CHARLES RIVER RESERVATION, Mass. — During the final morning of Bost Weekend, the Ombudsman and I went for a bike ride along the Paul Dudley White Bike Path on Charles River Reservation. Starting in Watertown, the Ombudsman and picked up the bike path on the opposite side of the Charles. It paralleled Nanamtum Road for nearly three miles. Here, the trail isn’t that scenic as the river is not that wide and the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) is nearby, but there are glimpses of what is too come with occasional views of the Prudential Tower and other Boston buildings.

The path then follows the river as it bends and parallels Soldiers Field Road. I barely noticed the loops of the trail, save for the Pru being in different places downstream. Eventually, we passed the Harvard athletic complex. Along the way, the trail is nearly completely flat. As we got closer to Boston, the skyline grew bigger and the bridges and boat houses became more frequent. Boston University, its bridge (and railroad underpass) and stadium (Nickerson Field, technically the remains of Braves Field) are passed. MIT is on the opposite side of the river. By then, the path is alongside Storrow Drive with four lanes of traffic buzzing by. There are a few additional paths that follow the river more closely in parts and cross over small channels. Be warned, some of the bridge have stairs, particularly the one by the Hatch Shell amphitheater.

At the Charles River Dam, the route turns left to cross the river. There is some construction, so a minor detour through the Museum of Science parking lot is in order. From there, a left turn begins the ride back to Watertown. We found on this side of the Charles, their were more people on the path, perhaps because Memorial Drive is not as big a barrier as Storrow Drive. Like the south bank side, there are some at grade crossings at bridges, but they are not a big deal. There are also well worm tracks through the grass that may be preferable to the crowded paved path.

Since we were meeting the Ombudsman’s attorney in Harvard Square, we cut off the trail early, so I can not report specifics of the Watertown leg of the north bank trail. From the opposite side of the river, it did not look much different when we were inbound.

The most curious thing about the Paul Dudley White Bike Path is the lack of any signs identifying it as such. In fact, the generic Bike Route signs were rare as well. It was easy enough to follow though, but I wouldn’t mind some more signing and mileposts.

I took a lot of photographs along the ride too.

[flickr : Photos tagged with pauldudleywhitebikepath/slideshow]

Here is an approximate route of our ride up to Harvard Square.

Next time, I’m eager to try the Minuteman_Bikeway