Massachusetts Parks and Recreation Areas

This is the site of the first integrated ironworks in North America, 1646-1668. It includes the reconstructed blast furnace, forge, rolling mill, and a restored seventeenth century house.

Phone: 781-233-0050   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Saugus   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Historic Site   Activities: Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site

John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site preserves the birthplace in 1917 and boyhood home of the 35th President of the United States. The modest frame house at 83 Beals Street in Brookline was the first home shared by the president's father and mother, Joseph P. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, and represents the social and political beginnings of one of Americas most prominent families.

Phone: (617)566-7937   Price Range: $0 - $7   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Brookline   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Historic Site   Activities:   Details Provided By: John F Kennedy National Historic Site

Located in the heart of Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood, the site includes 15 pre-Civil War structures relating to the history of Boston's 19th century African-American community, including: the African Meeting House, the oldest standing African-American church in the United States. The sites are linked by the 1.6 mile Black Heritage Trail.

Phone: (617) 742-5415   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Boston   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Historic Site   Activities: Hiking, Nature Walks   Details Provided By: Boston African-American

Boston Harbor Islands national park area includes 34 islands situated within the Greater Boston shoreline. The islands are rich in natural and cultural resources. Imagine a place where you can explore tide pools, walk through a Civil War era fort, climb a lighthouse, hike lush trails and salt marshes, camp under the stars, or relax while fishing, picnicking or swimming.

Phone: 617-223-8666   Price Range: $7 - $10   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Boston   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Park   Activities: Birding, Boating and Watercraft, Fishing, Hiking, Kayaking, Swimming, Wildlife Watching, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs, Star Gazing   Details Provided By: Boston Harbor Islands

Discover the revolutionary generation of Bostonians who blazed a trail from colonialism to independence. Boston National Historical Park is an association of sites that together give the visitor a coherent view of the city's role in the nation's history.

Phone: 617-242-5642   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Boston   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Historic Site   Activities:   Details Provided By: Boston

The history of America's Industrial Revolution is commemorated in Lowell, Massachusetts. The Boott Cotton Mills Museum with its operating weave room of 88 power looms, boardinghouses, the Suffolk Mill Turbine Exhibit and guided tours tell the story of the transition from farm to factory, chronicle immigrant and labor history and trace industrial technology.

Phone: 978-970-5000   Price Range: $2 - $8   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Lowell   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Historic Site   Activities: Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Lowell National Historical Park

Cape Cod National Seashore comprises 43,604 acres of shoreline and upland landscape features, including a forty-mile long stretch of pristine sandy beach, dozens of clear, deep, freshwater kettle ponds, and upland scenes that depict evidence of how people have used the land. A variety of historic structures are within the boundary of the Seashore, including lighthouses, a lifesaving station, and numerous Cape Cod style houses.

Phone: (508)349-3785   Price Range: $3 - $15   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Wellfleet   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Park   Activities: Backpacking, Biking / Bicycling, Birding, Boating and Watercraft, Cross Country Skiing, Fishing, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Hunting and Shooting, Kayaking, Swimming, Wildlife Watching, Auto Touring, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs, Star Gazing   Details Provided By: Cape Cod National Seashore

Adams National Historical Park is located in the City of Quincy, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, approximately ten miles south of Boston. The Park comprises 11 historic structures and a cultural landscape totaling almost 14 acres.

Phone: (617) 770-1175   Price Range: $5 - $10   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Quincy   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Historic Site   Activities: Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Adams National Historical Park

New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park commemorates the heritage of the world's preeminent whaling port during the 19th century. A variety of cultural landscapes, historic buildings, museum collections, and archives preserve this history and collectively recount the stories of a remarkable era. Whaling, a leading 19th century enterprise, contributed to America's economic and political vitality.

Phone: 508-996-4095   Price Range: $2 - $10   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: New Bedford   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Historic Site   Activities: Nature Walks   Details Provided By: New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park

Longfellow National Historic Site is an outstanding example of a historic site representing the themes of arts and literature. For almost half a century, this was the home of one of the world's foremost poets, scholars and educators, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow House is also significant in America's colonial history. General George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the newly-formed Continental Army, headquartered and planned the Siege of Boston here between July, 1775 and April, 1776.

Phone: (617)876-4491   Price Range: $0 - $3   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Cambridge   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Historic Site   Activities: Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Longfellow National Historic Site