39 places
Massachusetts parks for kids
Real places with challenges written for what's actually there, from the park's own maps and records. Or browse by region if you know roughly where you're going.
39 locations · page 1 of 2
Sheffield, Massachusetts
Bartholomew's Cobble
Two rocky knolls above the Housatonic with one of North America's greatest diversities of ferns, two small caves and a hilltop field. No pets.
Ages 4–12
Photo: Daderot, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Milton, Massachusetts
Blue Hills Reservation
Climb 635-foot Great Blue Hill for a view over the whole Boston area, then cool off at Houghton's Pond. 7,000 acres and 125 miles of trails.
Ages 3–12
Photo: NewtonCourt, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Saugus, Massachusetts
Breakheart Reservation
Two lakes in a big forest, supervised summer swimming at Pearce Lake, and rocky hilltops to climb for views of Boston and New Hampshire.
Ages 4–12
Photo: Joseph Reagle, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts
Bunker Hill Monument
A 221-foot granite obelisk on Breed's Hill, where colonists dug a fort overnight in 1775. Climb 294 steps to the top; the monument and museum are free.
Ages 3–12
Photo: National Park Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Eastham, Massachusetts
Cape Cod National Seashore — Fort Hill
A whaling captain's bright yellow 1868 house, a boulder where Native people sharpened tools, and a one-mile loop over open fields above Nauset Marsh.
Ages 3–12
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Fall River, Massachusetts
Copicut Woods
516 acres of shady woods with Miller Lane, a 150-year-old cart path lined with stone walls, and a quarter-mile Discovery Trail built for strollers.
Ages 4–12
Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Chelmsford, Massachusetts
Cranberry Bog Reservation
Wetland paths on causeways and peninsulas at the head of the old Carlisle cranberry bogs, with a wide, flat trail to a small dam and otters and herons.
Ages 3–12
Lincoln, Massachusetts
deCordova Sculpture Park
New England's largest sculpture park: 30 acres of lawns, woods and gardens beside Flint's Pond, with more than 50 sculptures out in the open.
Ages 3–12
Lincoln, Massachusetts
Drumlin Farm
A working farm with pigs, sheep, goats and cows, owls and a red fox that can't go back to the wild, and an easy climb to the top of the drumlin.
Ages 3–12
Photo: Swampyank, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Fairhaven, Massachusetts
Fort Phoenix
The remains of a Revolutionary War fort, a universally accessible beach on Buzzards Bay, a playground, and a hurricane barrier to walk along.
Ages 3–12
Photo: Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger), CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Carlisle, Massachusetts
Great Brook Farm State Park
A working dairy farm where a robot milks the cows, free weekend barn tours in season, an ice cream stand, and more than 20 miles of trails.
Ages 3–12✓ Playtested
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Concord, Massachusetts
Great Meadows Refuge — Concord Unit
Two big man-made pools with a dike trail between them, a lookout tower by the parking lot, and a refuge bird list of over 220 species. No dogs allowed.
Ages 3–12
Rockport, Massachusetts
Halibut Point State Park
A flooded granite quarry, a World War II watchtower, tide pools on the ledges below, and on a clear day a mountain in Maine 40 miles away.
Ages 3–12
Photo: Chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Westminster, Massachusetts
Leominster State Forest
Swim at Crow Hill Pond, see the ledges rock climbers use, and find the Midstate Trail, which runs from Rhode Island to New Hampshire, on the western edge.
Ages 4–12
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell Heritage State Park
Two miles of Merrimack riverfront with a paved bike path, a boat ramp and picnic area, plus exhibits on the canals and mills that built Lowell.
Ages 4–12
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell National Historical Park
Nearly six miles of canals, locks and gatehouses through a mill city, and a working 1920s weave room at the Boott Cotton Mills. No entrance fee.
Ages 4–12
Photo: National Park Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell-Dracut-Tyngsboro State Forest
Over 1,000 acres of woods, ponds and swamps where Lowell meets Dracut and Tyngsborough, with miles of trails to hike, bike or ski. Free parking.
Ages 4–12
Rockport, Massachusetts
Millbrook Meadow
A four-acre park across from Rockport's Front Beach: a mill pond, a brook to follow toward the sea, a playground, and a three-ton granite whale to climb.
Ages 3–12
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Monument Mountain
A pale quartzite peak sacred to the Mohican people, three trails under three miles, and views to Mount Greylock and the Catskills from the 1,642-foot top.
Ages 6–12
Photo: Tom Walsh, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lanesborough, Massachusetts
Mount Greylock State Reservation
The highest point in Massachusetts, 3,491 feet up, with a road to the top from mid-May to late October, a war memorial tower and 90-mile views.
Ages 3–12
Photo: Miwasiwka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Boston, Massachusetts
Neponset River Reservation
A tidal river running out to Boston Harbor past salt marsh, with a paved riverside trail, playgrounds, herons in the shallows and views of the city.
Ages 3–12
Photo: Swampyank, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
Thirteen blocks of a whaling city: the sailors' chapel from Moby-Dick, granite-block streets, and the house where Frederick Douglass got his name.
Ages 4–12
Photo: Rolf Müller, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Gloucester, Massachusetts
Ravenswood Park
Six hundred acres of Gloucester woods: giant fern-covered boulders, a boardwalk through a magnolia swamp, carriage paths, and an overlook to the harbor.
Ages 3–12
Saugus, Massachusetts
Rumney Marsh Reservation
A 600-acre tidal salt marsh in the Saugus and Pines River inlet, flat and open for bird watching, and a state Area of Critical Environmental Concern.
Ages 4–12
Photo: Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
