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Points of Interest
<br />Route A (5.4 mi)
<br />0Visitors Center offers information and hospitality
<br />ubewt�ween 9,00 A.M. and 5:00 P, M., 362 days a year.
<br />m ��� lVi� The Minuteman Bikeway is one of the most popular
<br />rail -trails in the U.S. and is in the Rail -Trail Hall of Fame.
<br />(ul°) Vine Brook provided waterpower for the town in the
<br />17th and 18th centuries. It flows from the Old Reservoir,
<br />runs under Lexington Center, and eventually empties into
<br />the Shawsheen River.
<br />(",'q lu) Lower Vine Brook conservation area covers 108
<br />forested acres and includes 2.1 miles of trails. Route A
<br />follows a paved path running along Vine Brook itself, but
<br />other trails lead to old sand and gravel pits, row ponds.
<br />GLexington Tree Farm began in 2007 and is a joint
<br />venture of the Conservation Department, the DPW, and
<br />the Lexington Tree Committee. It can hold 500 trees.
<br />0Today s North Street conservation area was an
<br />operating sand pit as recently as the 1950s, when it
<br />supplied sand for the construction of parts of Route
<br />128. Now a large pond inhabits the 26 -acre forest
<br />and wildlife habitat.
<br />(ii um Willard's Woods conservation area comprises 107
<br />acres of fields, meadow, pine groves, and wetlands.
<br />Geologically, much of Willard's Woods is a kettle hole, a
<br />depression formed about 10,000 years ago by the
<br />melting of a mass of glacial ice. There is a picnic area.
<br />0Chiesa Farm conservation area has 18 acres of
<br />pasture along Adams Street. Traces of a ring tramped by
<br />the farm's horses are visible near where the trail enters
<br />Adams Street.
<br />0 Parker Meadow conservation area, comprising 17
<br />acres of fields, forest, and wetlands, was farmed early in
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<br />the 17th century. It is named for a later owner, Jonas Parker, Route C (2.6 ml)
<br />who was killed on Lexington Common on April 19, 1775. In the 10 The Cataldo Reservation links the Minuteman
<br />early 1980s the Lexington Conservation Commission built a
<br />pond around a spring there as a habitat for wildlife and to Bikeway to the Arlington Reservoir
<br />protect the watershed. There is a picnic area. ,,iii ilii
<br />���The Arlington Reservoir, built in 1873, originally
<br />supplied water to Arlington. The Town of Arlington
<br />Route B (4.5 mi) maintains a swimming beach along Lowell Street.
<br />(��i I upper Vine Brook–Cotton Farm conservation area
<br />comprises 52 mostly wetland acres. A trail on its eastern
<br />edge passes an active apple orchard and a picnic area.
<br />wi ) Three Watersheds originate in Lexington at about
<br />t is junction: the watersheds of the Charles River, the
<br />Shawsheen River, and the Mystic River. The streams
<br />move and clean water, provide wildlife habitats, create
<br />wetlands, and offer aesthetic pleasure to visitors.
<br />G
<br />Dunback Meadow, Lexington's largest conservation
<br />area, was once used for harvesting peat and pasturing
<br />cows. Today it's known as an excellent birding site.
<br />II) Old Reservoir, known today by locals as "The Res,"
<br />nce provided drinking water to Lexington and the
<br />surrounding areas. Now it's a popular recreational site for
<br />swimming and skating.
<br />Im Lincoln Park was a town dump until the 1980s, when
<br />it was transformed into a 60 -acre recreational area
<br />featuring trails, a pond, and playflelds.
<br />1�3� Belfry Hill Park contains a replica of the bell tower
<br />that once sat on Lexington Green. On April 19, 1775, the
<br />bell sounded the alarm that the Regulars were coming.
<br />�!! �1111OThe Battle Green saw the first battle of the American
<br />Revolution. On April 19, 1775, 80 Lexington Minutemen
<br />faced 800 British Regulars. A statue of John Parker, leader
<br />of the militia, memorializes those who fought.
<br />SInfinity Pond is a certified vernal pool—full in the
<br />spring but dry in the surnrner. Aquatic animals such as
<br />fairy shrimp, spotted salamanders, and wood frogs
<br />thrive there: the pool has no fish that would attack their
<br />eggs and young.
<br />6 Arlington's Great Meadows, a 183 -acre parcel of
<br />land owned by Arlington but located in Lexington, is the
<br />largest piece of undeveloped land in the two towns.
<br />Arlington purchased the land in 1871 as a supplemen-
<br />tary water -storage area but used it for that purpose only
<br />briefly. The Meadows remains a valuable buffer against
<br />flooding in the downstream area.
<br />Route D (3.4 mi)
<br />s Whipple Hill conservation area is named for Joseph
<br />Reed Whipple, who owned a produce and dairy farm in
<br />the late 1800s. Glaciers dragged huge boulders here,
<br />leaving deep scratches still evident. Whipple Hill's
<br />374 -foot summit is the highest point in Lexington. On a
<br />clear day you can see mountains to the north and west.
<br />is The area known as Sun Valley—along Whipple Hill,
<br />Locke Lane, and Fairlawn Lane—was developed in the
<br />1950s. Many of its original ranch -style homes had
<br />unheated sunrooms.
<br />10 Lexington Community Farm (LexFarm), a nonprofit
<br />community-based farm, sells its produce through shares
<br />and a farm stand. It offers hands-on education and
<br />volunteer programs and donates to food pantries.
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