Mass Central Rail Trail. Waltham MA

After leaving off in Belmont, the Central Massachusetts Railroad remnant picks up at Beaver Street in Waltham where Beaver Brook threads through it at several points.

If the Somerville and Cambridge segments are showcases for state of the art linear park sections, the Waltham portions are more mysterious.

Charles River Link Trail Medfield MA.

The southern end of the Charles River Link Trail meets the Bay Circuit Trail after passing through wilds around the grounds of the decommissioned Medfield State Hospital now gradually becoming part of Medfield State Forest.

The trailhead on the eastern side is in Dover just to the north of the Dover-Sherborn Regional High School.

Bay Circuit Trail: Callahan State Park.

Callahan State Park is like Borderlands in that it occupies two towns, Framingham and Marlborough.

The Bay Circuit Trail meets it coming in from the north after passing through the Sudbury Valley Trustees parcel called the Welch Reservation.

Urban Aspects: Medford MA Shepherd Brooks Estate.

The Shepherd Brooks Estate is another era's country house owned by the prominent Brooks family.

This is one of the more amusing things I learn as I sift through layers of current and past infrastructure. To Longfellow or Brooks, Wellesley or north Medford was as rural as the White Mountains might be today.

Mystic Link Trail : Mystic Lakes.

The northward lacing of bikeways along the Mystic River watershed clings closely to the charming Mystic Lakes in the passage from Medford to Winchester before arriving at the mouth of the Aberjona River.

It is an older parkway system made by the now vanquished MDC.

Urban Aspects. Watertown Branch Rail Trail Conversion.

The Watertown Branch railroad line served the Watertown Arsenal and made a run toward the Waltham border.

It veered away from the Fitchburg Line near Sherman Street in Cambridge and followed Fresh Pond along its eastern side before turning toward Watertown.

Urban Aspects Cambridge MA Alewife Bike Hub.

The Alewife Station area is a well designed hub where bikeways meet. 

The Mystic Link comes in from the north via Alewife Brook.

Bay Circuit Trail: Ipswich MA Prospect Hill to Linebrook Woods.

The enthusiasm Ipswich evinces for the Bay Circuit Trail and its own extensive trail system is noticeable as soon as you cross the border in the north.

It is one of the more exciting aspects of Essex County, a convergence of astute organizations collaborating at adding to the value of a region covering everything from heritage facets to critical ecology research in the Great Marsh.

The Neponset River Greenway Revisited: Dorchester and Milton.

I first began exploring this river last year and readily determined that it is worthy of greater recognition.

The Neponset River Greenway is a work in progress with some significant completed sections.

Bay Colony Rail Trail Needham MA.

The Bay Colony Railroad was a short line between Newton and Milford MA with a section shared by the Needham commuter rail line.

It was originally part of the NY/New Haven system and then ended up as a bit of Conrail.

Mass Central Rail Trail : Somerville and Cambridge.

The Massachusetts Central Rail Trail is easily the most elaborate one of the various spoke trail projects underway.

The Central Massachusetts Railroad was a line that aimed to compete as a way to Albany NY. It was discontinued in 1971.

A part of it already is proposed as a segment of the Bay Circuit in the Wayland and 
Sudbury area.

Charles River Link Trail Wellesley MA The Sudbury Aqueduct Part 1.

The Sudbury Aqueduct is a defining feature of the land between its origin in Southborough and its arrival at the Chestnut Hill Reservoir.

The Charles River Link Trail meets it south of Longfellow Pond in Wellesley.

Mystic Link Trail: Medford MA. Medford Square to Lower Mystic Lake.

The Mystic River Watershed curls neatly through the long flow of my memory since birth.

I almost see the ghost footsteps of those who went before me, and my own as a toddler.