Charles River walk – Photo supplied by Ken Lane
| Start/Finish | Category | Distance | Estimated Walking Time |
| Kenmore Station / Chinatown station | Tourism | 4.3 km | 1 hr 5 min* |
Summary
The Charles River walk explores Boston’s Commonwealth Mall and the popular Charles River Esplanade before winding back through the Public Garden to Chinatown.
Public transport
Catch the train to Kenmore Station. Ends at Chinatown Station.
Directions
The Charles River walk starts outside Kenmore station. From here cross over Kenmore St and walk down Commonwealth Avenue in an easterly direction. In the middle of Commonwealth Ave is a green space and a series of monuments paying tribute to range of different social reformers. One of the monuments is a statue of William Lloyd Garrison, an American journalist who was best known for his widely read anti-slavery newspaper the Liberator, founded by Garrison in 1831.
Continue along Commonwealth Ave until your reach Darmouth St. Turn left down Dartmouth St and continue to the end until you reach a footbridge, which will take you over Storrow Drive to Storrow Lagoon. Continue around the lagoon onto the Charles River Esplanade.
From here walk in an easterly direction to the end of the Esplanade, which then loops around and connects to the Dr Paul Dudley-White bike path and the Arthur Fiedler footbridge back over Storrow Drive. This will take you to the intersection of Beacon and Arlington street.
At Beacon St cut across the Public Garden heading in a southerly direction around the pond and exit onto Charles St at the south-eastern corner of the park. The Public Garden, which opened in 1837 was the first public botanical garden in America.
From here continue through Boston common along the Boylston St boundary and then walk along Boylston St, which will take you to Chinatown station where the journey ends.
Charles River walk – GPX file
To access to the GPX file for this walk click on the download button below.
Information on GPX files and how to import them into Google maps on your phone can be found here.
Charles River walk – Map
Start – Kenmore Station
- Commonwealth Ave Mall
- Storrow Lagoon
- Charles River Esplanade
- Public Garden
- Boston Common
End – Chinatown Station
