Cold Spring Loop Trail
Cold Spring Park’s shady trail loops around the park, with some interior paths to explore. The trail is great for hiking, on-leash dog-walking, running, cross country skiing, bird-watching, and more! At just short of 1.5 miles, the trail is the perfect distance for a morning run or an evening stroll.
Work out at the Exercise Stations
The trail also has four new exercise stations that can help you get a whole-body workout. In 2018, the Parks & Recreation Department replaced exercise stations that had deteriorated and become dangerous.
Our project to restore the trail
Friends of Cold Spring Park formed in 2018 after more than 450 people signed a petition to the City to restore the trail to its original condition.
We learned of a video posted in 2010 (see below) showing how the trail was deteriorating.
We learned of many injuries from tripping and falling on the trail.
We also learned that 10 years of appeals to fix the trail had been unsuccessful, and that the budget for maintaining city park trails is $0.
With support from local organizations–Newton Conservators, Newton Highlands and Waban Area Councils, Zervas PTO, Safe Routes to School–and from all six City Councilors from Wards 5 and 6, and from neighbors and park users, we have raised money from city and private sources, and we are now working with the Parks & Recreation Dept. to fix the trail.
In the fall 0f 2018, we worked with Eagle scout candidate Alexander Rivero to put in wider and longer boardwalks over the three muddiest trail sections. In the spring of 2020, we donated over $13,000 to the city to contribute to restoring almost half the trail.
A new stone dust surface has covered up tripping hazards from roots and rocks, and eliminated the muddy areas from Duncklee Street to Zervas. Stone dust was also restored on the interior shortcut from the Life Course trail to the dog park. No more muddy paws!
In 2021, the Cochituate Aqueduct trail was resurfaced, funded entirely by Friends of Cold Spring Park, with the city drawing specific plans and retaining and managing the contractor.
Three Eagle Scout projects, by Alex Rivero, Matthew Honig, and Nicholas Le, have completed 2-foot wide boardwalks (also known as duckboards) from the bridge beside the Zervas Elementary School to the intersection of Winslow and Wilber.
We had hoped that the Dept. of Public Works might be able to relocate the stormwater discharge pipe that now floods that section of the trail. However, a survey found that relocating the oufall in a way that would solve the problem is not feasible because of the topography. In the long run, we hope that a full-size boardwalk can be built at that section of the trail.
Wayfinding along the trail
Many regular trail walkers have encountered people who are new to the park and needed directions. Most often, they are looking for the off-leash dog park, although occasionally, people get turned around looking for the Beacon Street parking lot or other entrances. On more than one occasion, a volunteer helping to remove invasive plants became disoriented and wandered the park for quite a while. On rare occasions, people have even had to call the police to find their way out.
In May 2023, the Dept. of Parks, Recreation & Culture approved our proposal to put in nine wayfinding posts at park entrances and trail crossroads. The posts are modeled after those used in Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuaries to minimize intrusions into the park. They will include mileage to key destinations and QR codes for either a detailed static map of the park and the city’s GPS-enabled moving map. The posts will be installed in the fall of 2023 as an Eagle Scout project, with funding from Friends of Cold Spring Park.
Cold Spring Park Trail – by Ron Blau (2009)
With a 2020 update!