LocationsConcord
3 parks · 67 challenges · Massachusetts
Outdoor things to do with kids in Concord
All of it in Concord.
Three places within a few miles of each other: a pond, a river full of birds, and the road the war started on.
Finish all 3
Play every park here and your family are Explorers of Concord.
Where to go, and what to expect
Walden Pond
Concord, Massachusetts · 24 challenges
A glacier-made pond a hundred feet deep, a path all the way round it, and the spot where Thoreau built a one-room house.
About 2 hoursStroller in places
Underfoot. The trail to the Thoreau house site is universally designed. The rest run through Walden Woods.
Parking. Large lot off Route 126. $8 with Massachusetts plates, $30 out of state, card machines in the lot. It closes once the park is full.
Great Meadows Refuge — Concord Unit
Concord, Massachusetts · 22 challenges
Two big impoundments with a dike path along the wall between them, an observation tower a few steps in from the road, and one of the best inland birding spots in the state. No dogs at all — it is a wildlife refuge.
About an hour and a halfStroller in places
Underfoot. Four trails making 2.7 miles, almost no elevation change. The observation tower is right by the parking lot and the Dike Trail runs between the two impoundments.
Parking. The refuge entrance is off Monsen Road, about a mile out of Concord centre on Route 62. There is an entrance fee at the Concord unit. Sunrise to sunset, year round.
The North Bridge
Concord, Massachusetts · 21 challenges
A wooden bridge over the Concord River where farmers were first ordered to fire on British soldiers, with a bronze minute man on one bank and a granite obelisk on the other — one marking where the militia stood, the other where the British did.
About an hour and a halfStroller in placesBathrooms in season
Underfoot. A short walk down from the lot to the bridge, then across it. The bridge has a rail and steps up on either side. The visitor center sits up a hill.
Parking. The Park Service gives 280 Monument Street, Concord for the North Bridge and Minute Man Statue lot. There is a second lot at the visitor center, 174 Liberty Street, up the hill. Both free, and there is no entrance fee. Note the park's own warning that satnavs get this park wrong — follow the brown signs once you are close.
Play all 3 around Concord
Free. Works with no signal once you're there.