Mary Cummings Park, Burlington/Woburn, MA

For our big walk this weekend, we decided to go back to Mary Cummings Park on the Burlington/Woburn line.  It's not very far away -- we spent some time in the early afternoon hunting around for a Thai restaurant that's open on a Sunday (thank you, Ginger Pad!), so going for walkies not so far off enabled us to be home in time for Sunday dinner with the parents later. :-)

It was a bit breezy and cool, but the sun was out and the sky was bright blue. The parking lot access at the Northeastern suburban campus was unexpectedly closed, so we parked at the nearby Rotary Field and walked into the park entrance. We encountered one family playing catch near the entrance, and didn't see anyone else on our walk except for the kids we heard approach on 4-wheelers.  (They never got close enough to us to be of much concern, though we did hang on to the dogs a few times when it sounded like they were too close.)

We started out in open meadows and fields before going deeper into the woods and orchards. This park is notable because it used to be a farm and was given in trust to the City of Boston for use as public land for recreation. It has lots of trails, but is also fairly overgrown and not overcrowded. We've enjoyed walking there in the winter, and wanted to check it out in the springtime as well.

As you can see, it's lovely and lush and green! The network of trails is somewhat confusing to me, especially due to lack of trail blazes or signage, but it's fairly contained. If you have Google Maps on your BlackBerry, it's helpful to note some local landmarks (such as the big blue water tower), and you can find your way from there. At the same time, the wild, overgrown nature of the park makes it very interesting to explore.

Among the interesting things to explore are the numerous old, stone walls throughout the property. They were surely used to section off the forested and orchard land from the meadows and fields, but it's quite overgrown now. It's just like encountering stone walls in the woods of New England, and makes you get a feel for what the land/farm must have looked like back in Mary Cummings' day.

Another interesting find -- rusty old cars! The one pictured here wasn't far off the trail.  I have pictures of two different other old cars encountered on winter walks. Some of them are more deteriorated than others, but you can see all the parts just rusted down right where it was abandoned. I don't know much about old cars, so I couldn't even begin to guess what kind this one is or the approximate year -- if anyone else can, please comment!

We also came across a lot of wildlife: a rather large beetle, a very dead snake, a camouflaged toad, a hawk of some sort, and this spider web tucked into a stone wall. We looked along this same wall for a geocache that Ben thought might be hidden there, without luck. We'll have to check again and come back with the coordinates!

We circled around to the model airplane field, which is where we caught sight of the hawk, and the fwiends had a good time running around, especially in the long grass. One unfortunate thing about this park is the vast swaths of poison ivy, on all sides of many trails -- egads! Both Ben and I are quite sensitive to it, and one has to be careful with furry friends who will just traipse through it with no thought about human friends who might then touch their poison ivy-soaked fur. (It sounds awful when I put it that way, ick.) Well, it was a lovely walk aside from this, and we did a big pile of separate laundry of all the outer clothes worn on this walk. We also washed off the dogs in the driveway with castile soap, so they had a good time and ended up smelling fresh and looking quite fluffy and pretty.

Cummings Park is a lovely walk, but the poison ivy situation is difficult. Sad face! Makes for some labor afterward, but it's fun.

Breakheart Reservation, Saugus/Wakefield, MA

It's quite fitting that we christen this new blog o' walkies with a post about a delightful walk at the Breakheart Reservation in Saugus and Wakefield, MA. It was a beautiful, if slightly warm and humid, New England day. We had been to Breakheart a couple times before -- once was a quick stop last Halloween to let the dogs off leash before going to see friends for dinner, and the other time was during the winter when it was rather icy and treacherous on the paved paths.

This was really the perfect day for a walk. We decided to follow the paths around the pond, rather than up the hill by the power lines. We didn't encounter that many people on the paths...they were all at the pond! Lots of folks enjoying the sun, and a few brave souls took a dip in what we're sure was still pretty darn cold water.

Toby and Simba didn't care about the water temperature, though! Once we got to some large rocks opposite the beach area, we took a break for fetch and swimming (for fuzzy friends, not us -- I was tempted, but didn't try it). We found some fishing line and a large hook left in the bushes -- oops! -- before it could hurt anyone, and hung it on a nearby tree.

The paths around the pond are a nice, leisurely walk with plenty of shade and flora to look at. At one point, you cross an earth and stone bridge over a small brook. Mosquitoes were out in full force, but manageable if you kept moving. A few rolling hills, but nothing at all strenuous. We let the friends off leash when we were far from the pond and not encountering many people, and we weren't the only ones. There is a small dog park area at the Breakheart -- we saw it during our icy winter walk -- but we didn't find the right path to it this time, and didn't feel too inclined to try it out on this visit anyways. We spoke with a fellow dog lover on the path who told us it isn't much, especially if no one else it there to play.

We have a feeling this will be a popular place once it warms up. The paved paths are nice for folks who prefer less rugged walking paths or want to push strollers in to the beach. We also saw some folks on bikes and scooters. The network of trails and walking paths, whether near the pond or not, is great for those who want a quieter walk or a little more woods.

This is one of those places just outside of Boston that you can't believe is so close to the city. Places like the Breakheart and the Middlesex Fells are so close to metro Boston, but are preserved, wooded areas for everyone to enjoy. We're enjoying exploring these nearby places on days when we can't venture terribly far afield.

We'll surely go back to the Breakheart. Perhaps once we get more readers, we'll want to come up with some kind of rating system or certain topical points we evaluate when posting about a new place? In the meantime, we'll just review the walk and post pictures for you to enjoy.