Cutler Park Boardwalks - Needham, MA
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 42° 16.961 W 071° 11.874
19T E 318778 N 4683502
Two boardwalks and a 'railroad tie' crossing traverse the cattail marshes of the Needham Great Plains in Cutler Park.
Waymark Code: WM6ABM
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 05/02/2009
Views: 5
Traveling along route 128/I-95, if you look east in the Needham section, you might see a flat plain of brown fields, broken up by a railroad viaduct. Though you can't see them from the highway, hidden in the field are a pair of boardwalks where you can walk in the midst of cat tails and perhaps glimpse a soaring harrier (saw one as we were walking another part of the path).
It is a pretty long walk if you want to cover both boardwalks. We approached from the north at the parking lot off Kendrick Street, by the company, PTC. Coordinates are: N42 17.768 W71 12.708. We estimated that our round trip was about 5 miles to cover both boardwalks. Another parking lot, close to the southern boardwalk (less than 0.1 mile), is off Great Plain Avenue. Coordinates are: N42 16.196 W71 11.773.
Cutler Park Reservation is a nice piece of land along the Charles River and is bounded by the Charles River, Kendrick Street, Route 128/I-95, and Great Plain Avenue-Needham Street (plus some neighborhood streets in Dedham). There is no admission fee into the park. The parking lots are not large, and nearby parking lots in Kendrick Street are privately owned, so you might have to park on the street (both roads are very busy, so use great caution), or have to come back another time. The web site for the park, where you can view or download a map, is here: (
visit link) .
The path is part of a long path, called the Blue Heron Trail, along the Charles River starting from Watertown and ending in Dedham. There are beautiful sights all around Cutler Park. Unfortunately, you can hear and sometimes see the highway, especially if you pass west of Kendall Lake, but the views of the marsh and the Charles River are well worth putting up with the sounds. The Needham Branch of the MBTA commuter rail system also passes through the marsh. The path passes under the tracks through a tunnel, so you do NOT need to cross the tracks.