Do you like to walk or jog in the Boston area? If so you probably don’t like doing so on the busy highways, as being road kill isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time. Lucky for you there are plenty of walking trails to choose from; here is a list with website links included, and the sites will have directions.
Stony Brook Reservation
Turtle Pond Parkway, West Roxbury, Hyde Park, call them at 617-698-1802. The Stony Brook Reservation is ideal for walking or hiking. They have over 10 miles of walking and bike trails to traverse. They also have New England’s first handicapped recreational center in their John Thompson Center. There are many cool things to try out here including fishing.
Neponset River Reservation
Location, Boston, Milton and their phone number is 617-727-5290 or read more here. I like anyplace to walk where you can see water, like the Neponset River. You can always take a break for some bird watching as well.
Blue Hills- Skyline Trail
Check their site here for directions to the trailhead. The trail here is marked and gives you several hiking options back to your vehicle. According to Localhikes.com (the site linked in the earlier paragraph) it is a 5.7 mile round trip on the walking trail, and it is a moderate in difficulty hike.
Great Bay National Nature Refuge Short Loop
It takes longer to say the name than it does to get around the .05 mile walking trail, but it looks like a nice place. As mentioned above I like walking near water and this place has a nice pond.
Two Towers Hike
Close to West Medford and according to localhikes.com it is a 6.43 mile moderate hike. What is kind of cool here is that you can see marks on rocks where glaciers scraped them. The place is named after two observation towers in the area.
The Freedom Trail
This is the one I will try out the next time I am in Boston. I love history and enjoying walking if I can see interesting stuff along the way. Click here for details on this 2.5 mile walk that visits 16 historical sites!
The Emerald Necklace
This trail starts in the Back Bay area and goes to Jamaica Plain. The interesting thing to me is who designed it. It was done by Frederick Law Olmstead who designed New York City’s Central Park.
Garden in the Woods
This is actually 20 miles from Boston in Framingham Mass, but it is worth the drive. There is a one mile trail that has benches. The big attraction though is the botanical gardens with over 200 plants to check out. They also offer educational programs about the plants.
