The Classics
(Photo from Mount Auburn Cemetery)
Mount Auburn Cemetery.
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The Classics
Be honest. When was the last time you actually got your soles dirty on one of these favorites? Don't wait for the next out-of-town guest to show up at your doorstep to rediscover the gems.
BLUE HILLS RESERVATION (mass.gov/dcr/parks/metroboston/blue.htm). There are 125 miles of trails that crisscross this urban oasis, including the rugged 9-mile Skyline Trail. But the best part is simply getting lost in the vast pockets of woods, walking over the pine needles on the Jeffries Trail or finding more deer than humans at Great Cedar Swamp.
MIDDLESEX FELLS RESERVATION (fells.org). This also has its own Skyline Trail (6.9 miles) with requisite view of downtown Boston. Far less traversed is a 5.2-mile loop around three of the Fells' reservoirs. Middlesex always seems to have far more mountain bikers than walkers, leaving the better climbing trails like Skyline to the inveterate few.
MOUNT AUBURN CEMETERY (mountauburn.org). The 175-acre arboretum is known for its peaceful strolls alongside ponds or in dense woodlands that boast more than 600 types of trees. Walk amid the century-old sugar maples while you visit the graves of Winslow Homer, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Isabella Stewart Gardner.
THE FREEDOM TRAIL (thefreedomtrail.org). Sure it's crowded, but most out-of-towners never make it past Faneuil Hall. A few dedicated stragglers will find their way to Paul Revere's House. But continue on to Copp's Hill Burying Ground. Then, at the finish, make your way up the 294 steps of the Bunker Hill Monument (which, as you know from seventh-grade history class, isn't technically on Bunker Hill), and don't sweat "until you see the whites of their eyes."
