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 2 of 2
Chelmsford, Massachusetts
Russell Mill Pond & Town Forest
132 acres of alternating oak and pine with 3,000 feet of shore on Russell Mill Pond, and a big trail network shared with mountain bikers.
Ages 3–12
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem Maritime National Historical Park
A half-mile wharf into Salem Harbor with a little solar-powered lighthouse at the end, and the Custom House where Nathaniel Hawthorne worked.
Ages 3–12
Photo: Susana M. Tejada, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem Willows
A long, narrow park on the water at the tip of Salem Neck, with a new fishing pier, a historic avenue of trees, and the willows it is named for.
Ages 3–12
Photo: Fletcher6, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Eastham, Massachusetts
Salt Pond & Nauset Marsh
A kettle pond the sea broke into, a tidal marsh full of birds, and a 1.3-mile loop that comes home through a forest growing back.
Ages 4–12
Photo: Chris M Morris, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Saugus, Massachusetts
Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site
A 17th-century ironworks rebuilt on the Saugus River, with working waterwheels, a blast furnace, a forge, a half-mile nature trail and a picnic area.
Ages 3–12
Photo: Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Chelmsford, Massachusetts
Thanksgiving Ground Forest
Forty-five acres of ledge and giant glacial boulders on the west bank of Russell Mill Pond, named for the town's old Thanksgiving Day fox hunt.
Ages 3–12
Lincoln, Massachusetts
The Battle Road
Five miles of the 1775 Battle Road, Meriam's Corner to Lexington, past stone walls and the tavern the British marched by twice in one day.
Ages 4–12
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Carlisle, Massachusetts
The Greenough Land
Carlisle's largest pond, made before 1930 to bring in ducks, set in 242 acres of woods, fields and wetlands that reach the Concord River.
Ages 3–12
Concord, Massachusetts
The North Bridge
The rebuilt wooden bridge where militia were first ordered to fire on British soldiers, with the Minute Man statue on one bank and an obelisk on the other.
Ages 3–12
Eastham, Massachusetts
The Three Sisters
Three little lighthouses in a clearing in the woods, set out in the order they stood on the cliff. From the sea they looked like women in white dresses.
Ages 4–12
Photo: Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Carlisle, Massachusetts
The Towle Land
A path over a little dam to an open field of rocky outcrops where bobolinks nest in late spring and summer, with Native stone piles in the woods.
Ages 3–12
Princeton, Massachusetts
Wachusett Meadow
An old farm turned wildlife sanctuary: sheep in the pastures, barns still in use, beaver ponds, an enormous glacial boulder and a nature play area.
Ages 3–12
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Princeton, Massachusetts
Wachusett Mountain State Reservation
Drive or hike to the 2,006-foot summit for a 360-degree view, then explore 17 miles of trails through forest and meadow and past ponds below.
Ages 3–12
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Concord, Massachusetts
Walden Pond
A 102-foot-deep pond a glacier left behind, a path all the way around it, and the spot where Thoreau built his one-room house and lived for two years.
Ages 4–12
Photo: ptwo from Allahabad, India, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Salem, Massachusetts
Winter Island
Fort Pickering's 1643 earthworks, a lighthouse at the tip, a beach, a campground and a path along Cat Cove, at the mouth of Salem Harbor.
Ages 3–12
Photo: Townsendma30, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
