Lowell National Historical Park

Directions to

The Lowell National Historical Park Visitors Center

At first blush one might think a visit to Lowell is an uninviting prospect, but NO!! The Park Service has designed Canal and River Walks punctuated by opportunities to pause at museums, monuments, and yes, restaurants, all of which makes for a fascinating tour through what was in the latter half of the 19^th century the country's most prominent manufacturing center. And it's surprisingly easy to get there. Here's how.

From Route 128/95

Take Route 3 north toward Lowell and drive about 9.9 miles to the exit for the Lowell Connector, all the while keeping your eyes open for the brown/white signs steering you to the Historical Park (and encouraging you to tune your AM radio to its information station). Exit here and take the Connector 2.7 miles to Thorndike Street north (Exit 5B); the exit for Thorndike northbound is almost, but not quite at the Connector's end. On Thorndike Street, which ultimately bears right and seamlessly becomes Dutton Street, continue through four traffic lights. Just before the fifth traffic light look for a brown/white sign directing you to turn right off Dutton Street into the Visitors Center Parking Lot. Almost immediately after making this right turn you'll need to turn left into the lot, where parking is free with a pass obtained from the Visitors Center. To obtain a pass, first park, then walk through the mill archways and courtyard to the Center, which is located on the left in a building on the far side of the courtyard.

With any kind of luck we'll get there a little ahead of time to help with the parking and pass acquisition process.

Note: The Visitors Center's front door is located at 246 Market Street; if you're relying on a GPS system and if you give it the Market Street address you'll pass by the parking lot, which is behind the Center. Be sure to use the Dutton Street address below, which is the fifth traffic light mentioned above, or else prepare to either circle endlessly in downtown Lowell or give up and pay to park. 

*** Good Luck !!! ***

For those navigating to the start with a GPS system:

215 Dutton Street, Lowell, MA 01852 or N42 38.672, W71 18.831

To contact us call 978-808-0900