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Many places to visit, so little time

E-mail|Link|Comments () July 12, 2010 03:20 PM

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

Beacon Hill, the Freedom Trail, Boston Common, the Cheers Bar, the Bunker Hill Monument, the Charlestown Navy Yard, Harvard Yard – some of the approximately 1,000 places listed as the greatest to visit in Massachusetts are pretty obvious.

DCR Photo

Ames Nowell State Park in Abington

Others not so much.

The Knox Trail in Alford? Ames Nowell State Park in Abington? Windsor Jambs in Windsor?

A committee today released the list of places to visit, which could occupy an energetic person with a lot of gas money one day a weekend for the next 20 years or so.

The idea is to boost tourism to the state as well as give local residents the opportunity to visit known and less-known historic, cultural, and natural sites.

The list "celebrates what a truly special place Massachusetts is," Eric Turkington, a former Cape Cod state representative who chaired the Great Places in Massachusetts Commission, said in a statement. "It reminds us how fortunate we are to have such a wealth of heritage, cultural diversity, and natural beauty right in our backyard."