Blake Walsh

15 Best Things to Do in Lynn, MA

  • Published 2023/04/29

Lynn is one of the most beautiful cities in Essex County in Massachusetts.

It lies on Nahant Bay and Lynn Harbor, northeast of Boston.

Dedicated in 1629 as Saugus, it was established as a town in the same year and was later renamed Lynn Regis, England, in 1637.

The county’s largest city is an urban manufacturing and commercial center, substantially populated and culturally diversified.

Its state-designated cultural district is a booming hub of exciting places and activities.

These include art studios, parks, galleries, historical places, museums, delightful foods, and more.

Below are the best things to do in Lynn, Massachusetts.

Explore Lynn Woods Reservation

A tower at Lynn Woods Reservation

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Founded in 1881, Lynn Woods Reservation is the second largest municipal park in the US, covering 2,200 acres of land.

It offers visitors more than 30 miles of panoramic trails for running, hiking, horseback riding, nature walks, cross-country skiing, and mountain biking.

Discover Dungeon Rock, an underground tunnel with archives of pirate legends and treasure hunting where pirate Thomas Veal buried his treasure.

View of Boston skyline at Lynn Woods Reservation

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The tunnel was never found until today.

Don’t forget to explore the Rose Garden and feast on the kaleidoscope of colors and fragrances.

On Pennybrook Road, Lynn Woods Reservation invites you to explore and enjoy the area.

The waters of Lynn Woods Reservation

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Play Golf at Gannon Municipal Golf Course

Created in 1931, Gannon Municipal Golf Course is an 18-hole championship golf course on Great Woods Road.

Designed by Wayne Stiles, this excellent golf course has delivered ideal conditions and a tricky but fair layout for over 80 years.

Golfers can use the Seasonal Memberships, League Play, Outings, and a reasonable Daily Fee.

You can also celebrate special occasions in its classic Tudor-style designed clubhouse with a function room that can host significant events, such as weddings.

Gannon Municipal Golf Course is owned by the city and run by Golf Facilities Management Inc. and Golf Course Superintendent Steve Murphy.

Check Out Red Rock Park

Aerial view of Red Rock Park

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If you’re looking for a quiet place for a leisurely walk, biking, jogging, and more, head straight to Red Rock Park.

Located on Lynn Shore Drive, this lovely park offers residents and visitors wondrous activities to its historical waterfront property span extending more than two miles.

You’ll find tide pools usually brimming with different and colorful marine species, such as algae, fish, and crustaceans.

People walking along Red Rock Park

John Phelan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This extraordinary waterfront park provides spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean and entry to the expansive beaches on both sides of the park’s peninsula.

Red Rock Park is dog-friendly and hosts summer music concerts and theatre shows.

Waters at Red Rock Park

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Check Out the Exhibits at Lynn Museum

Even if you’re an artist, you’ll surely wonder at the various exhibits in Lynn Museum.

Established in 1897, the museum has transformed into a dynamic cultural center inside the LynnArts building at 25 Exchange Street.

It also offers advanced youth and adult programs, engaging and cultivating the city’s diverse community.

The more-than-century-old museum encourages active involvement in exploring the city’s past while shaping a vision for the coming generations.

Lynn Museum is now headquartered on Washington Street, becoming a part of the Arts and Culture Block adjoining the heart of Central Square.

Visit Pine Grove Cemetery

A chapel at Pine Grove Cemetery

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Pine Grove Cemetery offers various historically essential features and landmarks.

It occupies approximately 250 acres of land.

Eighty-two acres were developed and have accommodated between 88,000 to 90,000 interments.

Grave of Harry Agannis at Pine Grove Cemetery

Patrick Mannion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Located on Boston Street, the serene cemetery is well-kept, with a pond and plenty of greenery.

It also offers visitors a great view of Boston and an excellent place for a quick stroll or jog.

The earliest recorded burial in Pine Grove Cemetery was for Anna Taylor in 1779.

Satisfy Your Hunger at Capitol Diner

Don’t forget to drop by one of the oldest diners in Massachusetts and get a taste of their food you won’t forget.

Located on Union Street in Lynn, Capitol Diner will satisfy your hunger and cravings.

This better-preserved Brill diner depicts period railroad and streetcar designs, keeping its external facade and historic plan intact.

Sink your teeth into their delicious burgers, delightful bacon, sandwiches, omelets, pancakes, French toast, coffee, and more!

Formerly known as “Miss Lynn Diner,” Capitol Diner features indoor and outdoor seating with reasonably priced food.

Stop by High Rock Tower Reservation

Exterior of High Rock Tower Reservation

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The original area of High Rock Reservation comprises nearly four and a half acres at the summit and along High Rock’s south slope.

The site is an inclining hillside decorated with vast porphyry cliffs and sweeps of Salem, Nahant, and Boston.

High Rock Tower and Stone Cottage have the fortitude of place, design, environment, and materials.

During the 17th century, this tower was the rendezvous for the Pawtucket tribe and the headquarters of their chief Nanapashemet.

You’ll find this incredible 85-foot-tall structure located on High Rock Tower Reservation along Circuit Avenue.

Take Your Pets to Barkland Avenue Dog Park

Taking your pets for a walk will give you quality time together and good exercise.

Bring your dogs to Barkland Avenue Dog Park, off Parkland Avenue, where your pet can walk or run without a leash.

It’s a fenced dog park, providing separate areas for small and large dogs with free parking.

Large trees and lush greens surround this park, making it an excellent place to play fetch with your pet.

Barkland Avenue Dog Park also provides doggy poop bags and seasonal water fountains.

Just don’t forget to register.

Learn Local History at Lynn Heritage State Park

Visitors center of Lynn Heritage State Park

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In 1986, Lynn Heritage State Park opened its door to the public.

The park highlights the city’s former industry and shoemaking tradition, including its evolution from handicraft to mechanization.

Located along Washington Street, this charming park also emphasizes Elihu Thomson’s story, a significant engineer and inventor who helped establish General Electric.

Take a leisurely walk along its elegantly landscaped 4.5-acre Waterfront Park with benches that provide a relaxing rest and a shade shelter that shields you from the sun’s harmful rays.

Enjoy a panoramic view of the multicolored nine-panel ceramics and Venetian glass mosaic mural, illustrating the city’s history, natural grandeur, and coastlines.

Lynn Heritage State Park also features a long boardwalk bordering the seawall and providing a complete view throughout Lynn Harbor, Massachusetts Bay, and the beautiful Boston skyline.

Catch Fish at Sluice Pond

Nestled between Lynn Woods and Gannon Municipal Golf Club is the exquisite Sluice Pond.

It’s one of the rare glacially-formed ponds in the Northeast and is often studied by Salem State University geologists.

Due to its vertical depth of 60 feet in the middle and 18 feet at the bottom, this pond piles a record of historic and pre-historic phenomena and animals.

You can catch fish on the boat launch, such as largemouth bass, yellow perch, trout, American eel, crappie, and bullhead.

Sluice Pond is more than a 55-acre pond that gives the serenity you need and keeps you away from the busy city.

Other Things to Do Nearby

You might want to discover other great places near Lynn, just a few minutes from the central city.

Visit other historic sites, meet different animals, or join various camping programs and gain new friends.

Tour the Rumney Marsh Reservation

Daytime view of Rumney Marsh Reservation

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Exploring nature has never been more relaxing and fun than at Rumney Marsh Reservation.

This gorgeous 2,274 acres sanctuary allows you and your loved ones to enjoy different species.

See migratory birds, fish, and shellfish.

Named an “Area of Critical Environmental Concern,” this Reservation is a coastal salt marsh formed more than 10,000 years ago towards the end of the Ice Age.

Located in Saugus, Massachusetts, Rumney Marsh Reservation is seven minutes from Lynn.

Trail at Rumney Marsh Reservation

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Discover Zoo New England

You can’t help but admire the natural world at Zoo New England in Stoneham, Massachusetts.

Let your kids join the Zoocamp, intended for kids ages four to 13, allowing them to discover nature’s playground.

It will help them enhance their creativity and imagination by playing with natural objects such as sticks, leaves, and stones instead of playing with plastics and metals.

They also have the opportunity to meet the zoo’s ambassadors, including a chinchilla, a gecko, a rabbit, an iguana, and snakes, among others.

Zoo New England is 23 minutes from Lynn.

Explore Middlesex Fells Reservation

The waters of Middlesex Fells Reservation

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Middlesex Fells Reservation offers more than a hundred miles of mixed-use trails allowing you to hike or bike.

You can rent a kayak or a boat to fish or explore Spot Pond in the center of Middlesex Fells.

You can ride a bike or a horse and wonder at the surrounding panoramic beauty of the Mountain Bike Loop around the Western Fells.

Facilities at the reservation include an observation tower, athletic fields, a picnic area, a playground, a dog park, and more.

Middlesex Fells Reservation is in Stoneham, 19 minutes from Lynn.

Trail at Middlesex Fells Reservation

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Discover the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation

If you can’t get enough of nature, stop by Belle Isle Marsh Reservation, located on Bennington Street in Boston.

It’s the city’s last standing salt mark that offers one-of-a-kind sceneries of flora and fauna as you trek the paths to the observation towers.

The sanctuary is open all year round.

It spans 152 acres, whose protected waters serve as a breeding ground for diverse fish and shellfish, including native vegetation.

This great reserve consists of a salt marsh, a common reed stand, a tidal creek, salt pans, and an upland park on Boston Harbor’s outskirts.

You can reach Belle Isle Marsh Reservation in Boston, Massachusetts, 17 minutes from Lynn.

Visit the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site

The grounds of Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site

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If you want to know where the American Iron and Steel Industry started, that would be on Central Street in Saugus.

Located ten minutes from Lynn via Boston Street and Hamilton Street, Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site spans 12 acres.

It includes functional waterwheels, mills, forges, a prolific river basin, and a historic 17th-century home.

A cabin at Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site

Zack Frank / Shutterstock.com

Take a hike on the Nature Trail that starts near the Blacksmith Shop and track Saugus River’s eastern bank.

Prepare your binoculars or camera because you will encounter wildlife and see beautiful trees, colorful wildflowers, and lush vegetation.

The Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site is in Saugus, ten minutes from Lynn.

Interior of a cabin at Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site

Wangkun Jia / Shutterstock.com

Final Thoughts

Plan your visit and time wisely so you can make the most of your vacation, whether just a day or two.

Explore the best things to do in Lynn, Massachusetts.

Book your trip today!

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