Chestnut Hill Reservation

November 17, 2019 Cold, Flurries

Chestnut Hill Reservoir is located at Cleveland Circle near Boston College, a busy intersection filled with student apartments, restaurants, and shops. The reservoir is an oasis in this crowded area. The DCR operates a skating rink, a pool, and maintains a trail around the reservoir. There is plenty of parking along Beacon Street on one side of the reservoir. Across Beacon Street, there is also a museum – “Water Works” – which is associated with the history of the reservoir.

The trail is gravel packed, flat, and about 1.5 miles. There are many entrances to the trail like this.

It’s very pleasant to walk around the reservoir, even on a cold day with flurries. There are always many joggers and Moms with strollers on the trail. Here is a view towards the museum .

There are islands in the reservoir and swans, ducks, and geese swim freely.

We stopped by the museum “Water Works”.

Chestnut Hill Reservoir with Water Works in the background

This museum is free (suggested donations). It houses three enormous engines that used to pump the water from the reservoir to supply the City of Boston in the 19th century. We took an excellent 1/2-hour tour to see these engines, and learned about the history and steam engine technology.

These engines worked well into the 20th century, until the aqueduct technology improved sufficiently such that Boston can source the water directly from Quabbin Reservoir without pumping. The tour was actually very good, and the museum also has an upstairs viewing area where the kids can play.

The trail, together with the museum, is well worth a visit.

The reservoir is interesting and the museum is a local, underappreciated gem.
The trail is flat and easy in all seasons. The museum is interesting.
It was kind of weird because the museum basically said we were drinking goose poop water. But the machines were kind of cool, and the reservoir was nice and peaceful.
The museum is nice and interesting. And the reservoir was cool.
We saw swans and that’s all.