Blake Walsh

15 Best Things to Do in Westborough, MA

  • Published 2022/08/15

Westborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, governed under the New England open town meeting system.

It sits 29 miles west of Boston and 12 miles east of Worcester, with a total land area of 21.62 square miles.

During prehistoric times, people in dugout canoes followed the Assabet and Sudbury Rivers to the area’s headwaters to search for quartzite.

From 1200 to 1600 CE, Nipmuc Indians came to hunt and fish near Lake Hoccomocco and Cedar Swamp.

On November 8th, 1717, Westborough became the hundredth town in Massachusetts.

However, European settlement of the area dates back to the 1600s, when early settlers tilled the land near Lake Chauncy.

The railroad’s arrival in 1834 transformed a rural agricultural town into a thriving manufacturing center.

Westborough has continued to prosper and grow, attracting many creative and talented folks within its borders.

Today, the town is a healthy and dynamic mix of industry, wooded trails, residences, and high technology.

Read on if you want to know the best things to do in Westborough, Massachusetts.

Meet the Animals at Westboro Wildlife Management Area

On Westborough and Northborough’s border sit several adjacent open spaces, comprising some of the region’s largest expanses.

In the 1980s, Six Flags almost turned this part of town into an amusement park.

The largest of these properties is the 427-acre Westboro Wildlife Management Area, where you can hunt and ride a mountain bike.

It features open fields with a profusion of wildflowers throughout the growing season.

These include daisies, yarrow, clovers, black-eyed Susans, goldenrod, milkweed, Queen Anne’s lace, and beautifully hued fall asters.

Through human activities, multiflora rose and vetches have also started growing there.

The fields offer gorgeous sunset vistas and create essential bird nesting habitats.

Walkers can also reach the Westboro Wildlife Management Area by walking on many grassy farm roads.

Some areas are wet and wooded, and spring peepers and wood frogs make themselves known in early spring.

Go Fishing at Chauncy Lake

You can find Chauncy Lake just two miles from downtown Westborough, overlooking 400 acres of vast space.

It is a great pond set in the northern portion of Westborough that sometimes has poor water clarity, mainly when algal blooms occur.

A good portion of the Westborough State Hospital and the Wayne F. McCallum Wildlife Management Area border the lake.

Its shores remain primarily undeveloped and lightly wooded.

Enjoy the long and accessible shoreline through public walking trails along the western, southern, and northern shores.

The largemouth bass in the lake provides stellar fishing, especially along the northern shore with a great cover.

The southern shore is rockier, making it an ideal smallmouth bass habitat.

Also abundant are panfish, large bullheads, chain pickerel, and white perch during the winter.

You can also catch brown bullhead, black crappie, and yellow perch.

Spend the day at Chauncy Lake!

Get Pampered at Release Well-Being Center

Release Well-Being Center is a state-of-the-art spa and holistic wellness center specializing in fitness, yoga, meditation, and alternative healing.

It also offers coaching, spa treatments, and heat and light therapy.

They offer a comprehensive range of holistic healing sessions, helping you release what you no longer need to optimize your well-being.

Enjoy services such as massages, cupping, facials, reiki, cranial sacral therapy, and a full range of spa services.

Undergo transformative healing in their Bliss area, which includes a Eucalyptus Steam Room, Himalayan Salt Room, Sun Sauna with infrared heat and 10.000 lux light, and Mineral Spa.

Enjoy their yoga flow classes ranging from Slow and Gentle to Hot and Power.

Also, enjoy yin, Iyengar, and aerial yoga and seek transformative power in pranayama, meditation, and restorative classes.

Pick from fitness classes such as barre, boot camp, total body conditioning, full body Tabata, cycle, circuit training, and more.

Evolve into the new you at the Release Well-Being Center.

Bring Your Children to Launch Family Entertainment Park

Launch Family Entertainment Park is a 30,000-square-foot exciting hotspot in Westborough.

The Launch is a progressive leader in the family entertainment industry, bringing new and exciting attractions to every location.

At their Trampoline Courts, flip into one of the foam pits or reach above the rim on their slam dunk basketball court.

At their Dodgeball Court, line up and let the balls fly to prove you rule the court.

At the Cliffhanger, challenge yourself to reach the top of their indoor mountain rock wall and try a variety of wall difficulties for all skill levels.

At Krave, bring your cravings to life and create your edible masterpiece, whether fresh salads or a handmade pizza.

Challenge family and friends to joust at the Battle Pit to see who will be the last standing at the Launch Family Entertainment Park.

Indulge in Hot Food at Red Heat Tavern

At Red Heat Tavern, friends, fire, and flavor inspire their passion for hot food, and they treat every dish as a labor of love.

Unique cooking styles let them create innovative flavors, searing and infusing their food with smoke.

Likewise, their food are perfect pairs for their inventive cocktails and craft beers.

You can always count on them to cook something special in their backyard, which can accommodate any needs.

Thanks to their hospitality, every dining experience becomes memorable, and every guest is their friend.

The heart and soul of the kitchen is their coal-fired oven, which is unlike any other.

It creates a variable smoke and heat control to produce a very distinctive and enhanced flavor profile.

They combine state-of-the-art construction and European-style cooking, and they grill outdoors no matter what the weather.

This cooking style imparts deep flavors into their vegetables and meats, elevating their food to another level.

Grab a hearty meal at Red Heat Tavern!

Bring Your Kids to SkyRise Theater

SkyRise Theater is a family-owned theater company that has brought the performing arts to children all over the MetroWest for more than 12 years.

They believe in an intense team atmosphere between actors and directors.

Likewise, they have performed and directed everywhere in Massachusetts since 2010.

Together, the team has over 21 years of experience in personal performance and theatrical education.

They love working with children of all ages and encouraging the growth in their performance onstage and their comfort offstage.

They have a great passion for working with children, bringing out attributes and talents, and being the best choice for acting services.

Likewise, they dedicate themselves to finding fun and creative ways for children’s self-expression.

Thanks to its theater camps, productions, private lessons, and theatrical parties, children find themselves motivated in all aspects of the performing arts.

Let your kids find new passions at the SkyRise Theater!

Give Your Muscles a Treat in Massage Envy

Taking care of the body is essential because of the demands of daily life.

No one knows this better than the folks at Massage Envy in Westborough.

They will keep your body running smoothly, so you can run that marathon or attend a full day of meetings.

Massage Envy is the perfect place for comfortable and convenient massages, stretches, and facials.

Highly qualified therapists and estheticians perform professional massage or skin care services.

They care about helping you feel your best.

Boost your energy, relax your muscles to help relieve stress, and refresh your emotional and mental outlook.

With a routine stretch, increase your flexibility and mobility and help improve your performance.

Professional skincare exposes your skin to beneficial nutrients and improves its appearance, making you feel refreshed.

Enjoy the ultimate relaxation at Massage Envy!

Work It Out at the Movement Room

The Movement Room is a semi-private personal training room created for clients’ needs.

They believe in developing human movement with a blend of unconventional means and traditional training methods that promote positive changes and challenge customers.

The place dedicates itself to improving your quality of life with training and movement.

Owner Ryan Wood has worked with young athletes and the general population for over seven years.

Through Personal Training, undergo one-on-one training to improve specific goals and enhance movement quality.

With Semi-Private Training, train alongside a partner or friend in an atmosphere geared towards improving your capabilities, strength, and movement.

Through Hybrid Training, combine Movement Room programming with in-person coaching, which you can complete independently.

With Nutrition Coaching, improve your nutrition to achieve specific goals with a program tailored to the client.

Work up a sweat at the Movement Room!

Admire Beautiful Old Things at Leduc Art and Antiques

Leduc Art and Antiques is a streetside art gallery and shop in downtown Westborough offering ‘unique objects for unique individuals.’

It is a French-style boutique offering Asian, American, and European antiques and handmade artifacts by local artists.

Owner Anna Leduc started her career in Paris, France, at Hermes and Louis Vuitton, where she developed a liking for artistic creations.

When she moved back to the States, she continued taking art classes and discovering her taste in antiques.

Anna took an alternative career path in 2021 after realizing it was time to make a change.

Anna’s husband, Mark, also has a special admiration for artisan and artists’ work.

He supported her idea of starting an antique business.

Admire the work of original artists such as oil painter Marion Buricatu, French animal painter Karl Reille, and jewelry designer Yuliya Sokol.

Search for unique treasures at Leduc Art and Antiques.

Step into the Past at the Westborough Historical Society

Westborough Historical Society’s mission is to preserve and promote Westborough’s rich history.

It has become the community’s center of cultural, educational, and social activity for over a century.

It continues to offer school bus tours, classroom presentations for children, and free and open monthly programs for adults.

Twenty-three civic leaders formed a group to preserve local history, incorporating the Society in 1889.

They wanted to ensure they would pass the knowledge of Westborough’s past to future generations.

The Society’s headquarters is the Sibley House, a museum and Greek revival-style house built in 1814.

The wheelwright and blacksmith William Sibley built the house.

Sibley House contains maps, paintings, collections of old furniture and household tools, glassware, textiles, and china.

Each of its three-period rooms represents a century of the town’s history.

They contain artifacts showing the town’s growth from an agricultural society to a hub for commerce and industry.

Take a Stroll at the Bowman Conservation Area

In the late 1960s, the town purchased Bowman Conservation Area to protect the town’s water supply, Sandra Pond.

The conservation area’s woods are a mixture of red pines and hardwoods, planted after a 1963 tornado devastated the region.

Most walkers know about the narrow trails that the entrance signs advertise.

However, you can check out a much more comprehensive range of trails, including those that circle the pond.

You can take a short walk to the peninsula on the Charm Bracelet trail and return for a round trip of about 0.7 miles.

Another popular walk is alongside Picadilly Brook, flowing into the cove in Sandra Pond.

The western part of Bowman Conservation Area remained an unexplored treasure for the longest time.

It takes walkers into a mixed hardwood forest with peeks into a wetland at the property’s center.

Other Things to do Nearby

Engage in Recreation at Hopkinton State Park

People walking along Hopkinton State Park

quiggyt4 / Shutterstock.com

Hopkinton State Park is in the towns of Hopkinton and Ashland, New Hampshire, 14 minutes from Westborough.

Removing the Hopkinton Reservoir from service as the Greater Boston area’s water source helped create the dam.

In 2010, the Great Places in Massachusetts Commission named it one of the 1000 places to visit.

Hopkinton State Park has a bit of everything: stocked fishing, beaches, and 1,500 acres of forests traced by hiking trails.

You can also access first come-first serve picnic areas, and a reservable picnic site.

Colorful kayak boats at Hopkinton State Park

Monika Salvan / Shutterstock.com

Its beaches and bathing pond are fit for swimming, and they permit non-motorized boating.

You can also rent kayaks and canoes.

Likewise, anyone can use the park trails for mountain biking, hiking, cross-country skiing, horseback riding, and snowmobiling.

You can bring your kids and teenagers to a camp that teaches canoeing, kayaking, sailing, windsurfing, and stand-up paddleboarding.

Spend the weekend at Hopkinton State Park!

The grounds of Hopkinton State Park

Yingna Cai / Shutterstock.com

Sip Fine Wine at Broken Creek Vineyard

Exterior of Broken Creek Vineyard

Monika Salvan / Shutterstock.com

In the 1990s, Eric Preusse started making homemade wine as a hobby, starting with wine kits and then buying his grapes.

He and his wife, Peggy, soon sought to find some land and plant their grape vines, with a long-term goal of making and selling wine.

In 2010, they purchased 40 acres of farmland and built a new home and a small agricultural barn.

In 2011, they planted seven rows of seven different grape vines and continued to add more and more rows of grape vines throughout the years.

Nowadays, the winery offers an array of wines from their estate-grown grapes.

The Broken Creek Vineyard also offers grapes imported from South Africa, Chile, California, and Washington.

You can come to the winery any time, enjoy the vineyard, and purchase a glass or bottle of wine.

Visit the vineyard in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, nine minutes from Westborough.

Feel the Thrill at Apex Entertainment

Apex Entertainment is a family entertainment center with 100,000 square feet of pure fun!

You can find this place in Marlborough, Massachusetts, 13 minutes from Westborough.

It offers fun for everyone with 70+ arcade games, 30 lanes of bowling, a multiple-level go-kart track, and so much more!

Bring your kids to Apex Kids, which has jungle gyms, obstacle courses, and giant inflatables for burning off all kinds of energy.

Spin around other bumper cars, crash into your competition and zoom all over the arena.

Visit the two-story Boston-themed laser tag arena and enjoy a thrilling game as you team up with or compete against your pals.

Ride the thrill of electric Sodi RTX go-karts as you zoom around their indoor track, with level changes, hairpin turns, and fast karts.

Conquer their 20-foot-tall ropes course set high above the arcade as you move from platform to platform facing physical challenges and harsh elements.

Apex Entertainment will bring you on a rip-roaring thrill ride, so bring your family and friends along today!

Check Out Unique Items at the Willard House and Clock Museum

Exterior of Willard House and Clock Museum

Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Willard House and Clock Museum is a cultural and historical treasure at the heart of the Blackstone Valley.

Likewise, this place is in North Grafton, Massachusetts, nine minutes away from Westborough.

Its beautiful architecture dates back to 1918 and features one of the world’s most elegant collections of clocks.

During the 19th-century, Benjamin, Ephraim, Aaron, and Simon Willard became America’s pre-eminent clock makers.

They crafted their first clock in 1766 at a small workshop.

As they learned the trade, they began a clockmaking legacy that would last for three generations.

Barn of Willard House and Clock Museum

Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

You can now see around 80 Willard clocks at the birthplace and original workshop of the Willard clockmakers, along with furnishings, family portraits, and other heirlooms.

You can also see Colonial, Empire, and Federal furniture, Victorian dolls, and doll furniture.

Then, check out the antique Oriental rugs, 18th century English and American pewter, and Nipmuc Nation artifacts.

You can see military and hunting weapons and original documents signed by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.

Learn local history at the Willard House and Clock Museum!

Outbuilding of Willard House and Clock Museum

Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Final Thoughts

Westborough is a popular suburb with quiet charm, rolling hills, historical pride, and an attractive community.

The town exudes a cheerful camaraderie and pleasant climate that inspires tourists and residents.

You are always welcome in Westborough.

Pack your bags today and start exploring the best things to do in Westborough, Massachusetts!

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