the Conservation Commission. “However — buying property and then expecting the neighborhood to remain trapped in a time capsule is both unrealistic and unwise.”
“Civility,” he wrote, “is a two-way street.”
