Charles River/Boston Harbor - October 1, 2026

View of Back Bay

I made my first trip back to Boston since my retirement to paddle the Charles River and Boston Harbor. I have been wanting to do this trip for years, so when Steve N. posted it on the RICKA Flatwater Message Board, I was in.

The Charles River arises at Echo Lake in Hopkinton, and flows generally east for 85-miles, zigzagging through 22 cities and towns in eastern MA before emptying into Boston Harbor. I’ve done lots of great trips on the Charles, but never this section around Boston.  

Massachusetts Avenue Bridge

I fought rush hour traffic to get to the put-in at Magazine Beach off Memorial Drive in Cambridge at 10:00. There was plenty of parking at this time on a weekday, but it would probably be a problem on a weekend.  

We launched across from Boston University and paddled down the Charles River into the Back Bay. This area was originally a large tidal marsh that was filled from the 1850's to the 1880's, transforming it into the grid-patterned Victorian-era brownstone and high-rise neighborhood that we know today.

Longfellow Bridge

We continued under the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, past the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and under the Longfellow Bridge. The Longfellow Bridge was completed in 1906 and connects Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood with Kendall Square in Cambridge. The bridge is easily recognized by its four granite towers which resemble salt and pepper shakers. 

The granite towers also contain medallions with the carved reliefs of Viking ships. The Viking motif was a deliberate nod to the unproven myth that Leif Erikson had sailed up the Charles River and established a settlement named Norumbega around 1000 AD.

Museum of Science

After passing under the Longfellow Bridge, we approached the Museum of Science, which sits directly on top of the original Charles River Dam. Completed in 1910, the dam was built to turn the Charles River from a tidal estuary into a fresh-water basin. It included locks to let river traffic pass to/from the harbor. We passed through the channel of a now unused lock next to the Museum of Science.

From the Museum of Science, we under I-93 to the new Charles River Dam. In 1978, the Army Corps of Engineers replaced the old Charles River Dam with this new dam and locks under what is now the Zakim Bridge. The locks are named for Colonel Richard Gridley, who was General George Washington's first army engineer.

Entering the locks

As we approached the locks, Steve pulled out his air horn and did two long and two short blows to alert the lock master that we wanted to go through. The huge gates opened in front of us and we paddled in. The gates closed again, the water came up, and the huge gates at the other end opened for us to paddle out into Boston Harbor.  

Once in the harbor we headed for the Charlestown Navy Yard - one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States. It was established in 1800 and operated until 1974. Today it is part of the Boston National Historical Park and is home for the USS Constitution.

USS Constitution and
the Bunker Hill Monument

The USS Constitution, nicknamed "Old Ironsides," is the world's oldest commissioned warship. It is a three-masted heavy frigate that was launched in 1797 in Boston. It earned the name "Old Ironsides" during the War of 1812 because enemy cannonballs appeared to bounce off its thick wooden hull. It was undefeated in 33 engagements, most famously defeating four British warships during the War of 1812.

We crossed over to the Boston side of the harbor and had great views of Old Ironsides and the Bunker Hill Monument on the Charlestown side, and the TD/Boston Garden and the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge on the Boston side.  

Boston Tea Party Ship

We paddled around the North End past numerous old wharfs that have now been converted to condominiums and marinas. Conditions were perfect, and the views of the Boston skyline were amazing. It was great to paddle past buildings where I had worked for 45-years. 

We paddled down as far as the Tea Party Ship in the Fort Point Channel before turning around. The trip back was uneventful until we hit an afternoon headwind on the Charles River near the take-out. Total milage for the day was 10.4-miles.

This is what my workdays in Boston look like now!

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