Walking In The Footsteps Of Thoreau And Emerson: Another Walk Around Walden Pond

It was mostly sunny clear and mild with temperatures around 60 degrees  when I woke up at the Residence Inn in Concord Sunday morning last month . I was eager to  take the 4 mile drive to Walden Pond and explore  the paths and woods made famous by Henry Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.  It was cloudy and  rainy when I visited Friday afternoon, the first time  in 46 years. After parking my Jeep I walked down under the branches of the pine and oak trees to the famous pond on the Pond Loop Trail.

The calm,  blue  waters of Walden Pond looked so different  in the morning sunshine then under the clouds and rain when I arrived  on Friday. . I was surprised to see a dozen small fishing boats on the water. There were also a few brave folks swimming in what had to be cold water.

Although I was the only human walking along the pond but I wasn’t alone,  this greater yellowlegs was walking with me. 

It  decided to fly off and  joined  this Canada goose before flying across the pond.

I walked along the shore of the pond, where I am sure Thoreau and Emerson also walked many times. And, like me, I am sure they were appreciating  the beauty of the pond created in the last ice age more than 10,000 years ago. Because of these two great nature lovers and their writings it   is now considered the  birthplace of the American  conservation  movement.

I saw a few birds in the woods along the shore including this great crested flycatcher,

a Baltimore oriole  scurrying on the ground, an unusual  place to see this colorful bird,

and these two male mallard ducks swimming on the pond. I am sure Thoreau and Emerson also saw these same birds here.

I walked along the shore of the lake for about a 1/4 mile and then walked up some old stone step,

to the Pond Path Trail.  I followed it under some large second growth oak, eastern pine and hemlock trees.

I looked down at the lake and saw mores swimmers and fishermen in small boats.

I followed the Pond Path Trail to the Fire Road South Trail,

which took me to the active railroad tracks.

Here I observed  parental love. I saw a Canada goose on the railroad track with a small gosling.

The other parent was on the other side of the tracks with the older goslings. It seemed the smaller gosling couldn’t climb over the  rail and join it’s siblings.   So one goose remained with smaller gosliong . The two geese would  keep calling to each other.

The other goslings were  feeding on dandelion leaves. I am sure the  parent goose will remain with the  younger gosling for a few days until it is older and can climb over the rail and join it’s siblings.

As I was watching the geese two male scarlet tanager flew over the track apparently fighting over a female. One flew off with the female and this one remained along the tracks  allowing me to take some photos.

I followed the railroad tracks to the Heywood’s Meadow Trail and down to the beaver lodge ponds I  had visited on Friday. They, too, looked so much different in the sunshine. I imagined Thoreau or Emerson walking down this trail on a sunny May morning like this.

I saw a great blue heron and,

a common grackle perched on dead tree branches on the pond.

I took the trail along the shore of the pond, under the large white pines,

seeing large, lush  skunk cabbages,

and delicate bog white violets growing along the edge of the pond.

There were a lot of mosquitoes  here, and a lot of tree swallows feeding on them and other insects, occasionally resting on a tree branch.

A water snake wiggled through the waters of the pond,

and I saw this muskrat swimming near the shore and followed it,

to the end of  the pond.

I walked back along the ponds, observing  many wildflowers and plants that I am sure Thoreau also  observed, including arrow leaf violets,

small white violets,

Canada  mayflowers,

red chokeberries,

and wild sarsaparilla.

A few red winged blackbirds and

song sparrows sang in the morning sunshine.

It was a reflective walk around  the pond  and meadow.  The peace and quiet of this beautiful scene was disturbed only once when a woman ran by on the trail.

I left Heywood’s Meadow and followed the Fire Road Trail back to the Pond Path,

once again seeing the deep blue waters of he  famous Walden Pond where I saw a group of women swimming in the Ice Fort Cove.

In the trees above the cove I saw this blue jay and,

a Baltimore oriole.

I the trail  along followed  the pond and  now encountered many other  folks  walking to the beaches along the pond or  to the site of Thoreau’s house.

I came to  Thoreau’s Cove, which had a nice beach with a few swimmers and sunbathers.

I left the  cove followed the trail up to the site t of the small cabin Thoreau built himself and where he lived lone in the woods  alone for over 2 years. It was here he wrote his famous journal.

Thoreau wasn’t a hermit. He lived alone but often walked into Concord to visit friends and many friends, including Emerson , who owned the land where Thoreau built his cabin. Friends and folks from the town also visited his humble home in the woods.

Displayed along the path were pages of the wonderful book If You Spent a Day with Thoreau at Walden Pond by Robert Burleigh.  It is great book that explains the message of Thoreau, to love and explore nature and to keep life simple. I do a good job following the first part of his massage bit need to work on the latter.

After reflecting on Thoreau’s life here, I continued on the trail, visiting the area where he had a bean field,

and then walked back to Walden Pond,

where I now  found the beaches crowded with swimmers,  sunbathers and folks just enjoying the lake.

I was it becomes real crowded on a hot summer afternoon.

I walked back to the parking lot where I again visited the replica of the cabin Thoreau built,

and the few items of furniture inside. The original furniture is on display in the Concord Museum.

I had walked about 5 miles. It was a beautiful  morning and decided to continue my hike. Looking at the trail map I followed a trail out to Goose Pond.   I have since learned Emerson would often hike this trail. I also learned he gave a series of lectures know as the Goose Pond Principals which began   “The brilliant & warm day let me out this morn. into the wood & to Goose Pond. Amid the many colored trees I thought what principles I might lay down as the foundations of this Course of Lectures I shall read to my fellow citizen”.  Ralph Waldo Emerson 1836.

This famous work by Emerson was conceived on  the very path I now walked. I will admit I only  knew Emerson by his many famous quotes I shared on Facebook and my blogs. I hope to read more of him and Thoreau,  in the Winter.

I followed the trail to Goose Pond  which I found was mainly  mud and dirt.

As  I stood along the mud flats I heard the frantic call of a killdeer.

I knew what it meant. He/she was trying to  draw me away form her young ones or nests with their famous “broken wing display” 

She/he would slip away form the nest and pretend to have broken wing to lure predators away from  the nest.

I carefully walked through the mud  flats and was rewarded when I found the nest.  I thanked Emerson and Thoreau for another wonderful experience. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the birds I saw on my 7 mile hike. Concord Walden Pond birds May 17 2026.

I continued on my hike past Goose Pond, it took me into a mature woodland ,

where I saw  star flowers,

and a garter snake. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the wildflowers and critters  I saw on my 7 mile hike. Concord Walden Pond flora and fauna  May 17 2026.

A few folks ran past me and it seems to be  a popular jogging trail.   I soon heard the noise of motor vehicle traffic and the trail took me to busy Route 2.  It followed Route 2 short distance and looped back to the Goose Pond.

However, I came to this tunnel and found more trails on the other side  in the  Hapgood Wright Forest.  I wished I could have explored them. Unfortunately, I had walked over 5 miles, it was late morning  and I was hungry so on this sunny Sunday morning.

So  I walked back to the  Visitor Center. God willing, I hope to return some day and explore more of these woods and forests. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some photos from  my 7 mile hike. Concord Walden Pond  May 17 2026.

I drove into downtown Concord and had another great breakfast at the quaint Helen’s restaurant with the pleasant waitresses.

After my late breakfast I drove back to my hotel. I had walked 7 miles in the morning and did a lot of walking since I cameto Concord and didn’t take an afternoon walk. Instead I did some more research on Walden Pond, Thoreau and Concord, edited some photos and worked on my blog.

I did, late in the afernoon drive to the nearby Twin Seafood and have  a nice dinner of New England seafood  chowder,

and grilled catfish and rice.

Blessed are they who never read a newspaper, for they shall see Nature, and through her, God.— Henry Thoreau 

Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself.- Henry Thoreau 

“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“In the woods, we return to reason and faith…”~ Ralph Waldo Emerson