Route Review - Charles River in Boston, MA

As someone who’s been lucky enough to travel a fair bit I’ve been able to run a fair number of popular routes throughout the country. I want to start a series where I review and give some details about some of these paths. Since I was in Boston relatively recently, it seemed perfect to start with the Charles River.
On a gorgeous (if hot) afternoon

Overview

The Charles River runs west to east right through the middle of the city, with paths on each side. It’s by far the most popular route in Boston, save for that little 26.2 mile route from Hopkington to Boston. With numerous bridges cutting across the river, you can create loops of basically any distance if you don’t feel like doing an out and back.

The path itself is bone flat and paved, and is kept rather clean during the winter months. The paths on each side run parallel to rather busy roads/freeways, meaning there is sadly a fair amount of traffic noise for large stretches. However the river does offer some lovely views, and it’s always fun to see the rowers out getting in their work.

There’s a mix of users, from walkers to bikers to runners. In the times I’ve been on the path I haven’t felt like I’ve had to do too much weaving, although I’m certain that’ll be a different experience on those first warm spring days when everyone needs to get back outside again.

Getting there

There are numerous entrances all along the river. It can get a little tricky, as there's a thoroughfare which runs parallel to the path, so you need to find a footbridge to take you over. There's also a couple of spots where a set of stairs leading you down might be available on one side but not the other. I found that Google Maps or Strava do a solid job of indicating how to get to the trail.

Available distance and recommended path

The Charles River Bike Path runs all the way out to Waltham, meaning you can basically run any distance you're looking for. There are numerous bridges along the way, allowing you to cross from one side of the river to the other, meaning you can avoid an out and back if you like.

There is a very nice (roughly) 7 mile route which will take you from the Museum of Science, along the north side past Cambridge, across the River St. Bridge, then back again along the south side. But given the number of bridges (and of course the ability to just do an out and back), you can easily create whatever distance your heart desires. Ironically, getting hills on this route (considering it's in Boston) isn't really possible.

My review and other notes

On a scale of 1-10, I give the Charles River Bike Path a 7/10. I appreciate the accessibility, and running along the Charles River is wonderful. But there are many times when you're running right next to traffic when you're in the city, which isn't the most pleasant experience. You can hop off the path real quick for a detour to the Boston Marathon finish if you're so inclined, which is a nice perk.

This path is extremely popular with runners, especially for Marathon Weekend as you'd expect. I also find that many are happy to give the runner's wave, always a bonus.
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