Reprinted from Arlington’s 2022-2029 Open Space and Recreation Plan
The largest open space resource owned by the Town of Arlington contains approximately 183 acres of land but is located entirely in Lexington as a result of a water supply management system installed during the mid-nineteenth century and later discontinued. The largest part of Arlington’s Great Meadows is a flat, marshy plain containing a series of hummocks. Surrounding the plain are wooded uplands braided by walking trails. The Minuteman Bikeway forms the southern border and offers the most direct access to the trails. Other borders are mostly residential and there are only a few access points. Arlington’s Great Meadows is included in several of the ACROSS Lexington trail loops.
More than 50% of the site is certified vegetated wetland. The Lexington zoning bylaw protects the wetlands in Arlington’s Great Meadows by zoning them as Wetland Protection District. The Lexington Conservation Commission and various resident groups have taken an active role in assuring that the Great Meadows remain in its natural state. A consultant was hired by the Arlington Conservation Commission in 1999 to prepare an inventory of the natural resources of this area, along with some management recommendations (Clark 2001).
Since publication of that report, an active Friends of Arlington’s Great Meadows organization of Arlington and Lexington residents has served as stewards of the property. The group has completed extensive surveying of plants and animals, restored some upland meadow areas, organized annual bird watching and geology walks, improved signage and visitor facilities, and protected the environment in the wettest sections of the Meadows by building a series of boardwalks.
- Size: 183.3 acres (entirely in Lexington)
- Managing Agency/Owner: Select Board/Department of Public Works/Town of Arlington
- Current Use: Conservation/Passive recreation
