Dogs Leashed
Features
Birding · Fall Colors · Lake · Views · Wildlife
Sunrise to sunset. Open to hiking, running, horseback riding (on orange-blazed fire roads), mountain bikes (except for winter and foot-traffic trails), and cross country skiing. No swimming, boating, or fishing.
Overview
Making up a fifth of the land area of the city of Lynn, Lynn Woods Reservation attracts numerous trail users with lots of room to explore. Most of the trails are wide with good footing, though some stretches are rockier with exposed roots to watch out for.
This loop uses the ample parking available at the
Great Woods Road entrance, heads along the southwest shore of Walden Pond, before looping to the south between Birch Pond and Tomlin's Swamp, and back up
Undercliff Path for a final ascent and rewarding viewpoint at Burrill Hill's Stone Tower.
Need to Know
Bug spray or long sleeves can be helpful during warmer, wetter months.
Runner Notes
This reservation is a gem for trail running with a variety of trails to choose from to accommodate length and ability.
Description
From Route 129, head northwest onto the Great Woods Road entrance to access the parking area along the baseball field. Head south (left) into the woods onto the
Great Woods Road for a nice, undulating warm-up through the woods. Though this run stays on the fire road, look for occasional spur trails that head to the right to the Walden Pond shoreline, like the
Tracy Trail, which you can run along before cutting back left (south) to rejoin the fire road.
Around the 1.3-mile mark, continue onto
Pennybrook Road as it bends to the left (south) toward the Penny Bridge. Cross the bridge and turn right onto
Walden Pond Road as it climbs up and around Fuller Hill. At mile 2.5, turn left onto the
Mount Moriah Path to continue the ascent, this time to Mount Moriah, where occasional views can be found in the winter months when the leaves are down. This section of the Reservation features numerous boulders and rocky crags as evidence of the glacial history through this area.
Continue to look for painted blazes on trees along the official trails or keep an eye on the Trail Run Project mobile app for on-trail navigation.
Stay straight along the hiking/walking
Mount Moriah Path or worse comes to worst, head left (east) to find
Pennybrook Road which will rejoin this route at the Pennybrook Entrance. Before the parking area, around the 3.75-mile mark, there is an optional spur that heads left (east) to Cedar Hill.
At the Pennybrook Road Entrance, head along the road loop looking for the
Pennybrook Road entrance. Head along the fire road for a few hundred feet before arriving at intersection C7-7 and the
Undercliff Path heading to the right (northeast).
Stay on the
Undercliff Path as it heads through Needham's Clearing, up along the eastern boundary of Tomlin's Swap and Swamp Island. Turn right at intersection C5-4 and right again on
Dungeon Road. After a hundred yards or so, look for a left at intersection C6-1 to cut east, beginning the ascent above Long Swamp onto
Cooke Road, which heads up Burrill Hill to the Stone Tower.
After enjoying the rewarding views of the Boston Skyline and surrounding areas, continue northeast, either on
Cooke Road or the
Stone Tower Connector (D6-1 - E6-2) to the
Cornel Path back to the parking area on the
Great Woods Road.
Flora & Fauna
Deer, coyotes, foxes, songbirds, geese, ducks.
History & Background
Founded in 1881 with around 2,200 acres, Lynn Woods is one of the largest municipal parks in the entire U.S.
Contacts
Shared By:
Zander Göpfert
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