Medford, MA
From I-93, Wright’s Tower looks like a mysterious stone structure tucked amongst the trees overlooking the highway. For years now Aisha and I have discussed trying to go to find it. This past weekend, I found it somewhat by accident, on a long Sunday stroll to the Middlesex Fells Reservation that turned out to be more of an adventure than I’d planned for.
Our last visit to the alarmingly massive Middlesex Fells (“The Fells”) left us driving all the way up to Stoneham and Spot Pond because, despite its enormity, The Fells is seriously lacking in parking options, or so it seems. Luckily, our apartment is only about a 30 minute walk away from what is called the “South Border” of the reservation, in Medford. Less luckily, it is pretty much all uphill, so I’d been saving the trek for a day when I felt amped up for some outdoor exercise. Sunday, the first full day of Spring 2021, turned out to be that day.
My favorite thing about the walk to The Fells (besides almost getting into a fight with some geese) was all the gorgeous million dollar houses on Governors Avenue. There are at least a couple houses that look straight out of a fairy tale. It almost makes you forget about all the uphill huffing and puffing.
Just as I was approaching the entrance to The Fells, the sidewalk on Governors Ave just… ended. In somebody’s front yard. Welp. I carefully jaywalked across to the opposite side of the street where the sidewalk continued.
Approaching a group of face-masked bikers who were all riding out of the park, waving their goodbyes, it seemed that I had finally made it to the South Border entrance to the reservation. Yay! Except… I looked up and down South Border Road and… no crosswalk? At all? There were plenty of cars coming in both directions, so this seems like a poor design. I waited to cross at the same time as some of the bikers, figuring, hey, if a car comes, they’ll have to stop or else hit all of us.
My goal at The Fells was to walk around Bellevue Pond, which I could see on Google Maps, but not here in the Real World. I realized that, despite the gate before me, I was a little bit too west of the pond, with potentially no way to get there from inside. Welp, now it was time to walk along the road, alongside the squished nip bottles and trash and cars zooming by. Fabulous.
Thankfully in a matter of minutes, I was at a little parking “lot” that was overpacked with cars but had a big, comforting sign for Bellevue Pond. I’d made it!
But wait… where’s the pond? Is THAT the pond?
More like “Bellevue Swamp.”
Seriously? There were a couple ducks swimming in the shallow water, and not to dunk on their home, but wow this “pond” is kind of lame. Call me a pond snob, but I was expecting something a little less, uh, marshy?
Well I’d walked all the way here, so I was going to do the darn loop. When I got to the end of the path I saw a sign pointing towards Wright’s Tower. According to Google Maps, the tower was just a few minutes’ walk away. Oh cool, let me check it out! I can scope it out, and Aisha and I can come back later together.
And that is how I ended up hiking a small mountain on my Sunday morning.
The Wright’s Tower Path was steep, and rocky, and I only passed one family of three on the trail, who were taking a breather because no, this is not a casual stroll. I was sweating. After a winter of hibernation, my body was like, “What are you doing? Why are you doing this?”
But it all turned out to be worth it, because the view from the tower was amazing, far better than I expected! The tower itself is kind of meh—pretty stout, graffitied, and closed for Covid. But beside the tower there’s a rocky ledge that looks out over the I93 and Medford, all the way out to the Boston skyline and the Tobin Bridge. I took a breather on a rock to drink some water, catch my breath, and enjoy the view. With all the trees still being bare, I could see out over everything, and there was hardly anyone there.
I hung out there until more and more people kept coming by with their kids and dogs. One woman was carrying her full-grown dog in her arms shouting, “There’s too much glass!” There was in fact a lot of broken bottles around the tower, green and brown shards everywhere with empty nips and cigarette butts. No, it’s not a glamorous location, but wow, that view.
There are three paths leading down from Wright’s Tower, and I took two of the wrong ones, having to climb back up each time I realized I wasn’t going the right way, which probably made me look crazy to everyone else, but not as crazy as someone shouting about glass and carrying around a big dog, so it’s fine.
I didn’t end up doing the full loop around Bellevue “Pond” because I didn’t trust any new paths I hadn’t already taken. Except when I got to the edge of The Fells, I did cut down Massachusetts Avenue (not THE Mass Ave, but a little Medford suburb street of the same name), just to save myself from walking along the sidewalk-less South Border Road to Governors Ave again. Still no crosswalks to be seen anywhere, even with lots of people crossing into the park. What’s up with that, Medford? Where’s the petition I can sign?
Getting to Wright’s Tower
For those traveling by car (and not by foot like me) the closest parking to Wright’s Tower is at the South Border Road Parking Lot. Follow the Quarry Road Path to the Wright’s Tower Path. The trail up to the tower is a bit steep but clearly marked.