Charles River Bike Path

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Charles River Bike Path
Charles River at night, with bike path on the left side of roadway.
Length	23 miles (37 km)
Location	Boston, Massachusetts to Auburndale, Massachusetts
Trailheads	Boston Science Museum, Norumbega Park
Use	Bicycling, inline skating, walking, paddling, rowing[1]
Trail Difficulty	easy
Season	year round, some parts not plowed in winter
Hazards	street crossings, narrow passing

The Charles River Bike Path is a mixed-use path that follows the shores of the Charles River from Boston Massachusetts to Norumbega Park in Newton, passing through Watertown and Waltham.^[2] It consists of several segments in the Charles River Reservation separated by road and bridge crossings and forms part of the planned East Coast Greenway.

A key segment is the Paul Dudley White Bicycle Path, which runs along both banks of the Charles from the Boston Science Museum to the Route 16 bridge in Watertown, ^[3] a distance of 12.6 miles (20.3 km)^[4] The east end of the path is near the Boston Harborwalk.

The path continues along the north side of the river to Watertown Square and then to Bridge Street in Newton, where it crosses to the south bank. It crosses back to the north bank at the Blue Heron Bridge, built 2004 just for the path, and continues to Moody Street in Waltham. The route extends west, with a combination of paths and streets, to Auburndale.^[5]

There are plans to extend the path upstream along the river to Needham, Dedham and West Roxbury.^[2] The proposed extension of the Somerville Community Path would connect the Boston end of the Charles River Path to the network of mixed-use trails to the northwest.

As of May 20, 2008, the path along the south bank of the Charles is closed at the BU Bridge for bridge repairs.^[6]

[edit] References

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