Did you know that Boston has a nature center? I didn’t until I moved to Jamaica Plain and saw that it was fairly close to our house as the crow flies. Despite this knowledge it’s taken me a year and a half to finally make the 1.5-mile walk to Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center and Wildlife Sanctuary located on what once was the grounds of the Boston State Hospital in Mattapan. Peter, Susan, and I walked over on a lovely Memorial Day passing through several cemeteries – Forest Hills, St. Michael’s, and Mt. Hope – which were appropriately bustling with visitors. There are also several garden shops along the way which I expect have a symbiotic relationship with cemetary visitation.
The Boston Nature Center itself is quite lovely. We took the Snail Trail and the Fox Trail which led us through the woods, along a creek, over a boardwalk, and past a wide wetland marsh. Sadly Peter was not in the mood to walk nor to be carried, nor anything much else that day so our visit was abbreviated. Still I’m glad we finally made it out. Now I can check something off my Mission: Boston list and more importantly I know another great green space within walking distance of Jamaica Plain.
Some of the best photos are below, while the rest are at my online photo album.
