Arlington Open Spaces

In our May 2020 post “Walking in Arlington” we presented a number of maps and ideas for walking routes in and around Arlington. In this post we are pleased to suggest some additional routes and resources. Remember to wear a mask, practice social distancing, and follow other relevant guidelines as indicated at each site.

Arlington’s Great Meadows

Arlington’s Great Meadows (AGM) is a 183-acre parcel of land owned by Arlington but located in East Lexington. It is the largest nearby area of undeveloped open space with numerous looping trails and several boardwalks. The Minuteman Bikeway on its southern border provides access at several locations. Other parking and access points are shown on the AGM map.

 Note that the parking area behind the former Golden Living Center nursing home complex is now closed. Demolition has started to remove the buildings and construct a number of town-house units. When the work is completed, a new parking area and public access trail will be provided from Emerson Gardens Road to AGM.

For more information, visit the Friends of Arlington’s Great Meadows website at www.foagm.org

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ACROSS Lexington

ACROSS Lexington is a network of marked trails and paths for walkers, runners and trail bikers, including access from the Arlington Reservoir path. The routes use existing public ways to connect the town center with various historic sites, schools and conservation areas. Several ACROSS Lexington trails loop through a number of conservation areas, most of which have their own networks of trails.

The Trail Guide  to Lexington’s Conservation Land includes color trail maps for Lexington’s 26 walkable conservation areas. (Note that some of the maps may be-out-of-date. Please refer to the maps located on the kiosks at trail entry points.)

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Mass Audubon and Trustees Sites

Mass Audubon Society and The Trustees have many properties in the greater Boston area, although some of them remain closed during the pandemic. Consult their websites for further information about which sites and walking trails are open.

https://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries

http://www.thetrustees.org/places-to-visit/

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We hope you and your family are staying safe and healthy during these difficult times. While social distancing guidelines remain in place to protect us all from exposure to Covid-19, we also know how important it is to be outdoors and enjoy the bounties of spring in New England.

Arlington residents have two excellent resources for local walks.

• Arlington Open Space Committee’s Take A Walk maps.
• Arlington resident George Stephans’ Circumnavigate Arlington maps.

Take A Walk Maps

We wrote about the Talk A Walk initiative in last January’s blog entry. The Take A Walk maps, linked in that entry, will help you safely explore less traveled parts of Arlington that you may never have visited before and may reveal some surprising discoveries, including beautiful front yard gardens, and bears and other creatures in house windows. Have fun! 

Circumnavigate Arlington Maps

An initiative developed by Arlington resident George Stephans offers a walking route that follows the town’s boundaries. He was initially inspired by suggestions to honor Marathon Monday on April 20 by doing a special running/walking event with some charity component. This idea expanded to consider routes that avoid heavy traffic areas such as the bike path and Mass Ave. As it turns out, one can travel very close to the entire Arlington border on roads that are reasonably safe for walking or running and typically are not very busy.

The Circumnavigate Arlington main page explains this project.

Take A Walk  is another project of the Arlington Open Space Committee. This project is designed to encourage residents to get outside and walk to Arlington’s diverse parks and recreational facilities. The Open Space Committee has developed a set of seven suggested and overlapping walking routes across town. The maps indicate safe walking distances linking open spaces, conservation lands, playing fields, playgrounds, and other points of interest.

A town-wide map shows all seven routes, or you can download or print any of the neighborhood maps – East Arlington North, East Arlington South, Arlington Center South, Arlington Heights South, Arlington Heights North, Arlington Center North, and Arlington Center Central.

Take a walk around some of Arlington’s many attractive open spaces.

Arlington’s Open Space Committee has a number of resources that can inform and guide residents in using the town’s varied open space and recreation facilities. 

The Open Space and Recreation Plan  for 2015-2022 documents many aspects of the community and its open spaces.Section 5 of the Plan presents maps and descriptions of 20 major open space and recreation sites, with additional information on all of the more than 70 parks, playing fields, and conservation lands in Arlington. Other sections of the Plan present historical and environmental information on the Town, goals and objectives for future open space projects, and an action plan for implementing various projects in collaboration with many other Town departments, committees, and organizations.

Experiencing Arlington’s Open Spaces is a web-based application based on the Plan. Developed by Arlington’s GIS department, this app makes much of the site information readily available for viewing on your smart phone or tablet. For each open space site featured on the app there are multiple photographs and a brief description of the property, as well as a map showing access points and internal walking trails.