59' at trailhead, no significant gain
SEASON: Year-round
ACCESS: Open sunrise–sunset; free
MAPS: Not needed, as it’s one large loop around the pond
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes
FACILITIES: Restrooms, drinking fountain, community boathouse offering rowboat and sailboat rentals and youth programs
CONTACT: Boston Parks and Recreation, boston.gov/parks/jamaica-pond, 617-635-4505
LOCATION: 507 Jamaicaway, Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA
COMMENTS: Festivals and events are held at the pond throughout the year. Concerts are held at the pavilion next to the boathouse all summer long.
Jamaica Pond is more of a walk than a hike, but a very pleasant walk nonetheless.
THIS WONDERFUL WALK for all ages and abilities is located in a historic neighborhood right in the heart of Boston.
DESCRIPTION
The question of how Jamaica Pond and the surrounding Jamaica Plain neighborhood got its name may never be resolved. Some say it’s an anglicized pronunciation of Kuchamakin, a chief of the Massachusett tribe. Others say it comes from the involvement of some of its founding citizens in the rum trade with Jamaica. It has also been suggested it was so named in 1677 to commemorate Oliver Cromwell’s success at wresting control of Jamaica from Spain. Others state the shape of the pond simply resembles the outline of the island of Jamaica.
The largest freshwater pond in Boston at 68 acres, Jamaica Pond was Boston’s primary source of drinking water until the mid-1880s. The Jamaica Plain Aqueduct Company, incorporated in 1795, laid 45 miles of pipes to convey the water. The frozen pond provided households the ice needed to keep food from spoiling. The Jamaica Pond Ice Company supplied Boston nearly all its ice for more than half a century.
Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted was largely responsible for turning Jamaica Pond into a public park. With the construction of Franklin Park, the Arnold Arboretum, and the Muddy River Improvement Project in progress, Olmsted’s concept of a “green ribbon” around Boston was well under way. This greenbelt around the city is now called the Emerald Necklace.
Jamaica Pond looks much as it has since the retreat of the Wisconsin Glacier. Olmsted’s aim was to have the landscape look as natural and poetic as possible. As stated in his own words, he saw the pond as “a natural sheet of water, with quiet, graceful shores, rear banks of varied elevation and contour, for the most part shaded by a fine natural forest-growth to be brought out over-hanging, darkening the water’s edge and favoring great beauty in reflections and flickering half-lights.”
Where you start your hike around Jamaica Pond is often dictated by parking opportunities. Most begin on its northwestern side, near parking along Perkins Street. Where a crosswalk meets the path, bear right and walk counterclockwise, passing a sandy beach dotted with fishermen. Rounding a turn, the path runs beside a stone wall bordering Francis Parkman Drive to the right and the shore of the pond.
A hundred yards or so farther, Shea’s Island obstructs the view across the water. Neither entirely natural nor entirely man-made, this island is said to have begun as a bump formed from the edges of two conjoined kettle holes that make up Jamaica Pond. Local lore has it the island was first improved by Indians, who built it up with stones to create a fish trap. Today flocks of Canada geese, mallard ducks, and American coot congregate around the hummock.
Halfway along the bank and partway up a gentle slope, the path passes an enormous tree. This and the tremendous beeches growing to the right of the path ahead are likely among the few trees remaining from Olmsted’s time. Beyond the beeches, the path approaches the junction of Prince Street and Parkman Drive, the original site of historian Francis Parkman’s house.
Rounding the pond’s southern bank, recessed between the water and the land that defines the banks of the shore, the path climbs past the spot where the Jamaica Pond Ice Company icehouse once stood. Head away from the path here to walk along the water. This wide beach is a favorite for fishermen practicing fly-casting. Looking north on a summer’s day, you will likely see sailboats tacking lazily across the water.
From the beach, climb the granite stairs back to the path, and turn left to walk toward the boathouse. Stout fruit trees, planted to replace Olmsted’s originals, blossom along this stretch in the spring. Mighty red oaks fend off cars along the length of the Arborway.
Reaching the junction at Pond Street, help yourself to a drink from the spring-fed fountain in front of the Tudor-style boathouse. Continue past the bandstand and a row of benches to the left. Continuing north, the path echoes the shape of the pond, traveling several feet in from the water behind the trees and shrubs planted along the bank. Mallard ducks paddle in the shallows, feeding on submerged pondweed.
Bending west at a grassy passage to a kettle-shaped field, the path passes a short, steep hill dense with trees and shrubs. Until recently, an estate named Pinebank, once owned by the Perkins family, sat on this hill. Acquired by the Boston Park Department in 1891 on Olmsted’s recommendation, the former mansion has since been used as a commissary. Curving around the base of this hill, the path returns to the hike’s beginning at the crosswalk off Perkins Street.
Initially part of Roxbury, then West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain was settled in 1640 by the intrepid Curtis family. By the mid-19th century, it had attracted many wealthy families, who built summer homes on or close to Jamaica Pond. Francis Parkman, author of The Oregon Trail, spent summers in a large house outfitted with a dock extending into the water. He named points along the pond after famous capes. He called one jetty the Cape of Good Hope and named a cove the Bering Sea.
Incorporated into the Emerald Necklace in 1892, Jamaica Pond was, by the turn of the century, a favorite recreational destination for people from the neighborhood and far beyond.
NEARBY ATTRACTIONS
The Boston Beer Company, makers of Sam Adams beer, brews at their Jamaica Plain location (30 Germania St.). The brewery offers tours and tastings. Take the MBTA’s Orange line, or call 617-368-5080 for recorded directions.
GPS TRAILHEAD COORDINATES N42° 19.250' W71° 07.270'
DIRECTIONS Jamaica Pond is located on the Arborway across from Pond Street in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. Parking and trailhead are on Perkins Street.
3 SPECTACLE ISLAND: Boston Harbor Islands National & State Park
DISTANCE & CONFIGURATION: 2.5-mile loop
DIFFICULTY: Easy
SCENERY: Views of the other Boston Harbor islands and Boston skyline
EXPOSURE: Full sun
TRAFFIC: Light–heavy, depending on time of year and weather
TRAIL SURFACE:
