The benefits of walking are well known, especially when it comes to seniors. Because of this, NewBridge on the Charles makes it easy for residents to include walking as a part of their daily routine. Thanks to some smart designing, walking at NewBridge is much more than putting one foot in front of the other.

Have you ever seen a wild turkey? How about a deer in your backyard? At NewBridge on the Charles, nature is our neighbor. One hundred acres of our 162-acre campus have been deemed environmentally protected woodland and have been criss-crossed with safe, unobtrusive walking trails so our residents and neighbors can explore the dense forest that surrounds us.

And explore they can! From the various types of trees (colorful oaks and maples, majestic hemlocks and hickories, towering white pines to name just some) to the varied and luscious wetland vegetation growing along the Charles River—each new tree grove introduces a different ecosystem for you to survey and enjoy.

From the trail, bird watchers can also sneak glimpses at the diverse array of birds that call the wetlands their home. The songbird habitat is a home for cormorants, flycatchers, kingfishers, and hawks—who use the river bank as a hunting ground.

Every spring, two vernal pools appear along the trail path and offer something new to see every day. As the pools fill with water from those proverbial April showers, they become safe breeding grounds for amphibians including frogs, toads and mole salamanders.

The NewBridge walking trail is accessible from an entrance right on the campus, as well as from the Whitcomb Woods trailhead and across from the Wilson Mountain parking lot in Dedham on Route 135. We encourage residents and non-residents alike to explore the trails, enjoy the ever-changing scenery and, most of all, experience the many benefits of walking.

See the photos of Newbridge on the Charles