The 3.3-mile trail loop that winds around scenic Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, MA is an easy walk with little elevation and mostly paved walkways.
This is one trail where you can bring your dog as long as they are on a leash.
Distance
3.25 Miles
Hike Time
1.5 Hours
Nice day for a quiet 3.25 mile walk around Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, MA. I have driven by this lake hundreds of times looking out of my car window on Rt. 128 but never dreamed it was this beautiful.
It’s pathways lead you through serene cemeteries, onto neighborhood sidewalks, through corporate landscaping, and around the town common. If you have the time it is worth a visit. Adults and children were out there walking & using their kayaks.
We also couldn’t visit Wakefield without stopping at The Gingerbread Construction Co. They are known for their gourmet muffins and coffee!
Okay - get your smiles on. I love how they always enjoy my group photos!
There is so much history to be found all around New england.
"Here lyes Buried The Body of Mr. Joshua Eaton Who departed this life May the 3rd, 1772 in the y 38th Year of His Age"
It is amazing that these old gravestones still standing after all these years. It looks like the town of Wakefield put a lot of time and effort into preservation.
One of the stones in the Lakeside Cemetery belongs to Hon. John Hart who served as a surgeon during the Revolutionary War. He was born in Ipswich in 1752 and died April 27, 1836, AEt. 85.
During this pandemic, it’s interesting to note that “in 1792 during the period when smallpox broke out in Boston, Dr. Hart was placed in charge of hospitals erected in Reading, Lynn, and Boston, for the purpose of giving the then-controversial inoculations considered responsible for saving hundreds of lives.”
Besides serving for 13 years as a state legislator he also served on many town boards including as the Town Moderator – I bet Manchester’s Town Moderator Alan Wilson would get a chuckle out of John Hart’s antics at one of Wakefield’s Town Meetings – “On one recorded occasion, a citizen called repeatedly to be heard, only to be ignored by Dr. Hart. Finally, in exasperation, the citizen cried out, “Mr. Moderator, I wish to speak, and I WILL speak!” Dr. Hart replied, “By George, you may speak, but nobody cares what you say.” (The would-be speaker reportedly sat back down.)
Another stone belonging to Ruthy Sweetser has an inscription at the bottom of the grave that says:
“Then shall I see and hear and know,
All I desired or wished below
And every power find sweet employ
In that eternal world of joy.”
(I found the verse in a Primitive Methodist Hymnal 1882)
The Lakeside Cemetary in Wakefield, MA
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