Brooks-Parkhurst Town Forest

Winchester's Brooks-Parkhurst Town Forest

Brooks-Parkhurst is a south-Winchester conservation parcel situated on the Medford line. Smallish in itself, Brooks-Parkhurst is, because it serves as a portal to Medford's Brooks Estate and woodland areas adjacent to it, to Oak Grove Cemetery, and to the Cross Fells Trail's western terminus, big enough to tire even the most dedicated hikers. Parking is on-road, a less-than-perfect but still workable situation for the Ox Pasture entry point, as this is located on Northgateway Road, a relatively quiet suburban byway easily accessible from Route 38 (Main Street) in Winchester. To get there:

From Winchester

Find your way to Main Street and climb up the hills toward Medford, or use Highland for the same purpose. Stay on Main (or, if you're on Highland, turn left onto Main when the two join) and proceed one block past its intersection with Highland to Southgateway, then turn right onto Southgateway. Take Southgateway to Ox Pasture Road, and turn right on Ox Pasture. Go all the way to its end, where it "T-bones" Northgateway. This happens, almost exactly, at the Ox Pasture entrance to the Forest. Turn right onto Northgateway and find a parking place on the right side of the road, as close to the curb as possible without shredding your tires.

From Stoneham

Cross over to Winchester on Forest Street (Marble Street on the Stoneham side of Route 93) and take it to Highland. Turn left on Highland and stay on it all the way to its terminus at Main Street. Turn left and follow the instructions given above to Southgateway.

 From Route 128/95

The objective is to intersect Main Street/Route 38 in downtown Winchester, then proceed as in "from Winchester" above.  The preferred way to do this is to take Exit 33A (Route 3 south) and drive it 3.8 miles, past Bonnell Ford on the left, past Mahoney's Nursery on the right, and finally to the lights at Church Street. Turn left onto Chruch Street and continue 0.3 miles to the lights at Bacon Street. Go right onto Bacon and drive 0.7 miles, past a collection of classic mansions and under the MBTA commuter-rail bridge 'til Bacon intersects Main Street/Route 38 at a small rotary. Take the second exit from the rotary (Main Street); 0.3 miles down the road is Southgateway. Turn right, then almost immediately left as Southgateway continues in that direction, and then right again (also almost immediately) onto Ox Pasture Road. Drive Ox Pasture to its "T" with Northgateway Road and park.

 *** Good Luck !!! ***

  For those navigating to the start with MapQuest or a GPS system:

20 North Gateway St, Winchester, MA 01742 or N42 26.203, W71 08.085