Biking and Kayaking The Charles
Boston, MA
Just when I think I have seen all of Boston’s beauty, she finds a way to surprise me! Today Scott and I headed into Boston to bike and kayak The Charles River. I have passed this river hundreds of times by car but I am usually too busy checking my GPS or trying to maneuver city traffic to truly appreciate the scenery…so I was very excited to explore at a slower pace today.
Finding the best place to park was not easy, but for the bike ride, I recommend parking at Magazine Beach parking lot on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. It is free and right on the Paul Dudley White Bike Path (sometimes called the Charles River Bike Path). This bike path is incredible! It circles around the Charles River from the Museum of Science all the way to Galen Street Watertown Bridge (17 miles). The beauty of this trail is that you can make it as long or short of a loop as you want by crossing over the several bridges you pass along the way. We biked roughly 14 miles by crossing over the Charles at the Arsenal Street Bridge.
I was truly amazed by how much green space is found along this bike trail and accessible to those in the city. It was a perfect low humidity, breezy, sunny day and it seemed like everyone was out enjoying the view! There were beautiful areas along the river with perfectly placed benches, trees to hang hammocks, grassy picnic spots, docks for sunbathing and shady nooks to set up a chair and read. Right on the bike trail we also passed a few fun Night Shift brewery pop-ups, places to rent sailboats and canoes/kayaks and playgrounds with splash pads for kids.
Have I mentioned the view? We headed towards the Museum of Science where all along the way you follow the spectacular Boston skyline. TIP: Once you pass the Museum of Science and take a right to loop to the other side of the Charles, take another immediate right to link back up with the bike path along the water instead of biking on the main road’s sidewalk.
Once we looped to the other side, we biked through lush parks with stone bridges and views of both the Charles and its smaller offshoot river. TIP: At the Hatch Memorial Shell, walk your bike over the park’s small stone bridge to continue biking along the water.
If you follow my trips, you know that I love trying new eateries. Just off the bike path, a block from Arsenal Street Bridge, we stopped at The Speedway in Brighton. This unique marketplace just opened in June and is home to small local food, drink and art shops circling a biergarten/pavilion with outdoor communal tables covered with shade sail canopies and strung lights for at night. We enjoyed a well deserved Salzburg Radler (mix of grapefuit soda and lager) from Notch Brewery and a hummus bowl topped with falafel, tabouleh, chickpea salad, feta and tahini with a side of fresh warm pita from Hummus V’ Hummus. Yum!!!
But wait…there’s more! Scott and I have always wanted to kayak the Charles and experience the city from the water, so we packed up the bikes and moved the car a minute down the road to the Magazine Beach Cartop Launch. TIP: This lot has a 4 hour limit so not a place you can park all day. The view from the Charles and the city at sunset was absolutely breathtaking! It was so different from the lakes and rivers we usually kayak.
TIP: If you paddle towards the Esplanade, you will find an entrance to a smaller offshoot of the Charles river that circles around the Esplanade. It’s a great spot to get a change of scenery and kayak along the park, under the beautiful stone arches.
On the way back, it was definitely more difficult to paddle against the current and wind, but very manageable. We just took our time enjoying the sunset and all the geese and ducks that came out to swim with us at dusk. What a day in beautiful Boston!
