The Swellesley Report

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Trails walk in Wellesley: Kelly Memorial Park and Boulder Brook Reservation

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Summer in Wellesley is a great time to get out and hike the town’s trails. I’d always been curious about that Overbrook Reservation sign at the corner of Route 9 and Weston Rd., so I decided to see what that area, purchased in 1978 by the Town Conservation Commission, was all about. A trail guide I consulted suggested that I could hike along Boulder Brook via a narrow, rough trail at the bottom of a rocky bank. I found the general area easily enough, and Boulder Brook was there alright, but if there ever was a trail in that 10-acre wetland area, it’s long since been taken back by nature. So don’t go there. That’s why you have me, to warn you off such nonsense.

Overbrook Reservation, Wellesley
Overbrook Reservation at corner of Weston Rd. and Rt. 9 is open dawn to dusk, but I’d say don’t ever go there. Nothing to see but litter, the suggestion of a trail, and a glimpse of Boulder Brook.

 

Kelly Memorial Park, Wellesley
I left the Overbrook area and drove down Weston Rd. heading toward the town of Weston, took a right onto Elmwood Rd., and parked in the Kelly Memorial Park lot on the left. There’s a picnic table at the park, at which two young people were enjoying their lunch. The main trail is easily visible just beyond the sign. The trail leads over to Kelly Fields and Katharine Lee Bates Elementary school.

 

Kelly Memorial Park
The plaque on the stone says, “Kelly Memorial Park. Named in honor of the Kelly brothers. Joseph P. — killed in action June 19, 1944 in Normandy. John H. — killed in action December 16, 1944 in Germany. This tablet erected to perpetuate the memory of their sacrifice.”

 

Fairy Rock, Wellesley
As you walk down the path from the Kelly parking lot toward Bates School, you’ll come across Fairy Rock on your left. It’s a popular climbing spot for young kids, as you can imagine. Behind Fairy Rock runs Boulder Brook. On the right hand side of the path, about 30 feet into the woods, runs a long stone wall. It’s put together sporadically for the first 300 or so feet, before it gets its act together and becomes a more continuous affair for its last 200 feet. Finally, the stone wall gives up altogether as the woods give way to the Kelly field area.

 

Kelly Memorial Park area, Wellesley
These ferns needed only a bit of leaf litter to catch hold in this rocky space.

Kelly Memorial Park area
I’ve reached the end of the woodland path, which sent me out onto Kelly Field, located behind Katharine Lee Bates Elementary school.

 

Kelly Field, baseball diamond, Wellesley
The field has four baseball diamonds, one at each corner. Summer camps were making use of two of them. Bates School is across the field.

 

Boulder Brook Reservation, Wellesley
Once out into the sunlight again, I turned left onto the paved path, and walked with the backstop on my right and Boulder Brook on my left until I got to the Boulder Brook Reservation sign.

 

Boulder Brook Reservation, Wellesley
The wooden bridge allows you to gain entrance into Boulder Brook Reservation. There were no trolls under the bridge on the day I was there, so into the meadow I went. This 31-acre parcel was once part of Boulder Brook Farm and was purchased by the Town in 1966.

 

Boulder Brook Reservation, Wellesley
A monarch butterfly habitat of milkweed, just over the second wooden bridge, Boulder Brook Reservation. Breathe in deeply and catch the scent of mid-summer in Wellesley.

 

Boulder Brook Reservation, Wellesley
I saw dragonflies, and heard katydids humming and crows cawing.

 

Boulder Brook Reservation, Wellesley
Continue on past the meadow and into the woods, where you can explore Rocky Ledges, a 16-acre parcel added in 1970 to Boulder Brook. You can get a great view of the sunset up there at Lucky Rock, if you don’t mind a steep climb. I ended my hike here for the day, knowing that in my insect repellent-free state, I had gone as far as was wise.

MORE:

Beyond Wellesley: a hike up Tipling Rock at Nobscot Reservation in Sudbury

Beyond Wellesley: a secret hike at Crane Beach in Ipswich

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