Category: Map

Watertown: The Upper Charles River Reservation Walking Map

Watertown: The Upper Charles River Reservation Walking Map

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A natural and wild quality pervades the Charles River’s banks upriver from the dam at Watertown Square. Unlike the riverbanks along the Charles River Basin–the well-known Boston and Cambridge Esplanades with their elegant, manicured walkways and skyline views–the Upper Charles is a narrow winding body of water bordered by a ribbon of lush vegetation. Small dams and arching bridges regularly punctuate this walk, and views of the water are short and focused, extended only to the next river bend, and frequently provided by wooden overlook decks.

The rustic, overgrown appearance of MDC’s Upper Charles River Reservation is intentional. The greenway is designed to be a self-sustaining natural environment. Even its narrowest sections evoke a wonderful wilderness-like feeling, making the tensions of city life fade.


Click on the photo for “WalkBoston’s Upper Charles River Reservation Walking Map” on Google Maps

Lexington Walking Map

Lexington Walking Map

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The extraordinary events of April 19, 1775 took place along a single dirt road between Boston, Lexington, and Concord. British troops, whose leaders were convinced that colonists had stores of arms in the area, planned to march on this road from Boston. Paul Revere and William Dawes traveled this road before dawn to warn the colonists. The “shots heard ’round the world” were fired early in the morning on a spring day in Lexington. On that day the American Revolution began.

As you stroll in and near beautiful Lexington, you’ll visit the sites of troop movements, skirmishes, and battles. The walk’s centerpiece, the Lexington Battle Green, is lined with many of the original buildings that witnessed the opening of the war. Interspersed among historic sites along the way are 19th- and 20th-century buildings that reflect Lexington’s development into a commercial center, and later a suburb.


Click here for “WalkBoston’s Lexington Walking Map” on Google Maps

The Hull Peninsula Walking Map

The Hull Peninsula Walking Map

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One of Boston’s best-kept secrets is the pleasure of walking the Hull peninsula–a long stretch of shoreline and flat, sandy public beach that welcomes discovery. The town’s relative isolation has contributed to this status: it’s out of the way, exposed to the elements, and virtually an island. Another factor might be the town’s dual personality. It’s called “Nantasket” when the topic of discussion is the old summer resort, with its grand hotels and sweeping verandas, or the contemporary, Styrofoam-cooler-style refuge for day-trippers, surfers, and sun worshippers. (The summer population can swell to more than 30,000 residents and 150,000 daily visitors.) But “Hull” describes the quieter, year-round town and its approximately 11,000 eclectic winter residents.

You can catch a blazing sunrise over the ocean and one-of-a-kind sunsets over the bay. In summer you’ll feel the luscious cool ocean breezes; in winter, the rich aroma of salt water and seaweed, sweetened by the cold.

Click for “WalkBoston’s The Hull Peninsula Walking Map” on Google Maps

Dedham Walking Map

Dedham Walking Map

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In Dedham the charm and grace of the early 1800s are still in evidence. Its center holds the town’s oldest houses and community buildings and still has bustling activity connected with the Norfolk County Courts. It stands distinct and removed from other parts of town, where farms became subdivisions and local industries once produced everything from shovels, boot to cigars.

Founded in 1635, Dedham was strategically located on the great highway of foot, horse, and wagon travel that ran from Virginia to New Hampshire. In its prime Dedham hosted presidents and political leaders, the nation’s first free public school, and notable events such as the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti.

The town lost much of its economic primacy before the twentieth century, however, and the automobile hastened its conversion to a suburban community whose boundaries blurred with those of its neighbors. This walk takes you on a loop around an oasis of history in a modern suburb.


Click for “WalkBoston’s Dedham Walking Map” on Google Maps

Hills of Somerville Walking Map

Hills of Somerville Walking Map

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Like an east coast San Francisco, Somerville’s street grid is imposed on its hills without regard to steep grades. Architects have capitalized on the city’s dramatic views with two- and three-family houses densely built in straight rows climbing the hills.

The city’s glacial hills and deep valleys were first settled by colonial farmers. Their roads—which followed crests or valleys—still exist in the form of modern-day Broadway, Somerville Avenue, Elm Street, Main Street, Washington Street, and others. The crosstown streets were once paths between farmers’ lands. The curious street grid may have helped guide the later grid layout of Midwestern and Western cities.

Early development followed the colonial roads; the unpaved range-ways were too hilly for horses. In the 19th century railroads, thoroughfares, and streetcars were all laid out, allowing Somerville to become both an industrial center and, at one point, the most densely populated city in the country.


Click for “Hills of Somerville Walking Map” on Google Maps