1
Prospect Hill Park
Park
274 acres7 mi of trail
Sunset TrailMalloy TrailPine Ledge TrailProspectors Ridge TrailBond Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Outdoors · Waltham
Waltham, MA parks, trails & bike paths
About 17% of Waltham is conserved land, roughly 1,444 acres. There are about 38 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Prospect Hill Park (7 mi), Beaver Brook North Reservation (5.5 mi), and Storer Conservation Land (3.9 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Waltham, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Waltham outdoors
Conserved land
17%
1,444 of 8,754 acres
Trails
38 mi
2.7 mi per sq mi · 24 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
45
22 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
9.2 mi
1.1 mi lanes · 7.2 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Beaver Brook North Reservation
Nature preserve
201 acres5.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Storer Conservation Land
Nature preserve
105 acres3.9 mi of trail
Lyman TrailHemlock TrailBull Run TrailPine Springs TrailStorer Path
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Sanderson Heights
Nature preserve
26 acres1.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
5
Chesterbrook Woods
Nature preserve
26 acres1.2 mi of trail
Storer PathPine Springs TrailHemlock TrailPaine Pass
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the trail sign
6
Beaver Brook Reservation
Nature preserve
46 acres1.1 mi of trail
Esker TrailToboggan RunPlympton PathKendall Path
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
7
Sachar Woods
Managed by Brandeis University
16 acres1.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo Theater Lot
8
Shady's Pond Conservation Area
Nature preserve
32 acres0.9 mi of trail
Western Greenway
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
All 45 parks & preserves
- Northeast Elementary School Land17 ac · 0.9 mi trail · Directions
- Veterans Memorial Complex24 ac · 0.7 mi trail · Directions
- Waltham School Department Land20 ac · 0.6 mi trail
- Mackerel Hill19 ac · 0.4 mi trail · Directions
- Forest Grove Park9 ac · 0.4 mi trail
- Lowell Field5 ac · 0.4 mi trail · Directions
- Monsignor McCabe Playground5 ac · 0.4 mi trail · Directions
- 200 Trapelo Road25 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Waltham Housing Authority Land11 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Bow Street Parcel8 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Cedarwood Playground7 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Elsie Turner Field6 ac · 0.3 mi trail · Directions
- Leary Field13 ac · 0.2 mi trail · Directions
- McKenna Playground3 ac · 0.2 mi trail · Directions
- Bobby Connors Playground3 ac · 0.2 mi trail · Directions
- Hillcroft Playground2 ac · 0.2 mi trail
- Peter Gilmore Playground1 ac · 0.2 mi trail · Directions
- YMCA Land8 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Bishops Forest7 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- DCR "Lot 3"5 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Drake Playground2 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Flowed Meadow Conservation Area1 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Landry Park1 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Chemistry Station Park1 ac · 0.1 mi trail · Directions
- Nipper Maher Park20 ac · Directions
- Smith Street Wetlands17 ac · Directions
- Mokema Conservation Land7 ac
- Waltham Common7 ac · Directions
- City Land6 ac · Directions
- Cornelia Warren Park5 ac · Directions
- Graverson Playground5 ac · Directions
- Lazazzero Playground4 ac · Directions
- Riverwalk Park4 ac · Directions
- Juniper Hill1 ac
- Pond End Tot Lot1 ac
- McDonald Playground1 ac · Directions
- Fitch Spray Park1 ac · Directions
Who protects the land
1,444 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 59 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 1 of 81 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes1.1 mi
- Off-road bike paths7.2 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.8 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis36
- Basketball27
- Baseball17
- Soccer11
- Pickleball9
- Softball5
- Tracks4
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Next door
Waltham and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Waltham's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 20-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.