2007-2008 Public Skating Hours Tue & Thur 1:30pm-2:30pm Fri 7:00pm-8:50pm Sat 2:00pm-3:50pm Sun 2:00pm-3:50pm

This free park hosts a platform of metal, concrete, and asphalt. Show off your skills on one of the many hand rails or do a trick or two on the loading dock. Other features include a mini ramp and manual pads. An interpretative sign highlights the history of the canal and commemorates the construction of the park. The wild affords pleasant, secluded views of the Motherbrook and a bordering wetland. Oaks dominate the site although a large number of elm, crabapple, and sumac have also rooted on the land. Because much of the land appears to be fill, growing conditions are harsh, thus favoring invasive plants such as oriental bittersweet, multiflora rose, and Norway maple. Nevertheless, with proper restoration with native, riparian plants, the area can support a larger diversity of plants and animals. The Skate Park is part of Reservation Road Park, which includes a football/soccer/lacrosse field, and parking.

This is the 2nd largest urban wild site, located between the MBA commuter rail tracks and Austin Street, just north of West Street. The northern half of the site is dominated by a rocky outcrop, known as Pine Rock, and forest comprised primarily of mature oaks, hickory, cherry, birch, and hemlock. The southern portion of the site is mostly filled-in stream channels and wetlands, which have gradually developed into a dense, weedy thicket of non-native, invasive shrubs and small trees. There are trails traversing the northern portion of the site. Along the eastern edge of the site is a right-of-way for the Stony Brook Conduit, replacing the now buried Stony Brook. Because of its size and accessibility, Sherrin Street Woods offers local residents many opportunities for passive recreation and natural history education, as well as significant aesthetic values. This large site helps break up the uniformity of many, small single-family house lots, and provides an appealing semi-rural feel to the neighborhood.

West & Austin St. Rock is a wooded, cone-shaped puddingstone outcrop that rises thirty feet from the corner of West St. and Austin St. in Hyde Park. Although the large mounds of puddingstone are undoubtedly the reason this parcel was left undeveloped, the site does merit attention for its ecological attributes. This small predominantly oak woodland serves as a reminder of the landscape that once characterized much of Hyde Park. Red maple, birch, eastern white pine, and the occasional hemlock are scattered upon a background of mature red, black, and chestnut oaks.