Greater Boston and Cambridge have parks and waterfront places to walk

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Beaver Brook Reservation

Mill Street Waltham, MA Phone: 617-484-6357

Small nature preserve offers biking paths, fishing and swimming areas, interpretive programs, and small historic sites. Full toilet facilities are available.

Black Heritage Trail

46 Joy Street Boston, MA Phone: 617-725-0022

Beginning at the African Meeting House on Smith Court, this walking tour follows the history of the African-American community in 19th century Boston. Many of the sites are open to the public and are listed separately under the Historic Sites section. The the walk includes the following: The African Meeting House (1806), Smith Court, the Abiel Smith School (1834), the George Middleton House (1797), 54th Regiment Memorial on Boston Common, Phillips School, the John J. Smith House, the Lewis and Harriet Hayden House, and Coburn's Gaming House (1844).

Blue Hills Trailside Museum

1904 Canton Avenue Milton, MA Phone: 617-333-0690

Museum offers hiking trails, live animals and regularly scheduled programs. There is an admission charge.

Boston by Sea: A Seafaring Adventure Through Boston's Past

Rowes Wharf Boston, MA Phone: 617-542-8000

Cruise the Harbor aboard Mass Bay lines as live actors bring the history of Boston and its Harbor to life through authentic maritime music, original skits, and fascinating true stories. Learn about the Boston Tea Party, "Old Ironsides," pirates, and more. Tours depart from Rowes Wharf.

Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area

Boston, MA Phone: 617-223-8666

Come enjoy Boston's newest national park. The Harbor Islands offer a quiet place to relax, explore, camp, swim, or picnic. Boat-based Discovery Cruises operate Wednesday-Friday at noon, and tours to Boston Light ("The ultimate Lighthouse experience," according to the Boston Globe) operate Thursday-Sunday. Ranger-led activities and special events are offered on many islands for a variety of audiences. Not only are these islands a source of natural beauty and wonder--they're also rich in history and legends, with tales of pirates, shipwrecks, wars, abandoned prisons, and even ghosts! It's all right in Boston Harbor and accessible by boat or ferry from Long Wharf downtown or the South Shore... so near, and yet so far away!

Boston Women's Heritage Trail

Boston, MA Phone: 617-522-2872

This walk honors some of the city's most prominent women, encompassing Beacon Hill, the North End, Chinatown, and downtown Boston. Maps for this walk are available at Boston Common.

Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary

280 Eliot Street Natick, MA Phone: 508-655-2296

At this sanctuary, visitors can enjoy nine miles of hiking trails, in addition to lectures and other programs in a renovated horse barn.

Callahan State Park

Edmands Street Framingham, MA Phone: 508-653-9641

Callahan has seven miles of marked trails and is used for activities including fishing, hiking, horseback riding (horses not provided) and cross-country skiing. Within the park are nearly 100 acres of open fields. Recreational activities include mountain biking, hiking, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, and walking.

Carson Beach

William J. Day Blvd. South Boston, MA Phone: 617-727-5114

This sandy beach, maintained by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, is one of the best swimming beaches in the area, with nearby public amenities and great views of the harbor. New sand, new walkways, benches, lighting, shade shelters and award winning landscaping have helped to make Carson Beach a popular destination. "Mother's Rest" and its fishing pier have also been rehabilitated, making for a beautiful picnic area with a fantastic view of the Harbor. Life guards. To reach the beach on the subway take the Red Line to JFK/UMass. Or use the bus on routes 5, 8, 11, 16, or 41. Parking available.

Castle Island, Pleasure Bay, M Street Beach and Carson Beach

William J. Day Boulevard South Boston, MA Phone: 617-727-5290

Fort Independence, built between 1834 and 1851, is the dominating feature of this historic site, surrounded by a small park with fishing and swimming areas, and bike trails.

Charles River Reservation

Boston, MA Phone: 617-698-1802

This natural refuge offers canoeing, hiking, fishing, cross-country skiing, and more. Interpretive programs are scheduled there throughout the year.

Chase Woodlands

Farm Road Dover, MA 02492 Phone: 508-785-0339

Chase Woodlands’ 2-½ mile network of gently sloping paths wind through peaceful groves of white pine, beech, hemlock, and yellow birch. As in most of Massachusetts, this woodland consists of second- and third-growth trees, the original virgin forests having been felled to clear land for agriculture in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Picturesque stone walls traverse the woods, marking former farm fields from the property’s agricultural past.
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Fork Factory Brook

Hartford Street Medfield, MA 02052 Phone: 508-785-0339

Fork Factory Brook’s easy network of trails track the edges of lovely hay fields and meander through wooded upland offering views of surrounding forested wetlands and the remains of a 19th-century pitchfork mill. For a brief time after the Civil War, owners used the mill for a paper cutting enterprise, but it fell into disuse with the advent of coal-power. When Main Street was widened in 1927, the mill was dismantled and the granite reused to construct a house on Foundry Street. Much of the mill site now sits under Route 109, and all that remains is its broad earthen dam and stone raceway.

Garden in the Woods

180 Hemenway Road Framingham, MA 01701 Phone: 508-877-7630

The New England Wild Flower Society maintains this garden, the largest landscaped collection of native plants in the northeastern United States. This ever-changing living museum—New England’s premier wildflower garden—has more than 1,000 native plant species, with many rare and endangered native specimens throughout the gardens, as well as the unique New England Rare Plant Garden.
Hours: April 14–October 31; Tuesdays through Sundays; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. After October, trails close for the season. Museum Shop remains open with winter hours. Guided walks offered free with admission Tuesdays through Fridays at 10 a.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Admission: Adults over age 18, $10; seniors over age 65, $7; youths age 3-17, $5

Governor Hutchinson’s Field

Adams Street Milton, MA 02186 Phone: 781-821-2977

Named for Governor Thomas Hutchinson, the last Royal Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, this hilltop meadow offers views of the Neponset River, its tidal salt marshes, the Boston skyline, and the Boston Harbor Islands. Hutchison’s over royalist leanings made him the object of public ridicule in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War, and in 1743 he built for his family a modest country estate on Milton Hill to escape the city. All that remains of the estate today is the field and a "ha-ha" which formed the western boundary of the formal garden.
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Hammond Pond Reservation

Hammond Pond Parkway Newton, MA Phone: 617-698-1802

Visitors to this small nature preserve can enjoy fishing, hiking and biking trails, and picnic areas.

Harborwalk

Boston, MA Phone: 850-337-8250

A self-guided walk that traces the history of the Boston waterfront. The tour begins at the Old State House, brochures are available at the National Park Service Visitor's Center on State Street.

Hopkinton State Park

268 Cedar Street Hopkinton, MA Phone: 508-435-4303

Hopkinton State Park offers a year-round recreation, including two guarded swimming beaches, stocked fishing, a group picnic site, 12 shaded picnic areas, 10 miles of marked trails, open field space, a boat launching ramp for non-motorized watercraft, and seasonal boat rentals. The swimming areas are supervised by lifeguards from late May through Labor Day. The waterfront has a handicapped accessible ramp.
Hours: Summer, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; rest of the year, 8 a.m.-sunset. Pets on leash are welcome. Trail system is multi-use. Hikers, mountain bikers, equestrians, cross country skiers are welcome. Snowmobiles are permitted when snow cover is at least four inches deep.

Innovation Odyssey Tour

28 State Street Boston, MA Phone: 617-350-0358

Visit the people and places behind Boston's great inventions. An actor/tour guide brings Boston innovations - from the telephone to the Internet - to life on this cutting-edge, two-hour tour of Boston and Cambridge. Sites include Harvard, MIT, and the Ether Dome at Mass General Hospital. Imagine a world without computers, telephones, or anesthesia. Tours depart from 28 State Street, every Saturday at 2:00 pm. A shuttle from the Museum of Science departs at 1:40 pm.

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Literary Trail of Greater Boston

Omni Parker House Boston, MA Phone: 617-350-0358

A tour for everyone who loves history, good books, and beautiful settings. Discover the homes, gathering places, and landscapes of America's most beloved authors on a guided tour, or on your own with the Self-Guided Tour Package. Travel from Boston to Cambridge and Concord and visit sites such as Walden Pond, Longfellow House, Concord Museum, and Orchard House. Tours depart from the Omni Parker House the second Saturday of the month, beginning August.

Malcolm Preserve

Stearns Street Carlisle, MA 01741 Phone: 978-840-4446

The Malcolm Preserve provides a northern gateway to some 1,300 acres of conservation land. A short hiking trail connects the Malcolm Preserve with Two Rod Road, which leads through historic Estabrook Woods. The land comprising the Malcolm Preserve and the adjacent Malcolm Meadows development was once part of a 38-acre farm which raised fruit crops, including raspberries, strawberries, apples, peaches, and pears, as well as vegetables and cut flowers for local markets.

Medfield Rhododendrons

Woodridge Street Medfield, MA 02052 Phone: 508-785-0339

Home to important and rare stand of Rhododendron maximum, the great laurel or rosebay rhododendron, one of only three species of evergreen rhododendrons native to eastern North America. Though listed today as a "threatened" species, rosebay rhododendrons were once more common in Massachusetts; approximately half of the historical populations in Massachusetts have been lost. Currently, there are seven known populations, and the Medfield Rhododendrons colony represents the largest and easternmost population in Massachusetts.

Mystic River Reservation -- Mystic Lakes -- Sandy Beach

Off Mystic Valley Parkway Medford, Somerville, Everett, MA Phone: 617-727-5380

Open year round, dawn to dusk. The banks of the Mystic River are almost entirely publicly owned from the Amelia Earhart Dam at the mouth of the Mystic Lakes. The property is accessible via the MBTA public transit system. The property includes:
Mary O'Malley Park. The park has striking views of the harbor and the Tobin Bridge over the Mystic River. A boat landing and shelter are located on an historic granite pier and a wind sculpture by William Wainwright enlivens the waterfront. Tennis courts and a large open lawn area for concerts and picnics are also available.
Torbert Macdonald Park. Macdonald Park has an award-winning landscape design of the meandering paths, trees and open lawns provides space for rest and enjoyment as well as bicycling, jogging, walking and informal games in a riverside setting.
Draw Seven Park. The Draw Number Seven Railroad Bridge, which once crossed the Mystic River, gave this park its name. This park provides field game space for Somerville and adjacent communities. Draw Seven Park offers nine acres of parkland including two soccer fields, a bikeway/walkway, a picnic area with shelter and beautiful landscaping.
Mystic Lakes. Today the Mystic Lakes are popular for freshwater swimming at Sandy Beach. Special sailing programs are available at the Tufts University Boathouse. The Upper Mystic Lake is for non-powered boats only. The Lower Mystic Lake is for power boats with no wake. Information about Shannon Beach: 617-727-5380.

Noanet Woodlands

Dedham Street Dover, MA 02030 Phone: 781-821-2977

Named after a chief of the Natick Indians, Noanet Woodlands features 17 miles of shady trails and wooded roads ideal for walking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and horseback riding, and a hike up Noanet Peak rewards visitors with a view of Boston's skyline above the forest canopy. In the early nineteenth century, Noanet Brook was home to a large rolling and slitting mill that made barrel hoops, wheel rims, nail plates, and nail rods from forged iron. Today the mill's twenty-four-foot-high dam and twenty-foot-deep wheel pit are preserved, but visitors will have to imagine the towering thirty-six-foot wheel that powered the mill.

Noon Hill

Noon Hill Road Medfield, MA 02052 Phone: 508-785-0339

The midday sun passes over the ridge of Noon Hill, giving the Reservation its name. Follow the trail leading to the 370-foot peak, and enjoy sweeping views south across the rolling hills of Walpole and Norfolk. Noon Hill’s 4 ½ miles of trails along forested ridges and slopes feature pine, beech, birch, and hemlock, offer glimpses of turn of the century low stone walls, and in spring, the forest floor is scattered with wildflowers. Picturesque Holt Pond was created around 1764, when Sawmill Brook was dammed to create a mill pond.

Quincy Shores Reservation

Quincy Shore Drive Quincy, MA 02205 Phone: 617-727-5290

Quincy Shore Drive links Wollaston Beach with Caddy Memorial Park and Moswetuset Hummock. The 2.3-mile beach is popular for its jogging/bicycling trail and swimming. Caddy Park on the southern end of the beach has over 15 acres of fields and marsh as well as a play area, lookout tower and picnic tables. Moswetuset Hummock, on the beach's northern end, is a mixture of woodland trails and open marshland. The site which has a short loop trail, offers views of Quincy Bay and 144-acre Squantum Marsh. Open year round, dawn to dusk. Bathhouse open July to September.
Directions: by MBTA: Wollaston Beach - Red Line to Wollaston Station, walk to Hancock Street, turn right and walk one block to Beach Street or take Wollaston Beach/Ashmont bus #217. Caddy Park - turn left on Beach Street and continue on Quincy Shore Drive. Moswetuset Hummock - Red Line to North Quincy Station, MBTA Bus #211 to Squantum, exit at East Squantum Street and Quincy Shore Drive, proceed to the small wooded knoll 200 yards east.
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Revere Beach

Revere Beach Blvd. Revere, MA Phone: 781-289-3020

Lifeguards are on duty from late June to early September. Revere Beach boasts miles of shoreline which welcomes throngs of visitors every summer. Along the boulevard there is a bandstand for summer concerts, a bathhouse and many shade shelters. Revere Beach is very accessible by public transportation which makes it a popular spot for people from all around metro Boston. Open year round, dawn to dusk.

Rocky Woods

Hartford Street Medfield, MA 02052 Phone: 508-785-0339

Just 30 minutes from downtown Boston

Rocky Woods features over six miles of former woods roads and footpaths rambling through rolling hills of white pine and red oak. Explorers of the four ponds on the reservation may find bullfrogs and painted turtles, and visitors can enjoy catch-and-release fishing from these shores. Recent landscape renovations have created a scenic meadow, grassy common areas, sandy shorelines, and plantings of ornamental shrubs. Restrooms, picnic tables and a pavilion are onsite, and future plans include creating a visitor center and improved children's play area.

Shattuck Reservation

Causeway Street Medfield, MA 02052 Phone: 508-785-0339

Across the street from Noon Hill, Shattuck Reservation comprises a forested upland neck of oak and pine overlooking a wet meadow and red maple swamp. Visitors can enjoy hiking, horseback riding and bird watching. A 1.5 mile loop trail leads from the neck across wetlands to two islands that offer views of the Charles River, and the reservation's old stone walls indicate that it was once nineteenth-century pasture.

Stony Brook Nature Center

North Street Norfolk, MA Phone: 508-528-3140

This nature center includes a self-guided hiking trail. An extensive boardwalk system helps visitors explore Teal Marsh and its wildlife.

Stony Brook Reservation

Turtle Pond Parkway Hyde Park, MA Phone: 617-698-1802

Sunfish and Perch await anglers in Turtle Pond at this 475-acre park and wildlife refuge, featuring fishing areas, biking and hiking trails, public swimming, and picnic areas. Programs are scheduled throughout the year.

The Minuteman Bikeway

Arlington to Bedford, MA Phone: 617-641-4891

This 10.5 mile bicycle trail begins in Cambridge (Greater Boston area), and winds its way through Arlington, Lexington and ends in Bedford. Along the way are the historic site of Lexington Common and the Minuteman Statue.

Weir River Farm

Turkey Hill Lane Hingham, MA Phone: 781-740-7233

Originally part of a picturesque, early-twentieth-century country estate, Weir River Farm encompasses 75 acres of fields and pastures, woodlands, and a complex of farm and estate buildings, including barns and a carriage house. On a clear day, visitors can view Boston Harbor and the North Shore from the top of Turkey Hill. The farm is being managed to preserve its historic pastoral character, and offers public programs throughout the year, as well as opportunities for hiking, bird watching and picnicking.

Whitney & Thayer Woods

Route 3A Cohasset & Hingham, MA Phone: 781-740-7233

The ten miles of trails at Whitney & Thayer Woods include a memorial walk through a lovely stand of flowering shrubs, Ode's Den, (named after Theodore "Ode" Pritchard, who lived under one of the boulders after losing his home in 1830), and the 187-foot summit of Turkey Hill, affording spectacular views of Cohasset Harbor. Visitors can also view a cinderblock NIKE building, once part of an anti-missile radar control station sited here during the Cold War to thwart potential nuclear attack by the Soviet Union.

World’s End

250 Martin’s Lane Hingham, MA Phone: 781-740-6665

World's End is one of the 30 islands of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreational Area, and comprises over four miles of walking paths that offer dramatic views of the Weir River, Hingham Harbor, and the Boston skyline. In 1889, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted was commissioned to design a residential subdivision here, and his plan included 163 house plots connected by tree-lined roads. The cart paths were cut and the trees planted, but the development never occurred. These wide paths now line broad grassy fields that attract butterflies and are managed to provide habitat for grassland-nesting birds.
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