First things first - you probably should get an MBTA bike pass, so you'll be able to get to most of the places mentioned below.
Bicycles are allowed on MBTA Subway and Commuter Rail trains. A permit is required and certain restrictions apply to hours of operation. Cyclists must always follow the instructions of MBTA station and train staff or MBTA police.
Bicycle Permits
Responsibility: A statement must be signed by the cyclist before a permit is issued, saying that he/she has read, understands and will abide by the MBTA Bicycle Policy-Rules and Regulations persented herein. Permits must be shown to MBTA personnel before boarding and upon request.
Liability: A waiver indemnifying and releasing the MBTA from all injury, loss, and/or damage involving any bicycle brought into station areas and aboard trains must be signed by each permit applicant. Minors (under age 18) must have waiver co-signed by a parent or legal guardian.
Enforcement: Cyclists failing to abide by these Rules and Regulations or the instructions of MBTA personnel, are subject to removal from the system and revocation of their permits.
Commuter Rail: Anytime except during weekday rush hours (morning inbound and evening outbound). These hours are shaded on the Commuter Rail schedules. Bikes are permitted all day on weekends.
Subway: Bicycles are allowed only on the Blue, Red, and Orange Lines. On weekdays, bikes are allowed during off-peak periods; between 10am and 2pm, and after 7:30pm. Bikes are permitted all day weekends, except during diversions.
Holidays: Due to train overcrowding associated with special events, bikes are not allowed on St. Patrick's Day, Patriots Day, and July 4th.
Exceptions: Bikes are not allowed between 9:30pm and 11pm on evenings of Fleet Center events or Red Sox games due to overcrowding. When special events are held at or near individual stations, bicycles may not be allowed due to overcrowding. Station personnel will notify cyclists of such restrictions.
Boarding and Riding Trains
Commuter Rail Trains:
Rapid Transit (Subway) Trains:
Entering a Station:
In Station:
For more infomration on the MBTA's Bicycle Policy, call the MBTA Customer Service line at (617) 222-3200, then press 1-5-5-5.
The Esplanade is actually the area on the Boston side of the Charles River, between the BU bridge and the Science Museum. The bike path, however, runs along both sides of the Charles River from the Science Museum up to Watertown. The total length is about 17 miles, and is usually pleasant once you ride past the crowded areas along the Esplanade and Harvard University.
The bridges you'll pass are:
If you continue past the Watertown/Newton/Newton Center junction (the Mt Auburn St bridge) at the upriver end of the Esplanade bike trail (use the "Boston" side) about two hundred feet down the road (the one paralleling the river on the left side facing upstream) you'll come to a bridge shaped like an inverted "V". Cross over this bridge and turn left past the MDC pool building (this is one of the new pools that the MDC is building). You'll see a new path there, and you can follow that along several miles of scenic river view. It is beautiful there.
To reach the reservoir you can either:
bike along Memorial Drive until it intersects with the Fresh Pond Parkway (just before the Eliot Bridge, at the Mt Auburn Hospital) and follow the Fresh Pond Pkwy until you reach the reservoir (2/3 mile). Bike carefully as this is a heavily used traffic artery.
bike up Concord Ave from Harvard Square until you reach the traffic circle at the corner of Fresh Pond. Crossing this Pkwy/Concord Ave may be difficult due to the heavy traffic and lack of signals there.
The usual starting point for most people is on the backside of the Alewife T stop, where the trail runs under Route 2. You can get there from the Fresh Pond Reservoir if you follow the Alewife Brook Parkway over the Alewife bridge. If you have a MBTA bike pass you can go directly to the Alewife T station.
Spy Pond lies on the trail between Alewife and where the trail crosses Massachusetts Avenue, and just past the Arlington/Lexington border the trail passes the Great Meadow on its right. The "meadow" is about a bit over a half mile by a half mile in dimension and has excellent offroad riding, through swamps in its center to woods and rocky hills along the periphery. Be careful of mosquitos if you bike there after a rainy day/week, and don't run over any rabbits. There are dozens of trails through the meadow, and if you get to the far sidenear the school you can loop back to the trail along the roads.
The trail parallels Massachusetts Avenue for most of its length and runs through Cambridge, Arlington, Lexington, and Bedford. It originally was an old horse trail in the 1700's, and was later replaced by a railroad. The tracks are now torn up, but past the end of the trail you can continue along them and reach the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge which spans both sides of the Concord River, where you'll enter the town of Carlisle if you continue heading northwest, or the town of Concord if you head due west.
To reach the above off-road trail, just go to the end of the Minuteman and down the street on the right of the bike shop at the end. At the end of the street there is a sharp right turn with a metal guiderail, but before the guiderail starts you will see a dirt path leading straight ahead. Follow that path along the old railroad ties and over the "sand moguls" through the woods.
You can also reach Hanscom Air Force Base from the Minuteman Trail. Once you cross over Route 128 you'll come to Hartwell Avenue (the busy road with the crosswalk traffic signal). If you go westwards along Hartwell Avenue about a half mile you'll reach the base.
The pond is accessible via the Fitchburg Commuter Rail line, just get off on the Concord stop (which will put you on Thoreau Street). Follow Thoreau Street southeast until it hids Walden Road and follow that south until you reach Walden Pond.
(Sundays) Leaving North Station Leaving Concord 9:30am 3:06pm 12:00pm 4:29pm 3:00pm 6:19pm
Alternatively you can bike there along the roads via route 2A which circles to the north, or more directly via Trapelo Road. Route 2A is generally quite busy, but it runs through the Minuteman National Historic Park (starting in Lexington and ending in eastern Concord).
Trapelo Road breaks from Belmont St at the Belmont/Watertown border; Belmont St runs on the north side of the Mt Auburn Cemetery and stars near to the Fresh Pond Reservoir. The main drawback of taking Trapelo Road is that it is relatively hilly, so you'll get a hefty workout while biking there. Estimated trip time is 3-4 hours because of the hills. Trapelo Road turns into Sandy Pond Road in the middle of Lincoln, and you should follow that route until it intersects with Baker Bridge Road, which you should then take. Then follow it until it intersects with Route 126 (Concord St) which you can follow north to Walden Pond.
Be on the lookout for mosquitos in some areas, though.
Arnold Arboretum is a ~250 acre park and arboretum in Jamaica Plain about a quarter mile from Franklin Park (and Zoo) and the Forest Hills Cemetery. The arboretum boasts a large number of different types of trees amongst large grassy hills; there also is a high hill/cliff which is easily scalable.
To get there (in fact, right between the Park and the Arboretum), you can take the MBTA Orange line directly to the Forest Hills stop (at the end). Heading west along the Arborway will take you to one of the arboretum's many entrances, while heading east will take you to the Jewish War Veterans Drive which enters and circles around within Franklin Park.
Biking there via city roads is a bit more difficult because of traffic, but you can bike directly down Washington Street from Downtown Crossing until it reaches the Forest Hill T stop.
Gloucester (pronounced "gloster") is a city about 30 miles due northeast of Boston. If you have a car, it's easiest to get there by following either Route 127 (along the coast) or Route 128, though the former road is narrow, bumpy, and crowded along most of its length.
But forget that, since we're talking about biking. The simplest method of reaching Gloucester is to take the Rockport/Ipswich Commuter Rail line from North Station (buy the inbound and outbound tickets there for $3.75 each way -- it's $4.75 each way if you buy them on the train). You can check the Saturday and Sunday commuter rail schedules at the MBTA web site. The current relevant times are:
(Saturdays and Sundays) Leaving North Station Leaving Gloucester 10:15 am 5:15pm 12:15 pm 7:30pm 2:15 pm 10:00pm
During the summer, sunset is at about 8:30-9:00pm, so it is usually best to take the 7:30pm commuter rail from Gloucester station into North Station. The entire trip takes about an hour either way, so bring along some reading material or games to play (cards?). Note that you will need an MBTA bike pass to bring your bicycle onto the commuter rail trains (there are special areas on the cars for your bikes).
Once you get off at the Gloucester commuter rail stop, you should go eastwards on Gloucester Avenue until it reaches Maplewood Avenue, which you should follow south until it reaches Prospect Street. Follow Prospect Street eastwards until it intersects with Main Street at the town center) and follow Main Street eastwards until it splits into Eastern Avenue and Bass Avenue. Follow the latter road until it intersects with Thatcher avenue and follow that northwards, where you'll round a little inlet and see Good Harbor Beach to your right.
There are several miles of beach starting with Good Harbor Beach and continuing northeast around Brier Neck point to Long Beach, Cape Hedge Beach, and Pebble Beach, with some islands further out in deep water.
The beach is real sand -- not rocks like at most nearby Massachusetts beaches. Remember to bring suntan lotion, blankets/towels, frisbees, volleyballs, swimsuits and other games and have fun!
If you actually want to do extensive biking, try getting to the Dogtown Road on the north side of Gloucester town. It's about three miles from the Gloucester commuter rail stop -- just follow Gloucester Avenue eastwards a few short blocks, then cross under 128 on Maplewood Avenue. Once on the north side of the highway, go east on Poplar Avenue a block or two until you reach Cherry Street, which you should follow north until it intersects with Dogtown Road (and if you continue further on Cherry you'll reach Dogtown Common Way which continues deeper into the central island).
Crane's Beach is another fine beach, in Ipswich, much longer along the shoreline than Good Harbor Beach and related beaches in Gloucester.
To get there you will once again have to take the Rockport/Ipswich Commuter rail, but this time you can only take the Ipswich branch. Also note that the Ipswich trains do not run on Sunday (weekdays and Saturdays only)! Here's the relevant times:
(on Saturdays only) Leaving North Station Leaving Ipswich 11:30 am 3:00pm 1:30 pm 8:38pmAs far as returning goes, the times are relatively limited as you can see. So whatever you do, don't miss the last train!
The commuter rail will stop pretty close to downtown Ipswich, so you should follow Market Street eastwards until it hits Main Street, which you should follow south until it runs into County Road. Go down County Road a few hundred feet until it runs into Argilla Road and then follow Argilla Road all the way eastwards until you reach Crane's Beach (about 8-9 miles).
There should be an rest stop there (they charge entrance fees for cars, bikers, and even people who walk in) where you can buy food and there are also public showers and changing rooms -- very key when you need to get all that sand out!
The Blue Hills Reservation spans parts of Milton and Quincy, about 12-15 miles south of Boston, and covers roughly 7000 acres (an almost rectangular 2 miles by 5 miles in size).
A color map (with elevation and trail information) is available at the Trailside Museum on Route 138 (on the west side) or at the Headquarters Building on Hillside Street (on the east side). The Skyline Trail rises over many rocky hills and rambles for about 10 miles.
Unfortunately, there aren't any really bike-friendly T routes to the area. Dorchester Avenue runs south of Boston and and merges to form Route 28 in Milton, which bisects the Blue Hills Reservation. Another approach would be to take the Red Line T to either the Wollaston or Quincy stops and try to make your way westwards to the Blue Hills.
The simplest route up there is to follow O'Brien Highway (Route 28) which runs from the Science Museum to the northwest. It intersects with McGrath Highway, which you should follow under I-93 and over the Wellington Fellsway Bridge, where it changes to Forest Avenue. Go straight up Forest Avenue until it intersects again with I-93 and Route 28, and you'll be at the southern tip of the Fells (Route 28 detours into areas of Medford so you don't want to plan your trip around it).
Another choice would be to get a MBTA bike pass and take the Lowell Commuter rail to the Winchester stop and then head a short distance due west towards the forested hills.
There are some large lakes in the Fells, including Spot Pond and the North/Middle/South Reservoirs. The forest is quite huge (~3 miles by ~4 miles) and there are some very nice trails on the western side, including two old watchtowers on the highest hills (several hundred feet up - you can see downtown from them). On the eastern side of I-93 you will find more suburban areas nestled among the edges of the Fells, as well as the Stone Zoo on the eastern side of Spot Pond. Note that this is mostly off-road biking, though it can be very beautiful in the fall.
For rules, restrictions, and other information about biking in the Fells, check out the MDC (Metropolitan District Commission) pages for the currently available mountain bike path loop.
You'll have to bike completely out of the Fells to get to food and water, though. Winchester Center, Stoneham, Medford Center, Malden and other main streets are easily accessible from the routes leading out; there should be a Friendly's where Route 28 and I-93 intersect on the north side of the Fells as well.
The Beaver Brook Reservation is bordered by Trapelo Road to the south, Mill Street Road to the west, Pleasant Street to the west and Concord Avenue to the north. It is in western Belmont, and about a mile and a half from the Fresh Pond Reservoir; it is about 60 acres in size.
The reservation has excellent mountain biking areas on its southern side, leading up to several water towers and grassy meadows/hills on the north, and a cascading waterfall too. Be prepared to lower your seats, let some air out of your tires, and do lots of pedalling and maneuvering.
The Breakheart Reservation is a 640-acre hardwood forest with jagged, rocky outcroppings, two fresh-water lakes, and a stretch of the Saugus River. There are seven rocky hills over 200 feet high with great view of Boston and the area. There also is a supervised swimming area at Pearce Lake.