It is impossible to overstate the hiking opportunities along this 10-mile trail from Bedford to Cambridge (where it’s accessible via the Red Line’s Alewife stop).

Yes, it’s officially for bikes, but hikers use the paths just the same; and woodlands—as well as some historic sites—line said paths.

The 600-acre state park includes a 1.5-mile loop around its Kendrick Pond that allows hikers to take in the reservation’s major sites—which are said to include a variety of avian life.

Until around 115 years ago, this 183-acre expanse was water storage for the Town of Arlington.

Since drained, it’s been a lush nature preserve with at least two miles of prime trails and plenty of off-shoots.

Added bonus: Arlington’s Great Meadow is just off the Minuteman Bikeway.

Legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed the greensward, and Harvard University owns and administers it.

Its 281 acres offer innumerable avenues for hiking, and its website provides maps and tips that make taking in the arboretum’s 15,000-plus plants relatively non-mind-bending.

The closest big state park to Boston proper, the 2,200-acre Fells unfolds over several towns, including Medford and Malden, and offers more than 100 miles of trails.

Bring a fishing rod, too—that’s allowed.

The Harborwalk edges the city in an almost continuous run that includes ample opportunity for hiking fast or slow on the waterfront.

There are plenty of attractions and other parkland just off the HarborWalk as well as numerous of places to sit should you decide against storming the full 43 miles at once.

The City of Lynn bills this 2,200-acre greensward as the second-biggest municipal park in the United States.

It comes complete with more than 30 miles of trails and three reservoirs that provide water to the city—and scenery to the park.

The peninsula is partly in Boston, partly in Winthrop, and is entirely a piece of a national park covering the Harbor Islands.

There is a 2.6-mile pathway along the waterfront (which offers breathtaking water views as well as views of planes landing and taking off from Logan) and a further two miles of trails on the hills farther inland.

Deer Island also hosts a sizable—and curiously awesome—wastewater treatment facility, which is open for tours.