A few months ago my friend Maureen sent me this story about “urban hikes”.   The idea is to put together a walk that strings together existing green spaces and interconnections between them.  The author first heard about the 17 mile Crosstown Trail in San Francisco.     Inspired by that he put together a 27 mile Boston Walking City Tour.     Inspired by both of those, I’ve decided to get in on the fun.

I’ve just created a more modest 5 mile walk in Newton that connects 8 parklands and crosses the Charles River six times.  I’ll call it the Southwest River Walk.  Its mostly in Lower Falls and Upper Falls.  The unique wrinkle in this walk is that it is a loop rather than a one way route …. and the loop is completed with a quick three stop ride on the Riverside Line.

Thanks to Maureen Reilly Meagher for the inspiration and also for coming on the exploratory walk where we figured out the details

Since its a loop you can start anywhere you like but I’ll describe it starting from my house in Upper Falls.

Cross over Echo Bridge into Needham

\

After you go up the stairs on the far side of the bridge, take the first path on the left.  It heads down the hill.

The path will end at Elliot St.  Turn left, cross over the river again back into Newton and take the first right on River Ave, then left on Keefe Ave.  Follow it until you come to Bobby Braceland Park

Once in the park, head to the bottom left corner of the park, by the river.   Go through this gate onto the Upper Falls River Walk.

Follow the path until you come to the old railroad bridge over the river.   Climb the stairs to the the top of the bridge, which is the end of the Upper Falls Greenway.  Walk down the Greenway for about 3/4 mile

You’ll cross Oak St, you’ll pass the neighborhood bocce court, you’ll pass by the enormous radio tour.

You’ll come to a spur trail going off to the right.  Continue straight and you’ll see the very big white Boston Ballet building across the parking lot on the right.   Continue on the trail to the end of the white Boston Ballet building and then turn left on this path that heads up by the fire station.  Follow Columbia Ave up the hill to Elliot St.

Cross the street and turn right.

A block further you’ll be across from the entrance to the fire station and on your left you’ll see a trail going up a hill into the Frank Barney Conservation Area .

Walk up that trail and when you come out the other end, continue down Circuit Ave

A few doors away you’ll see the Poetry Path in the Martin Conservation Area.  The path is lined with painted stones and poems written by Newton folks.

When you come out the bottom of the Poetry Path, turn left and continue to the end of Circuit Ave at Route 9.

Turn right on Route 9 and walk a block and a half to the pedestrian overpass.

Cross over Route 9 on the pedestrian overpass to Eliot T station.  In the station, buy your ticket, cross the track and board the next outbound train to Riverside station.

It’s only three stops away and its the end of the line

At Riverside, when you come out of the station,  traverse the entire huge parking lot to the other end (closest to the highway).  At the far end the road curves around to the right and you’ll see a series of trailers.

After the trailers there’s this shed, head behind the shed, follow the fence unto you come to a gate.

The gate is locked but the chain is loose enough to easily get through

Cross over the northbound lanes of Rt 95, the wooded median strip, and then the southbound lanes of Rt 95

Once across the highway, turn right on the path that goes down the hill.   Follow the path, it parallels the highway for a little bit and then turns left through the trees

As you head through the woods and come to the golf course, take the path to the left and then skirt the left edge of the golf course.

Maybe a 1/4 mile down the golf course you’ll see a road on the left that heads to this gate.

Through the gate, turn right on Pine Grove Ave and then an immediate left on St Marys St.  Go to the end and turn left on Concord St

About a block down Concord St, you’ll see this path on the right.  Head down the path and over the pedestrian bridge into Wellesley.  When you get to Washington St (Rt16), cross to the far side and turn left.

You’ll cross the river again on Washington St back into Newton.  On the right side of the street you’ll pass a post office, a Starbucks, Gregorian Rugs.  

Just past Gregorians there’s a small old stone building and a path to the right.  Follow the path….

… over the pedestrian bridge over the river back into Wellesley.   At the far side of the bridge, turn left and continue across the parking lot to the street.  At the street cross Walnut St at the crosswalk and turn left

Follow this sidewalk back over the river into Newton, up to the corner of Route 16 and follow it around to the right onto the road that leads to Route 95 and Quinnobequin Rd

This is the one slightly dicey part of the walk since there is no sidewalk here

Head down the road and bear left under the highway to Quinnobequin Rd.  Once under the bridge you’ll pass some houses on the left, and then a brick pump house, shortly after that you’ll come to #178 (on the left) and just pass that a trail heads into the woods on the right and along the river. 

Follow this river trail for the entire length of  Quinnobequin Rd, approximately 1.75 miles.

At the end you’ll emerge at an underpass under Route 9.  Cross under Route 9

Continue straight up the hill on Ellis St to the bottom of Echo Bridge

When you get to the bridge, turn left, cross the street, and climb the stairs to the top of the bridge.

Before you do though, you might instead head away from the stairs, down the hill to the echo platform on the river and scream you heart out to find out why its called Echo Bridge