Directions to Longfellow Pond

Directions to

Parking for Wellesley's Longfellow Pond

Longfellow Pond, created in 1815 by damming Rosemary Brook to power a nail factory and paper mill and to support three ice houses, occupies a hollow adjacent to Wellesley's otherwise esker-dominated, 150 acre Town Forest. In addition to providing a maze of trails well worth exploring on their own (and to hosting a large, noisy, and very hungry wildfowl population), the Pond and Forest are served by a parking lot perfect for launching adventures into Centennial Park, along the Sudbury Aqueduct to Hemlock Gorge, and for a grand loop up the Charles River Trail to the Fyffe Footbridge and Cordingly Dam (with its fish ladder), then over the abandoned Cochitutate Aqueduct (now the Crosstown Trail) to Massachusetts Bay Community College and back to the Pond.

The Pond and Forest are located on Oakland Street, a short distance south of Route 9; to get there take a chance on the directions below, quiz MapQuest (www.mapquest.com) using the intersection of "brookside road at oakland street" in "wellesley" as a destination, or if you're a long time Wellesley resident, choose a sneaky, low-traffic-density back way. And don't forget ... bring duck food!! Fail to do this and the locals may blockade your vehicle, as they did ours.

From Route 128/95

Drive Route 128/95 to Exit 22-21B in Wellesley (Route 16 West Wellesley/Grove Street), climb the exit ramp and aim for 16 West/Wellesley.  Stay sharp ... though you've left Route 128 you haven't actually reached the Exits yet. Look for Exit 21B (Route 16 W/Newton Lower Falls/Wellesley), take it when the opportunity presents itself, and turn right onto Washington Street (Route 16) when the exit road intersects it. From this turning point drive Washington Street about 1.2 miles to Oakland Street, and turn left on it. When we tried this we never saw an Oakland Street sign, so here's the countdown: Bird Hill Avenue (on the left), Pine Street (right), Heckle Street (left), Croton Street (right), Saunders Terrace (left), and then Oakland Street (left). Turn left on Oakland and drive a block to the lights at Route 9 (ahead on the left you should see Mass Bay Community College's fancy archway and steps just across the intersection). Cross Route 9 (still Oakland Street) and continue another 0.9 miles to the parking lot. It'll be on the left.

Travel time guidance: MapQuest estimates 22 minutes as the driving time from Bedford to Longfellow Pond. Hah! MapQuest doesn't know about traffic. Even so, about half an hour's what it takes us.

From Wayland's Town Hall

Drive four or five miles to Route 128/95 and go south to Exit 22-21B for Route 16 west and proceed as above. MapQuest thinks this, like the trip from Bedford, should take 22 minutes.

There are other options, like driving south to Route 9 via Route 27 and from there east to Oakland Street, but this looks to us like a longer way.

From Weston's Town Hall

Hands down, the least time consuming option is to take Route 20 to Route 128/95, then go south to Route 16 West (Exit 22-21B) and proceed as in From 128.  MapQuest bets it'll take 13 minutes.

As always, whatever you choose to do ...

*** Good Luck !!! ***