Outdoor Adventures & Activities in Greater Boston & Camrbidge

With 27 miles of coastline, including 11 beautiful beaches and miles of trails bordering rivers and marshes, Quincy is all about the outdoors. But there’s plenty of fun away from the water, too, since the city also boasts 52 parks, three golf courses, baseball fields, tennis and bocce courts, bike and jogging trails and a plethora of picnic places. Launch your boat off the public ramp at Houghs Neck Maritime Center, pitch your umbrella on spacious Wollaston Beach, go birding or rock-climbing at Blue Hills Reservation or check out the Boston skyline from the Neponset River Walk. Even the city’s history is outdoors, including a Native American campsite at Moswetuset Hummock and the site where Abigail Adams watched the Battle of Bunker Hill.

The Charles River west of Boston is a welcoming place for kayakers and canoeists. Several nature preserves run by the Trustees of Reservations along this paddling route allow you to touch land, explore, and have a picnic. It's about a 20-mile float from start to finish -- prepare accordingly and take a map!

• You can put in at Cedariver, a former farm in Millis, which has a state-run boat launch. - Area Map
• Moving downstream, paddlers encounter Shattuck Reservation, which is old pasture land, with nice views and trails. - Area Map
• Next, watch for Bridge Island Meadows, accessible only when the water is flowing in Bogastow Brook. - Area Map
• Next along the Charles River float is Rocky Narrows in Medfield, with incomparable views of the Charles River as it winds between granite walls. Just across the river from Rocky Narrows is Peters Reservation in Dover, which has a mix of natural flora, designed landscape and plantings, and two miles of trails. - Area Map
• Take out can be at Charles River Peninsula in Needham, a great picnic spot surrounded on three sides by the river, with access to a state-run boat launch. - Area Map