The Western Greenway is located almost entirely inside the triangle bounded on the northeast by Concord Avenue in Lexington and Belmont, on the southeast by the MBTA commuter rail and the now-abandoned Mass Central Rail line, and to the west by Lexington Street in Waltham. To be sure, there has been a significant amount of development inside this triangle. But there are also significant swaths of green space. The green space comprises various parcels, some of which are publicly-owned and have been designated as parks or conservation land. There are other publicly-owned parcels whose future is still undetermined, and there are some undeveloped parcels along the Greenway that are privately-owned.
Most of the blazed segments of the Greenway are in Belmont and Waltham extending from the Beaver Brook area all the way around past the YMCA on Lexington St. toward the Lyman Estate. I usually like to park in the lower section of the YMCA driveway, or the lot over at the Robert Treat Paine Estate off of Beaver street. There are a couple trail heads in the lot, and they are all well marked. It is a great place to walk the dogs or take a light hike. There are no serious steep uphill or challenging terrain, it's really just a great place to take a leisurely hike in the woods. We see deer and other wildlife out there all the time. It was really a shock to me when I first discovered it that there was this much undeveloped space in the heart of Waltham.
There are many marked and blazed trails, but the Greenway is still under development in certain sections. It is worth a visit to the Waltham Land Trust website to see what areas are suitable for what your looking to do. read more