Worcester, MA

Beaver Brook Park, Elm Park, WPI, & More

Elm Park. Creative Commons

This is probably our favorite all-around run in Worcester, combining three parks, a great hill, the campus of WPI, and a nice residential area. The route can be started at any point, but we start with a loop through Beaver Brook Park, just across from Clark University’s Hadwen Arboretum (which has trails to explore). Exit the park (optional add-on: running track), continuing to Newton Hill, which has an old cart path along the lower end, and then a road that climbs 100 feet over 0.4 miles. Exit and continue north, doing a nearly 1 mile loop around historic Elm Park, with its pretty pond (there are 2 miles of trails in Elm Park). Then take Park Ave. to enjoy a short loop around the paths of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where there’s also a nice running track. Continue briefly into Institute Park, where there’s a nice gazebo. For the return, use the residential streets just east of WPI (Fruit St. is the nicest).

Add-Ons: The residential streets near WPI, such as the Massachusetts Ave. Historic District, form one of the nicest neighborhoods for running in Worcester. See our historic districts route. Near Beaver Brook Park, we recommend exploring the trails of Hadwen Arboretum.

Essentials
  • 6.3 mile (10.1 km) loop
  • 309 feet (94m)
  • Beaver Book Park

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Essentials
  • 6.3 mile (10.1 km) loop
  • 309 feet (94m)
  • Beaver Book Park