LocationsBoston & the Blue Hills
Boston, Massachusetts
Neponset River Reservation
Photo: Swampyank, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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.
Written for ages 3–12.
Researched from this park's own sources. Nobody's walked it yet.
Read this bit out
Twice a day the sea pushes up this river and fills the marshes, and twice a day it slides back out again. Herons and egrets stand in the shallows waiting for fish. Long ago this was a working river. There was a chocolate mill upstream, and the granite for the Bunker Hill Monument came down to the Neponset on a railway pulled by horses, then went by ship to Charlestown. One of the parks along it was once a dump. Now the birds have come back, with Boston right there behind them.
One of your three free places, or the Explorer Pass. What that costs
Before you go
- Time there
- Plan on about an hour and a half at the park.
- Parking
- Free parking at Pope John Paul II Park, off Hallet Street in Dorchester. Open dawn to dusk.
- Underfoot
- The Lower Neponset River Trail is paved and runs 5 miles from Dorchester into Milton past salt marsh. Across the Neponset Avenue Bridge, the 2-mile Quincy RiverWalk ends at Squantum Point with views of Boston.
- Stroller
- A stroller is fine here.
- Bathrooms
- There are bathrooms.
- Food
- Picnic areas at Pope John Paul II Park.
22 challenges written for this place
A game deals seven to fifteen of them, so no two visits are alike.
4 things to spot, 3 photographs to take and 3 things to work out.
Every game includes this one
Get To The River
Find the Neponset and stand where you can watch it going past.
A few of the others
On The Riverwalk
Find the path that runs along the water and walk a stretch of it.
The City Behind Us
One photo of everybody with the Boston skyline somewhere behind you.
Down At The Water
One photo taken from as close to the water as a grown-up says is safe.
Their Turn
Hand the phone to the youngest. They take one picture of whatever they want.
A City And A Marsh
You can see wild marsh and a whole city at the same time from here. Find the spot where both fit in one look.
Twice Every Day
The sea comes up this river and goes back down twice a day. Work out how many times that is in a week.
The rest are a surprise — that's the whole point.
Also around Boston & the Blue Hills
Blue Hills Reservation
Milton
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.
Bunker Hill Monument
Charlestown, Boston
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.
Play this at Neponset River Reservation
Free. Works with no signal once you're there.