Charles River Link Trail Wellesley MA. Sudbury Aqueduct Part 2.

Upon re-entering Wellesley at Great Plain Avenue, the Charles River Link Trail also rejoins the Sudbury Aqueduct berm.

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.

Charles River Link Trail: Riverside T Station to Wellesley Hills.

This spoke trail is a close counterpart to Minuteman Bikeway in terms of easy public transportation proximity to great hike options.


It is a subtler thing, though. It's mainly a shanks mare adventure. Wellesley has an exceptional conservation land system. 

The northern trail head is a 20 minute walk from the Riverside T Station along Grove St. in Newton Lower Falls, a sub-village of Newton. The entrance is a charming footbridge. 

On the southerly bank lies Wellesley, a town invented by a banker during the gilded age at the end of the 19th century.

I followed it for a few miles and soon came to a single track segment through a floodplain forest along the Charles before it veers away from the river near Ouellet Playground.

From there, it is a fairly short street traverse before you reach the northern entrance to Wellesley Town Forest.

The forest is particularly well equipped with eskers. This array includes the tallest one I've run across yet at 160 feet.

From the southern end at the Longfellow Pond parking lot, it is a fairly short walk to the Wellesley Hills commuter rail station.

The Charles River Link Trail is an outstanding community effort and runs all the way to Medfield.

Longfellow Pond, Wellesley MA