What to do in the Park
From golfing and basketball to biking and walking, there are activities in Franklin Park for everyone. There's a weekly cricket game, walking groups, and the Franklin Park Tennis Association offers free lessons in warm months.Below, you can read about Sports, Exercise, Nature, the Zoo, Playgrounds, Food and Bathrooms, and Handicapped Accessibility. Also check out the Park Groups page for more links and contact information for activities that happen in Franklin Park. (Click on photos below to enlarge them.)
The fields and courts of Franklin Park are great places for games with your friends or family, whether you like to play ultimate frisbee, soccer, baseball, tennis, or basketball. You can also join an organized league or association for serious (and not so serious) competition.
Tennis: There are four tennis courts in the park. Two next to White Stadium next to the big field called the Playstead and two by the Shattuck Hospital / Resting Grounds picnic area. Contact the Franklin Park Tennis Association to learn about free lessons for adults and children, exciting tournaments, and more 617-372-0655.
Little League Baseball and Softball:
Jamaica Plain Regan Youth League 617-983-1563. Children of all ability levels are welcome.
Roberto Clemente Youth League call 617-983-2763.
Grove Hall Little League call Project Right - 617-541-5454.
Basketball: There are informal hoops next to the White Stadium tennis courts.
Cricket: A Jamaican group plays cricket on Sundays in the field by the back entrance to the Zoo.
Golf: Go to the Clubhouse or call 617-265-4084 for more information on golf fees. The Junior Golf program offers free lessons and clinics throughout the summer.
golf course loop walking pathWalking & Jogging Loop: The wide, paved path around the golf course measures 2.5 miles and is filled with walkers and joggers every day of the year.
To join a Walking Group contact:
Bicycling: The Boston Bike Festival leads monthly rides through the Franklin Park neighborhoods that leave from the rear entrance of the Zoo on weekends. See www.hubonwheels.org
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Franklin Park was designed to be an urban oasis, a place city residents could escape the pressures of city life. Today, you can still feel miles away from the city when you explore The Wilderness, the Bear Dens, and Scarboro Pond. More information about different sections of the park is available in the History of the Park. The Nature page has information about plants, animals, even rocks in the park.
Visit the Zoo
The Franklin Park Zoo is the New England's largest Zoo and includes a Tropical Rain Forest building (the warmest spot in Boston in mid-winter), a farm area, a beautiful old bird house, and much, much more. The Zoo employs local teens in the summer, has many educational programs for the public, and partners with the Franklin Park Coalition to bring resources to the park and the surrounding community www.zoonewengland.com
Two beautiful playgrounds with wooden play structures, swings, water sprinklers, and sand pits can be found on either side of the northern half of the park. At the southern tip, along the golf course walking loop, there is a small play area with a climbing structure and swings built at the insistence of the Mayor's wife, Angela Menino, who felt children needed a tot lot at this end of the park.
El Parquesito de Hermandad - Walnut Avenue near White Stadium at the top of School and Iffley Streets (Egleston Square, Jamaica Plain & Roxbury)
Tiffany Moore - Seaver Street near Humboldt Avenue (Grove Hall, Roxbury & Dorchester)
American Legion Picnic Area - along American Legion Highway near the intersection of Blue Hill Avenue (Dorchester & Mattapan)
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Golf Clubhouse: Located on Circuit Drive (the main road through the park) near the Blue Hill Avenue Entrance, the clubhouse has the only public bathrooms in the park and a snack bar serving breakfast, lunch, supper, beer and wine during the warmer months. Call to make sure the snack bar is open: You can reserve the function room (seats 150) and the golf course caterer for a group event.
Franklin Park Zoo: Located near the Blue Hill Avenue Entrance, the Zoo has bathrooms and a healthy snack bar for lunch that is accessible upon paying Zoo admission.
Handicapped accessibility
The Golf Clubhouse is fully wheelchair accessible and the walking path around the course is paved but has an occasional rut or crack. It is a lovely path winding through wooded areas, past a picnic site, and over old stone bridges that traverse Scarboro Pond - a popular birding and fishing spot.