Since the Walking City Trail is not a physically blazed hiking route (which may change in the near future), trail maps and written directions are essential to hiking the trail. On this page, you'll find several navigational resources for your Walking City Trail adventure.
THE ALLTRAILS APP
To hike the Walking City Trail with the aid of GPS, you can download the AllTrails app onto your phone by clicking here. Once you've fired up the app, go to your phone's browser, navigate to this website page, and CLICK ANY OF THE MAP LINKS BELOW to access maps of the Walking City Trail on your phone. The maps will open in AllTrails. If you subscribe to the paid version of AllTrails, you can download the maps and use them with your phone in airplane mode.
GOOGLE MAPS
If Google Maps is already your go-to navigation app, good news. The Walking City Trail is fully mapped in Google Maps, with optional overlays showing green spaces, public transit stops, public restrooms, and Bluebikes stations! The green waypoints indicate trailheads. (1A, 1B, etc.) Just bear in mind that only a fraction of the interconnected paths in parks and urban wilds show up on Google Maps. Most of them do show up on AllTrails. To avoid confusion at junctions within these spaces, you can turn to the written turn-by-turn directions further below on this page.
Our Google Map of the WCT also includes an optional layer for sections of the trail that are bike-able. You'll see the green trail line overlaid with a red line, which indicates areas that can be biked. Please read the Biking the Walking City Trail section below to learn more about biking the trail.
Our Google Map of the WCT also includes an optional layer for sections of the trail that are bike-able. You'll see the green trail line overlaid with a red line, which indicates areas that can be biked. Please read the Biking the Walking City Trail section below to learn more about biking the trail.
PRINTABLE PDF TRAIL MAPS
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If you prefer to limit your screen time on the trail, you can use these four sectional Walking City Trail maps for your hike. Each printable trail section map is 3-4 pages in length, to allow for a closer look at the trail. You'll also see three numerical waypoints on each map. "1" indicates the first trailhead (ex: Section 1A) "2" is the midpoint trailhead (ex: Section 1B) and "3" is the section finish line. We recommend using these maps with the written turn-by-turn directions listed below!
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WRITTEN TURN-BY-TURN TRAIL DIRECTIONS
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Maps are an important navigational tool but sometimes it's nice to have the assurance of a second information source: especially in an urban environment that's full of junctions. These turn-by-turn trail directions for each section of the Walking City Trail work best when paired with either a GPS or PDF map of the trail section that you're hiking. As before, you can print them out for your hike or view them in your phone's browser as you go. These directions contain detailed information about public transit connections for each section of the trail, with hyperlinks!
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TRAIL CONDITIONS
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The Walking City Trail is 27.4 miles long with 991 feet of vertical elevation gain from start to finish. The trail surfaces include sidewalks, dirt paths, gravel paths, rocky and rooty paths, stairs, boardwalks, and bridges. While trail difficulty and ease are subjective, Section 1 from the Neponset River to Roslindale Village is the longest part of the WCT at 8.3 miles, and Section 4 from Esplanade Park to Bunker Hill Monument offers the most level hiking terrain.
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Some parts of the trail can become muddy or even partially flooded after heavy rain, so be sure to keep an eye on the weather forecast when you're preparing for your hike.
WHAT TO PACK FOR YOUR HIKE
One of the many perks of taking a hike through a city is that you don't need as much gear for your hike as you probably would in the backcountry. Usually this means that you'll be hiking with a lighter pack and a thicker wallet. If you do happen to leave something behind, chances are you can find it in a store along the trail. That said, an urban hike on the Walking City Trail will be much more enjoyable if you pack the following items for your hike...
- Comfortable walking shoes and thick socks
- Sunblock and a brimmed hat
- At least 1 liter of drinking water
- Trekking pole(s) for added stability on sloped surfaces
- 3 upper body layers, such as a t-shirt, a fleece, and a rain jacket
- Bandages, antibiotic ointment (for scrapes) and/or blister tape
- A headlamp or flashlight, if you're hiking into the evening
- A portable phone battery/charger, if you plan to navigate with your phone
- Comfortable walking shoes and thick socks
- Sunblock and a brimmed hat
- At least 1 liter of drinking water
- Trekking pole(s) for added stability on sloped surfaces
- 3 upper body layers, such as a t-shirt, a fleece, and a rain jacket
- Bandages, antibiotic ointment (for scrapes) and/or blister tape
- A headlamp or flashlight, if you're hiking into the evening
- A portable phone battery/charger, if you plan to navigate with your phone
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION CONNECTIONS
You can reach each section of the Walking City Trail by using the MBTA public transit system. Skip the hassles of finding parking and enduring traffic! Below you'll find transit connections to each section trailhead, and in the written directions for each section, there are additional transit connections listed for the "halfway" point near the middle of each trail segment. In other places, you might have to take an off-trail detour of anywhere between 0.2-1 mile to reach the closest public transit stop.
Section 1 trailhead, Harvest River Bridge (Mattapan)
- Bus lines: 24, 28, 30, 31, 33, 245
- Light rail: Mattapan Trolley at Capen Street station
Section 2 trailhead, Adams Park (Roslindale)
- Bus lines: 14, 30, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40, 51
- Commuter rail: Needham line at Roslindale Village station
Section 3 trailhead, Jamaica Pond boathouse (Jamaica Plain)
- Bus lines: 39, 41
- Subway: Orange Line, Green Street station
Section 4 trailhead, Esplanade Park entrance on Mass. Ave (Back Bay)
- Bus lines: 1
- Subway: Green Line, Hynes Convention Center station
Trail's end at Bunker Hill Monument (Charlestown)
- Bus lines: 92, 93
- Subway: Orange Line, Community College station
Section 1 trailhead, Harvest River Bridge (Mattapan)
- Bus lines: 24, 28, 30, 31, 33, 245
- Light rail: Mattapan Trolley at Capen Street station
Section 2 trailhead, Adams Park (Roslindale)
- Bus lines: 14, 30, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40, 51
- Commuter rail: Needham line at Roslindale Village station
Section 3 trailhead, Jamaica Pond boathouse (Jamaica Plain)
- Bus lines: 39, 41
- Subway: Orange Line, Green Street station
Section 4 trailhead, Esplanade Park entrance on Mass. Ave (Back Bay)
- Bus lines: 1
- Subway: Green Line, Hynes Convention Center station
Trail's end at Bunker Hill Monument (Charlestown)
- Bus lines: 92, 93
- Subway: Orange Line, Community College station
BIKING THE WALKING CITY TRAIL
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We're often asked if the Walking City Trail is bike-able and the answer is...sort of. The trail was designed as a walking route first and foremost, and while there are several segments that can also be biked, the thing to understand before setting off is that "can be biked" is not the same thing as "awesome to bike." In theory, a fully bike-able alternate route that's designed for maximum cycling pleasure COULD be designed in the future, if any cyclists want to take on the endeavor of scouting and mapping such a route. We'll gladly help, however we can!
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But for now, the easiest way to bike pieces of the Walking City Trail is to use the Google Map of the trail and select the optional layer for "bikeable trail sections" from the list of map layers. The red segments of the baseline green trail route can be biked, but bear in mind, some will contain brief elements like stairs where you will have to dismount and walk your bike. The portions of the trail route that remain green should not be biked.