Social distancing is in place. Early morning walks created great foggy autumn photos. Clear paths, plenty of chipmunks, birds, and even a raccoon joined us on the trail. People were out swimming even though the air temp was just a few degrees above freezing. Lots of fishing going on as the sun came up.

What a great New England gem! This state reservation is centred around Walden Pond, a historically significant body of water that sets the background for classic literature by Henry David Thoreau. The pond itself is typically swimmable during summer months and has lifeguard chairs that are manned under specific seasonal hours. The large parking lot is across the street and has a few of $8 for MA residents (more for out of state). There is a beach around the pond made of a soft, sediment dirt where you can place chairs and blankets to rest in between dips in the pond. Pack a lunch as there are no food options. There are also lots of wooded trails to take hikes, some more challenging than others.

Beautiful place. Wanted to come here for a long time. Bonus free parking on veterans day

Great place!! Very peaceful and serene. Wonderful walking trail. It is a must visit if you are in the area!!

Its absolutely great place to go with kids! Water is warm and clean

Beautiful scenery. $8 for parking

Gorgeous place. The water is clear and refreshing, suitable for a swim in the summer. Also a great place to kayak if youre a beginner, since its a rather small pond with calm waters.

Came to visit recommended by someone but there was a $30 parking fee if your car is not from MA.... Im sorry but $30 is a bit too much, this is not manhattan or the San Francisco piers! (not that those place are worth $30parking)Werent able to visit, as we were also here quite late and didtn feel like paying that much for a 30min visit. (Locals pay $8 FYI).

A very nice pond. There is a medium size beach for hanging out and the water is already plenty warm enough to swim in June 11. Can get very busy on weekends. Best to go during the week or early morning.

Beautiful freshwater swimming location. Trails available too. No dogs. $8/day for parking, or $60 for an annual pass (Jan-Dec, not from date of purchase).

There was ample parking, however you should arrive early to get a spot. The water was great, the beach was clean and there were plenty of lifeguards. Great for the family.

First visit beautiful day very nice walk !

What a great reservation park!Good for families and expend the day, swimming, fishing, running, walking around the pond, even to do picnic...

Nature At it’s best

Nice place for a hike in fall! It does get crowded in summers.

After a strenuous day of helping a friend, an hours swim in this transcendental environment is the perfect remedy. But if you are an Emerson type person, you belong elsewhere!

Ample parking, good-sized beach with a few small nooks around the well-marked trail! The water was clear and refreshing. One of our favorites!

Beautiful, peaceful biking destination. Bathrooms are open until 6pm Memorial Day weekend.

Great place to spend an afternoon a little sand, sun and the lake!!

Its lovely, if you can manage to get in the parking lot. It often is full and the close it for a couple hours.

Great place... be with nature with friends and families!

My dogs love coming here, great hike and atmosphere! Best time to hike around the pond is summer.

Great place to swim!

The Walden experience is a mixed bag. There are large bathhouses which are great if you want to swim, but you want existential silence, its not likely. The spot where the cabin stood and the rock Memorials are moving.Despite claims of being open, the visitor center was closed.

Great place for a peaceful paint session.

Peaceful, quite, beautiful area with clean water. Parking was affordable & easy to find.

Most Central Mass woodland parks are idyllic. Walden Pond is no exception. Hiking trails are well-maintained, and, for the most part, under canopies of towering trees. Its especially enjoyable to walk the trail around the glistening pond, about a mile and a quarter circumference. Two or three small public beaches crowd with sunbathers and swimmers in summer. All along the pond, small clearings appear sporadically on the shore, with space for intimate gatherings and activity (fishing, swimming, etc.). Tripping across the original site of Thoreau’s handmade house in the woods is treat, if youre into that sort of thing. Parking can be tough. Bring bug spray.

After moving to Concord last fall, I can see why you would want to visit Walden Pond from anywhere the in the world.Soak in its majesty. Explore its mystery. Calm yourself by its shore.This place is majestic, and I have spent many days walking its shoreline, meeting new people, and playing in its cool water. People are swimming, reading, relaxing, playing a pick-up game of something, and loving all that the pond has to offer.I hope to see you there, soon!

Surprisingly busy at 7am on a Wednesday!Very good trails. People friendly.

One of the most beautiful and peaceful natural places on earth.

This place is perfect,the water is so clean!Love the life guards

Gorgeous park with great clean water.

Beautiful place very family-friendly,,,, definitely I recommend it

My favorite place to swim. In these Covid times make sure you wear a mask. Unfortunately many dont. Especially mothers with little ones.

Very nice pond to swim lots of security very safe!

Leave it to the State of Mass to charge for parking at a state park. Can’t wait to move out of Taxachusetts. Not worth your money folks! Also, Tom Brady is a system quarterback.

Nice visitor center. Crush of people in the summer time.

Great place to take th kiddies for some good ol fashion water fun,, take your paddle boards, ky-yaks or canoes,, on right side n fishing on left side of pond

Very pretty when weather is nice. The trail around the pond is perfect for a afternoon walk without getting sweaty.

This is such a beautiful place.so much nature, so much beauty

Walden Pond is delightful for swimming and trail walking, a real little jewel.

What a beautiful place to walk

Perfect place for an early morning swim

A fantastic piece of US natural history and certainly worth the visit if you ever have the chance! Walden Pond is beautiful and full of history!

Basically the best place ever.

Historic & serene with easy walking trails & calm water for swimming, SUP, or kayaks.

Visited during spring so it wasn’t very busy. Lots of bugs but good for a little hike. Visitors center is very modern with lots of gifts. Make sure to go inside the replica cabin and read some of his journals.

Lovely spot to visit and walk on a nice day. Replica of Thoreaus little cabin and a path to the actual location where the original stood.

Magical, beautiful, peaceful.

Perfect spot for a leisurely stroll. 1.7 mile, mostly flat walk around the pond.

This is my happy place. Enough said?

Always great to be over there.

Great swimming and walking trails along famous lake .

Nice place to go to the beach for the day away from the crowds. A few different hiking trails including one that loops around the pond. Not as big as I thought it would be though and the house site was disappointing.

The weather was mixed when I visited. It is a nice calm lake with seemingly clear water. Good place to relax.

Amazing place.

Well managed swim and hike

Amazing view and area

Payd parking but, great place for fishing and for family.

Awesome...

Beautiful.

Nice and clean !

Serene, tranquil, beautiful

Nice and clean, little crowded though

The colors are starting to turn

FUN

Beautiful, though I think the parking prices are a bit steep. Likely to come back though!

Beautiful

This park is great to visit during all seasons! (Its simply a beautiful sanctuary and any visitor will appreciate the the space when the weather gets colder since less people translates to more serenity.) Suggestions: call when theres snow on the ground to ask for the trail conditions since the main trail loop around the pond will be icy - even for experienced hikers. Also, call during the summer - they will have a recording stating if the park has reached its capacity and will mention a time that it will reopen to the public. (If the parking lot is full, they wont allow drop-offs. Theyre strict about preserving the area.) They have built a new state -of-the-art green visitor center (finally) to meet the needs of large volumes of visitors in the summer and fall. The center will open soon (October?) Its a magical and sacred space to the locals, the regulars, and new visitors. There is always something to inspire anyone: the trees, the pond, the trails, the people (definitely the swimmers), the creatures, and perhaps the story of Thoreau. ♡ WaldenP.S. keep the dogs and horses at home... not allowed in the park.

The spirit is not in the nature, but in us.

Overcrowded in summerNo Dogs even in dead of WinterHavent been back since we were the only ones walking a 15 lb pup around the pond in Feb and the ranger threatened to take the dog.Live in town and fewer places to take your pup even on a leashSilly When no one is there

Nice place to swim

Beautiful place

Great place to relax

Magnificient parc to go hiking !Really appreciated the stay

Very neat and clean beach. Well maintained trails around the pond. Parking does get filled on hot summer afternoons.

Very cool place

A lovely walk around a popular and historic pond. The tightest trail around the pond is ~1.7 miles. Many trails stretch out for larger loops. Trails are well-maintained.

I have to admit, visiting the Walden Pond State Reservation, was honestly pure pleasure. Many decent trail options, with awesome views of the large pond. Tons of tourists, but a great place to visit. Nice place to observe nature, have a picnic, go to the beach, swim, run or just to hike. It is totally awesome, and extremely peaceful, when I visited! Pretty cool spot, in Concord, MA, and also contains some history to it! (Contains replica of famous poet, Henry David Thoreaus home) Sign the book inside the house!!!

Parking really achievable, and no other costs. Great lake, and you can even be relatively alone, if you walk around a little. Completely did not expect a real sand beach inland! Very nice to acquire a sunburn and enjoy the shallow warm water. Lifeguard on duty during school holidays only, it seems. so you are more free to swim beyond the lines, when there is none.

Like many other reviews, this park is beautiful tho packed with people. Staff work around the gate definitely werent that friendly. Theres no shower around so if you want to swim here you need to be prepared.

Walden Pond, managed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a destination for recreation including swimming, paddle-boarding, walking, jogging and fishing. Its not a place for solitude or quiet reflection. If you want that youll need to find some other pond.But the area is well preserved and cared for and if you are patient you can sometimes find a quiet spot to reflect on how Thoreau reached out from his small cabin and touched people across time and around the world. Its well worth the visit.

A true transcendental experience! Walking through the woods of Walden Pond is a quick and convenient trip to nature. Just off RT 2, you would never tell that cars are racing by only hundreds of feet away. The pond has clear water and the afternoon sun hitting the water is truly a sight to behold... The facilities are environmentally friendly and parking is reasonably priced. A must for an afternoon escape. (I might suggest some hot apple cider in the fall months!)

Great pond, shaded round trails for walking

Such an amazing place. and so close to the city of Boston. Avoid the main beach and explore the surrounding areas of the pond. Great walking and swimming, and early morning fishing. Best times of day, in my opinion, are early early morning and late late afternoon. If you come here enough its worth it to buy a seasonal pass. Enjoy!

Great swimming spot! The parking lot fills up fast so get there early or better yet get dropped off. The main beach can get crowded, there are many spots around the lake that have nice beach front and are quiet. Clear waters make it the perfect summer place to cool off.

Ive come here since I was a child, grew to appreciate the history of it all and now take my child and her friends here all the time. (Get the yearly pass, its worth it.) I show them the trails and say a bunch of stuff about Thoreau and they pretend to listen and then we go down to the beach all day. So great. Today they had a woman showing them how to play games like they did in the mid-1800s which was a nice touch.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Walden Pond. The park rangers are so nice and it was extremely clean. The swimming areas are well marked and the views are amazing. It was also fun to walk around the pond and see it from all sides.I recommend this park to anyone who is in the Concord, Mass area. Definitely worth your time!

This was one of my favorite places that we visited in the Boston area. There are a bunch of trails around the pond which you can hike. There were patches of mud from time to time in the forest, so wear shoes that can get a little dirty. We went in the winter, so I cant speak to the swimming, but the beauty of nature here was so relaxing and inspiring. The visitor center was brand new when we were here (Jan 2017), so it was clean and had some nice explanatory exhibits. The ranger there was very helpful. This is worth a visit if you like peaceful outdoors locations.

Nice and quiet place to come with family and friends. Lifeguards on duty during the time I was there. I could not find trans cans but I asked and they have a Carry-in carry-out trash policy, I like that. Parking is a problem, plan well ahead. The area around is great if you like biking, better than driving a car.

Magnificent

Beautiful, historical place. Always seems to have a lot of visitors, but always worth the trip.

Parking was non existent. A sign said come back at 2 then at 5 which we did and still could not park although we did see spots available in the lot. Rangers will not even let you pull over to drop off or take pictures from the road. Very inwelcoming and disappointing.

Awesome way to spend your day at water. Be aware of problems with parking, better time to visit is early in the morning or after 6pm

Went today at 9am and was closed. The parking lots werent even full. this has happened to several friends who were disappointed. Get it together!!

Gorgeous spot to swim. Water is nice and the bottom isnt mushy. Its open and has a quiet feel. Great for kids too since there are lifeguards.

If I could take stars away from you guys I would because you guys suck. you need more help on Sunday mornings I had to bring my oatmel back because it was full water to the brim, and had no can fruit or raisins available. Also my ice mocha had way too much mocha syrup and was totally disgusting and Couldnt even finish it. get more help in the mornings

Just wow. You can decide whether to be active by hiking and walking around the pond or kayaking on the water or just to relax on the beach and chill hard in the sun. Nice! Beautiful place. Check theoreaus hut. Its interesting.

Easily accessible to non-Bostonians that dont know the inner workings of local parks and recreation. My favorite American author. Thoreau is the birthplace of my identity as a writer.

Good pond to swim with kids to take all heat off your body