Botume House Visitor Center at Middlesex Fells Reservation
The Botume House is the starting point for most visits to the East Fells. Located at 4 Woodland Road in Stoneham on the eastern shore of Spot Pond, it serves as the main visitor center for Middlesex Fells Reservation — the place to pick up a trail map, get your bearings, and learn about current conditions before heading out.
It's also one of the oldest buildings still standing in the park. The house was built in 1847, acquired by the park in 1895, and has been welcoming visitors to the Fells for well over a century.
Visitor Center Hours & Information
The Botume House Visitor Center is located at 4 Woodland Road, Stoneham, MA 02180, on the eastern shore of Spot Pond, half a mile south of the Stone Zoo.
At the Visitor Center you'll find:
- Trail maps for the full reservation
- Park information about activities, conditions, and programs
- Friends of the Fells and DCR activity listings
For questions about the reservation, contact DCR directly at 781-590-2100.
The Visitor Center is the best home base for the East Fells — Spot Pond, the Cross Fells Trail, the Skyline Trail, Pickerel Rock, and Bear Hill Trail are all accessible from here.
Getting There
By car: The Botume House is at 4 Woodland Road, Stoneham. Parking is available at the Flynn Rink lot and along Woodland Road nearby.
By MBTA: MBTA Bus #99 stops directly across the street at 3 Woodland Road. It's the easiest transit connection to any single point in the reservation. See our Getting Here by Transit page for full directions.
For full parking details, visit our Parking and Directions page.
History of the Building
The Botume House is one of the oldest structures still standing in the Fells — and one of the most unusual. The building is a 2½-story Italianate stone house built of uncoursed granite, with a T-shaped footprint, bracketed roofline, and distinctive round-arch windows at the gable ends. The original granite entrance posts and a stone wall along Woodland Road still stand.
It was built around 1847 by William Foster Jr., a Boston merchant, as a summer retreat. Spot Pond was a fashionable destination in the mid-1800s, and Foster's house was one of roughly half a dozen similar summer estates built along its eastern shore to take advantage of the setting. It is the only one to survive — the last of its neighbors, the Lang House, was demolished in 1986.
In 1895, the property was acquired by the Metropolitan District Commission — the predecessor to today's Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation — as part of the effort to assemble the Middlesex Fells Reservation. For much of the 20th century, the house served as a supervisor's residence for park staff.
In 1984, the John Botume House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it is a contributing property in the Middlesex Fells Reservoirs Historic District. It has since been converted into the reservation's main visitor center.
A Good Place to Start
If it's your first visit to Middlesex Fells, the Botume House is the right place to begin. The East Fells trail network fans out in every direction from here, and the staff can point you toward trails suited to your time and ability level.
Spot Pond is right across Woodland Road — kayak and canoe rentals through Paddle Boston launch nearby, and the shoreline path makes for an easy, scenic walk even if you're not heading deeper into the trails.