Beaver Brook Reservation

April 8, 2020 Cloudy

Beaver Brook is a small state reservation on the border of Belmont and Waltham. It was the first reservation created by the Metropolitan Park Commission and was originally designed to protect a stand of old oaks known as the Waverly Oaks.

We visited the northern section that consists mainly of an historic house, two ponds divided by a dam, and some trails around the ponds. On this trip we didn’t visit the tot lot and the spray park, which are great fun in the summertime.

We started near the historic house and learned that the ponds were originally used to power a “fulling mill” in the 19th century (a step in woollen clothmaking). You can picnic on the edge of the ponds and there were some large stands of forsythia.

In any case, we headed over to check out the dam and were surprised at the strong flow of water over the rocks beneath.

We continued down a trail beneath the dam for a better view.

Miles and I stopped to enjoy our own little Niagara Falls (American Side). It’s not bad for a local waterfall.

But the trail below the dam is not very scenic and the forest is sort of littered with trees and scrub. Much of it looks like this picture below. We followed a straight path south to Trapelo Road, turned back, and crossed this bridge to the other side of the ponds.

After this we continued along the pond edge, passing the dam from which we had descended.

The most northerly pond is adjacent to some houses, so we rounded it and headed back toward the parking lot.

Just before we left the sun peeked out from the clouds, so we played some more on the dam. Under the sunlight, the main pond took on new colors. The tender green of the willow contrasted nicely with the soft blue skies.

Beaver Brook makes for a pleasant picnic spot or quick walk, but the trails are short. The section just south of Trapelo Road, however, is worthwhile as a summer destination for young kids.

• This small park packs a dam with waterfall, two ponds, and a historic house.
• A small oasis in an urban area. A short trail around two ponds. Nice place for a stroll if you are in the area.
• This was a HORRIBLE park. The trees were dead and barren, the ground was icky, there was almost nothing to see.
• There wasn’t much- just some trees and a pond.
• There were two bridges. There was a stream and a waterfall, and there were a few ponds.

For more information: Beaver Brook Reservation official site