Mountain Project: Climbing Lynn Woods

This area, a 2200 acre municipal forest, is located close to Castle Hill near Saugus (NE of Boston). In the US, it ranks as the 2nd largest municipally owned park. There is roped climbing here on Lantern Rock and possibly on Burrill Hill Observation Tower. This is very close to Walden Pond. (Per BlueEyeMountain.com: Henry David Thoreau probably never even heard of Walden Pond in Lynn Woods. Thoreau's Walden is in Concord and is a totally different pond. However, Lynn Woods is a beautiful place, so it deserves its own naturalist). There is also a rock called Dungeon Rock that lies West of Dungeon, Northeast of Pennybrook on Waycross.

It�s probably best to think of this as a place to get quality bouldering in an idyllic setting in the Boston area. This section needs to get fleshed out by someone with more familiarity.

Per BlueEyeMountain.com: the climbing listed here is mainly on the south side of Walden Pond, but, as with the mountain biking, the real goods are on the north side. Over the past few years, the bouldering there has been developed to the point that the number and quality of boulder problems is probably equal to Pawtuckaway and the other LW, Lincoln Woods. In fact, if the boulders at Lynn Woods were concentrated closer together, it might be better than those areas for bouldering.

There has been development of many boulder problems (>500) up to 20 feet in height on on at least 100 boulders in the area that can range from very short to 30 minute approaches. Some of the developers here include: Bob Johnson, Pete Otis, Bob Parrott, Andy Scott, Jerome Boutaud, Dean Feuller, Darryl Leonard, Ben Hoza, Ryan Bouldin, among others. According to Pete Otis and Andy Scott, this area has the best bouldering within an hour of Boston. Many of the bouldering areas are hard to find, but there are some huge granite blocks out there and quite a few open projects. The quality ratings indicate at least 20! 4 star problems here. The difficulty scale of the problems currently range from V0 to V9. There is potential for problems perhaps in the V12 range here.

Thanks all for the help on this section!

Getting There

Go north on I-93 to US Hwy 1. Go north to Route 129 (short of Hwy 128)/I-95. Go East to Pennybrook St. Go North about 0.3 miles. Park on the West side. Hike about 100 yards East to near Breed�s Pond.

Website

Dungeon Rock

Dungeon Rock is a 135-foot-deep cave that was once believed to hold a treasure and its unfortunate pirate. Access is unclear.

Mountain Biking

There is some decent single track, fire roads, rocky & sandy double tracks. Update per BlueEyeMountain.com: First off, the mountain biking at Lynn Woods is a little better than "decent." In fact, the mountain biking there may possibly be the best in all of New England. There are 40 miles of trails. The trails on the north side of Walden Pond are a freerider's paradise, full of drops, rock gardens, and other natural obstacles. An experienced cross-country rider will love the fast single track and monster climbs on the south side. Even the fireroads are fun and challenging for beginners.

Map

The Classics

Comments on Lynn Woods

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By BlueEyeMountain.com
Aug 21, 2007

Whoa! The description of Lynn Woods provided by Leo is a bit dated. First off, the mountain biking at Lynn Woods is a little better than "decent." In fact, the mountain biking there may possibly be the best in all of New England. There are 40 miles of trails. The trails on the north side of Walden Pond are a freerider's paradise, full of drops, rock gardens, and other natural obstacles. An experienced cross-country rider will love the fast single track and monster climbs on the south side. Even the fireroads are fun and challenging for beginners.

Secondly, Henry David Thoreau probably never even heard of Walden Pond in Lynn Woods. Thoreau's Walden is in Concord and is a totally different pond. However, Lynn Woods is a beautiful place so it deserves its own naturalist.

Lastly, the climbing listed here is mainly on the south side of Walden Pond but, as with the mountain biking, the real goods are on the north side. Over the past few years, the bouldering there has been developed to the point that the number and quality of boulder problems is probably equal to Pawtuckaway and the other LW, Lincoln Woods. In fact, if the boulders at Lynn Woods were concentrated closer together, it might be better than those areas for bouldering.

For a map of the bouldering at a Lynn Woods, go to www.LynnWoodsBouldering.com. To view the page correctly, make sure you download the latest Java software from www.java.com. For more info on the amazing mountain biking at LW, go to www.dieselbikes.com.

By Leo Paik
Administrator
From: Westminster, Colorado
Aug 21, 2007

BlueEyeMountain, thanks for the update. It's been a while. Dang how the years fly by.

By Old Timer
Administrator
From: North Andover MA
May 4, 2010

The best bouldering within an hour of Boston. Many of the bouldering areas are hard to find, but there are some huge granite blocks out there and about 35 open projects at the present time.

By czd
Oct 10, 2010

Does anyone know anything about routes on the "Great Frog Bouler"? It has one of the most impressive faces I've ever seen on a boulder with two very climbable, highball aretes. I'm sure someone has done something on it....

By Coz Teplitz
From: Watertown, MA
Nov 20, 2010

Thanks for sorting the boulders into areas - it will be very helpful. Also helpful would be removing references to one boulder in the directions to another (e.g., "From the Egg Boulder, turn around and ...."). I've been out to Lynn Woods three times and found only a handful of decent problems - and that includes a bunch of wandering off trail in the woods. I've seen the pictures, so I know that more problems exist. Help me!

Still, thanks for the additional organization and for posting this stuff at all. I know it takes time, and I appreciate the opening up a resource.

By Old Timer
Administrator
From: North Andover MA
Nov 22, 2010

Coz,
We are heading out on Wednesday of this week and then probably on the weekend, too. Let us know and we will give you a tour, and I promise you won't get lost. Pete

By CaptainMo
Administrator
Jul 18, 2011

I'm pretty sure Frog Boulder's aretes were climbed by Bob Parrot for the FAs. I had done two hard problems on the back right side years ago when my grandparents lived next to the park.

Edit: Pete - The amount of routes and your listing them on here is simply AMAZING!!! Keep up the great work, man!!!

By Old Timer
Administrator
From: North Andover MA
Jul 19, 2011

Hey Morgan,
I updated it.... Thanks for the info.

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Lynn Woods

Description

Getting There

Website

Dungeon Rock

Mountain Biking

Map

The Classics