A Day in…Framingham, MA
Framingham, the third city along the Boston Marathon route, is located 30 miles west of Boston. The city brings to mind images of clusters of shopping malls and car dealerships. Yet, beyond these commercial images, Framingham offers a surprising amount of plenty of natural beauty, conservation land, and charming farmhouses and other attractions worth visiting.
Quirky Fact: Framingham was nicknamed “the largest town in the country” until it was voted to city status in 2017. As with most urban legends, the story was exaggerated, Framingham was the largest town in New England.
Here is an afternoon trip to Framingham to rebut the drive-by shopping-Mecca stereotype and take in its natural beauty:
Start your morning with a cup of coffee on the banks of the Sudbury River at the renovated Saxonville Mills. The refurbished industrial building with exposed beams, high ceilings, and expansive windows harken back to its former use as an early 19th century woolen mill and later as the Roxbury Carpet Company. Now with a renovation, Saxonville Mills Cafe and Roasting (2 Central St.) roasts their own coffee beans. Grab a pour-over coffee and a snack to start your day. The complex also houses The Mill Contemporary Art which hosts open studios the second Friday of each month.
Get some exercise and fresh air by hiking along the picturesque trails of Callahan State Park (1048 Edmands Rd.). With Baiting Brook leisurely running through the conservation land, it has 7 miles of trails on 820 acres of land. Framingham hosts many conservation lands, but Callahan State Park is a personal highlight. Alternatives include Garden in the Woods or the New England Wild Flower Society (180 Hemenway Rd), a 45 acres woodland botanical garden, or Nobscot Mountain (1 Nobscot Road, Sudbury, MA), 452-acre property between Sudbury and Framingham whose peak provides cascading views of the area.
After your hike, treat yourself with an ice cream from Eastleigh Farm’s Moo Bus. Their many soft cheese samples are worth trying. Also on the grounds of the farm, browse at the quaint Avenue C Design, a collection of some 20 artisans selling handmade and vintage goods, and at B. Barton and Co., an antique shop. The farm offers tractor and wagon tours of the farmland and animals. You will be surprised to find a serene dairy farm within the boundaries of busy Framingham.
Framingham also has two breweries which are worth a visit, Exhibit “A” (81 Morton St) and Jack’s Abbey (100 Clinton St). Jack’s Abbey has a robust outdoor beer garden which is great for social distancing.
