Trying on the Boston Greenbelt
An epic trail through the city suburbs is taking root
This past weekend, my dad and I went for a spring hike on Mount Tom (the weirdest mountain in Massachusetts) and the forest canopy looked like one big rolling moss colony. Every shade of green was represented. The sight of the surrounding woods looking so lush and verdant made you want to leap off the nearest cliff, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Style, and allow the pillowy canopy to catch you. Or I suppose you could just walk through the greenery, appreciating its fullness and vast scale.
Massachusetts is a well-endowed state when it comes to greenery, and the Greater Boston Area is no exception, with over 20,000 acres of park lands in 37 communities. Several of you have no doubt wandered through some of these beloved green spaces, such as the Middlesex Fells or the Neponset River Reservation. But what if you could embark on a 90-mile thru-hike or section hike across these green spaces, starting on the north shore in Marblehead, tracing a C-shaped ring around Boston across woods, wetlands, and suburban streets, and finishing your journey on the sea again in Quincy?
That’s the alluring hook of the Boston Greenbelt Trail—a trail concept that could one day become a signed and transit-accessible circuit hike for the Greater Boston Area.