Back Bay Fens, Boston, Bezoekersgids & wat te doen in de buurt

Back Bay Fens, often just called the Fens, is a public park in Boston, Massachusetts, and one of the central links in the Emerald Necklace, the chain of parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. It was built on a polluted tidal marsh and turned into a landscape of reeds, paths and water that still works as flood control for the city.

The story behind it

Much of the Back Bay area was once tidal water and mudflat, and as Boston grew in the 19th century the marshes were filled in to make new land. The low ground that became the Fens did not improve with the filling. It stayed a foul, sewage-fouled marsh where the Muddy River drained, and the city needed a fix for both the smell and the flooding.

Olmsted, the landscape architect behind New York's Central Park, took on the problem as an engineering challenge as much as a design one. Rather than hide the marsh, he reshaped it into a planned landscape of salt-marsh plants, banks and winding water that could take in storm flow and tidal change. The Fens became the first stretch of the Emerald Necklace, which links Boston Common to Franklin Park, and the name comes from the old English word for marshland.

What to look for

• The Muddy River winding through the park, with reeds and marsh grasses along its banks that recall the wetland Olmsted was working with.
• The community plots of the Victory Gardens, where local gardeners grow flowers and vegetables in a patchwork of small allotments.
• The Kelleher Rose Garden, a formal, tidy corner that contrasts with the looser marsh landscape around it.
• The small bridges and footpaths that cross the water, which show how the park was planned to guide your eye as you walk.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 30 to 60 minutes for a relaxed loop, or longer if you want to wander the gardens and pause by the water.
• Late spring through early autumn is the greenest time, and morning or late afternoon light is gentlest for photos.
• The park is in the open air and is a public space, so you can walk in at any time of day it is open to visitors; check current conditions before you go.
• The Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Fenway Park are all within a short walk, so the Fens pairs well with a wider day out.

See it on a quest

If you would rather see the Fens as part of a bigger walk than a single stop, try Boston Strangler: A Detective’s Hunt. You reach the park on foot as one stop on a longer route through the area, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle on the spot. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group, so it suits a pair of friends or a family equally well.