Parks & Nature

Spring and summer beckon us outdoors — especially kids, and their natural curiosity is the perfect springboard for a scavenger hunt.

As the warm weather arrives, nature puts on a stunning display of lush green meadows, brilliant flowers, and trees bursting with life. Animals, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and a plethora of bugs and insects can be seen and heard as they go about their daily lives – bringing a smile to young and old alike. 

This is your chance to go behind the garden gates of some of Concord’s most beautiful – and unusual – private gardens.

As I pull into the parking area in early summer, I see people down at the dock of the quaint wooden boathouse on the Sudbury River. Family-owned South Bridge Boat House on Route 62 in Concord is the gateway to the rivers for all who would like to rent a kayak or canoe to explore.

What would you do if you were walking along and came across a nest in the ground full of baby bunnies? Or perhaps a little bird hiding in the grass or a baby squirrel lying on the ground? 

Why native plants? Native, or indigenous, plants are plants that have evolved in the North American landscape prior to European colonization. Native plants are adapted to a particular region’s climate and soils. Native plants have formed complex interrelationships with our local wildlife over thousands or millions of years of evolution. They provide food and shelter for our wildlife and insects that sustain the food web of our ecosystem.  

The Concord River Boater’s Trail begins at the confluence of the Sudbury and Assabet Rivers, at Egg Rock, where they join to become the Concord River. The river is slow-moving and easy to paddle in this section, so you can appreciate the rich natural and cultural sites along the way. 

Community gardening in Concord had its beginnings in 1973, when Dan Monahan, the Director of Natural Resources at that time, investigated the concept being practiced in other parts of the U.S. by those who remembered the success of the WWI and WWII Victory Gardens in local communities throughout the country.  

One April morning in 1872, William Brewster (1851-1919) took the train from Cambridge to Concord to go birdwatching with a friend. Making their way to a nearby farm, a local resident expressed surprise at their coming all the way from Boston to hear a Woodcock sing.