Walking the Emerald Necklace in Winter: A Park-by-Park Guide

The Emerald Necklace is a chain of parks and parkways that runs through Boston and Brookline, connecting the Back Bay to Franklin Park. Designed largely by Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 1800s, it is often described as about 1,100 acres of linked green space. In winter, with the leaves gone and snow on the ground, you can see the bones of Olmsted’s design more clearly than at any other time of year.

The idea behind the Necklace

Olmsted believed city dwellers needed access to natural scenery for their health and well-being. In Boston, he also had practical problems to solve: flooding, polluted marshes and growing neighborhoods that needed parks. The Emerald Necklace answered both, using landscape design to manage water while creating places to walk, ride and rest.

The links, from downtown out

• Boston Common and the Public Garden. Older than Olmsted’s work, they are often considered the starting point of the chain.
• Commonwealth Avenue Mall. A tree-lined promenade that links the Public Garden to the Fens.
• Back Bay Fens. Olmsted’s first major piece, built to clean up a polluted marsh. Look for the Victory Gardens and the reeds along the water.
• The Riverway. A narrow, winding park along the Muddy River on the Boston and Brookline border, with stone bridges.
• Olmsted Park. Ponds and wooded slopes between Jamaica Plain and Brookline.
• Jamaica Pond. A large, deep natural pond with a loop path that is popular year-round.
• Arnold Arboretum. Harvard’s famous tree collection, free and open to the public.
• Franklin Park. The largest of the parks, with woods, meadows, a golf course and the Franklin Park Zoo.

What to look for in winter

Winter brings its own rewards along the Necklace:

• The shapes of old trees, especially at the Arboretum, where many specimens are labeled.
• Birds such as ducks, gulls and hawks, easier to spot without leaves in the way.
• Stone bridges and carriage paths that disappear behind foliage in summer.
• Views of the skyline from higher ground, such as the Arboretum’s Peters Hill.

Planning a winter walk

You do not need to walk the whole Necklace at once. A good approach is to pick one or two connected parks per outing. For example, walk from the Fens through the Riverway to Olmsted Park, or circle Jamaica Pond and continue to the Arboretum. Several Green Line and Orange Line stops are close to the parks, so you can start and finish wherever you like.

Practical tips:

• Wear boots with good traction, since paths may be icy after a thaw and refreeze.
• Stay off frozen ponds unless officials say the ice is safe.
• Go during daylight hours and carry a charged phone.
• Check the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and Arnold Arboretum websites for maps and seasonal programs.

A gift that keeps giving

Olmsted designed the Emerald Necklace for every Bostonian, not just those who could afford a country house. More than a century later, it still does that job. A winter walk through any part of it is free, restorative and a reminder that Boston’s past planners left the city something lasting.