Discover West Concord

Shop, Dine, Create, Explore—and Discover a Village Full of Surprises

September 18, 2026

Discover West Concord and find surprises on every corner. From great food to eclectic shops, activities for kids, the arts, and more. West Concord has so much to offer!

The Fall Issue is Here!

It’s Fall - time to venture out and explore the places, people, and stories that make this region so special. Begin by planning a day out with our special insert, “An Apple Picking Road Trip.” Our second special guide invites you to spend a day exploring West Concord. Discover the fascinating lives Henry David Thoreau lived after leaving Walden Pond and encounter a possible Hawthorne family curse, a forgotten Yankee hero, and Ruth Robinson Wheeler. And of course, concerts, exhibitions, festivals, walks, talks, and family activities await you throughout the season. Turn to “Things to See & Do this Fall” and “Arts Around Town” for all the details. Happy fall.

When Thoreau Left Walden Pond: Several More Lives to Live

I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live and could not spare any more time for that one.On September 6, 1847, Henry David Thoreau left his one-room house at Walden Pond and returned to Concord. Living at Walden for over two years had been a life-changing experience for the thirty-year-old Thoreau. Wanting to be a writer, he went to the pond to write, and while there he did exactly that. He produced two drafts of A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. He wrote one lecture about Thomas Carlyle and another about living at the pond called “A History of Myself.” He also penned an essay titled “Ktaadn” about going to Maine in the summer of 1846. And he wrote in his journal almost daily. But what would he do once he was back in Concord?

Bird-Walk-Mass-Audubon-Red-tailed-Hawk-David-Morris.jpg

19 Things to Do This Fall

Autumn is filled with amazing things to do this year! Here are 19 of them that you won't want to miss.