| Stony Brook Reservation | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Location in Massachusetts Show map of Massachusetts Stony Brook Reservation (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Location | Boston andDedham,Massachusetts, United States |
| Coordinates | 42°15′59″N71°08′34″W / 42.2664705°N 71.1428053°W /42.2664705; -71.1428053[1] |
| Area | 616 acres (249 ha)[2] |
| Elevation | 128 ft (39 m)[1] |
| Established | 1894 |
| Administrator | Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation |
| Website | Official website |
Stony Brook Reservation is a woodland park inBoston andDedham,Massachusetts, a unit of theMetropolitan Park System of Greater Boston, part of thestate park system of Massachusetts. It was established in 1894 as one of the five original reservations created by the Metropolitan Park Commission. The park is served by theStony Brook Reservation Parkways, a road system that was entered into theNational Register of Historic Places in 2006.[3]
The park is located in the southwest of Boston. Its main contiguous section extends southwards from Washington Street in theWest Roxbury neighborhood toMother Brook in theHyde Park neighborhood, with an additional 14.2 acres (5.7 ha) southwest along a roadway to Mother Brook in Dedham. An adjacent portion encompasses theBellevue Hill water towers on the north side of Washington Street.
Stony Brook Reservation contains the headwaters ofStony Brook. Park elevations range fromMother Brook at 15 feet (4.6 m) toBellevue Hill, at 338 feet (103 m) the highest point in the city of Boston.[4]
The use of parcels of undeveloped land around Boston for a system of interconnected parks were conceived by landscape architectCharles Eliot, who had apprenticed withFrederick Law Olmsted and later assumed leadership of Olmsted's design firm in 1893. Eliot was instrumental in the founding ofThe Trustees of Reservations and the public Metropolitan Parks Commission in the 1890s and envisioned an expansion of the parks network to areas surrounding Boston.[5] The first five areas acquired by the Metropolitan Park Commission for this system in 1893 were theBeaver Brook,Blue Hills,Hemlock Gorge,Middlesex Fells and Stony Brook Reservations.[6]
Recreational facilities at the park include hiking and biking trails, fishing at Turtle Pond, athletic fields, tennis courts, an ice skating rink, and a swimming pool.[3]
