Hey, this is actually a great idea.

My nomination would be the Middlesex Fells Reservation near Medford. (just north of Boston).

Middlesex Fells is nice, but I prefer to get farther away. I go there sometimes when I want to go for a few miles walk in the woods with a friend who doesn't want to go on a longer trip.

The Quabbin Reservoir area is very nice.

And my oak tree.

Since this is green I'll add more.

I hate people so none of this Quincy Market downtown tourist trap crowded nonsense. Mostly nature stuff.

The pond in the middle of October Mountain State Forest. You can drive there on dirt roads or park near pavement and walk in. Off road vehicles allowed (off the roads) but you can get away from them on the smaller trails if you don't like them. Beavers and squirrels and dragonflies and flowers and shiny green tiger beetles and giant mushrooms and all sorts of nice stuff.

Downtown Gloucester. I'm not really a fan (people, you see) but some friends like the art/music scene and I twice enjoyed visiting a used bookstore. It's an old fishing village. Narrow, steep streets. Boats in the harbor.

Holyoke Range State Park and Skinner State Park. Hills and trees and stuff, barely over an hour west of Route 128 if you drive like I do.

Wachusett Mountain. Not when it's snowed over, then it's full of skiers. In the summer it's a nice place.

Plum Island. If you are obsessively into birds, go to Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. If you don't see birds, you will find plenty of birders to commiserate with.

Bash Bish Falls. Yeah, it's just a waterfall but it's the best one we have. Conveniently located at the far west edge of the state. One of the parking lots is in New York. There's a mountain you can climb if you want to get tired.

I prefer walking in the Blue Hills south of Boston to the Middlesex Fells north.

Seuss Memorial in Springfield. (I assume it's still there.) It was used by the Libertarian Party as a symbol of government excess. I agree with that, but since it exists you might as well go see it.

Wahconah Falls in Dalton, MA - Really long, nice series of waterfalls that leads up to a resivior. Nice in the summer.

Pittsfield State Forest in Pittsfield, MA - I grew up not to far from here. Great place to camp out, nice view into NY state.

Mount Greylock in Adams, MA - Tallest mountain in MA. Awesome view, observatory tower at the top, which they had repaired last I heard.

Balance Rock State Park in Lanesboro, MA - Run down and full of graffiti, but still a fun walk in the wilderness with lots of strange rocky structures all around, including the balancing rock itself. (It may have actually been secured with iron rods due to attempts of vandalism)

It's a trap! They want to tax those places

Of course, if you're in the city, the esplanade is no shiatehole, either.

236: Sully's mom's vag.

I designate Motel 110 in Methuen near the 93 rotary.

A bar named Khoury's State Spa, in East Somerville.

Chappaquiddick Island.

/Too soon?

OR.... you can come to Vermont.
All the scenery, no wicked smaaaaat accents.

this little trick cuts both ways.

1) it is used for tourism and to attract people to the state and raise property values.

2) it is used as a revenue source. anytime anyone wants to make a change to any of these sites, they will have to get approval from the state, pay fees. or, ideally, they makes changes without permission and pay much higher penalties/ fines. this second technique allows the state to obtain revenue from and control over private property.

#1: Not in Massachusetts

I nominate the urinal cake factory due east of Goshen

Smeggy Smurf: It's a trap! They want to tax those places

damn straight. if a property isn't a 'designated historic site', we have to invent some other label for the site that allows us to exert control over formerly private property.

Fenway Park

/too obvious?

What is this Esplanade you speak of?

Aww, pt, someone from the Bay State pee in your chowdah?

About 10 beaches on the Cape make the list.

Nicest places in the state, though, are private...not yours.

What do you think of in Massachusetts? That's right, this! (new window)

Oak Hill in Littleton is a neat area, and right down the street. I walk my dog there a lot.

Having just moved to MA, this thread is relevant to my interests.

any place uninhabited by humans.

Purgatory Chasm in Sutton. Massachusetts' answer to the Grand Canyon.

By the way, I think it's adorable that all you national and international Farkers would give a shiat about what's going on here in the People's Republic.

I assume half will be in Fenway.

The best way to get there:

"Ok, whatcha gotta do is get on 95 north, follow that to 495, then ya take that for about an hour. Then your gonna see signs for the Mass Pike. Ok get into the fah left lane, then take the Mass Pike west and you'll see this WHICKED huge Radio Shack. That's where ya get off, and you're in Worchester, you're right there, pal."

/obscure?

Oh, and Fruitlands Museum in Harvard. It was big with the Transcendalists back in the 1800's (Emerson and the Allcotts hung out there), and there's a breathtaking view of the Bolton Flats.

North Adams is also heavy on the scenery, and the "Mohawk Trail" leading to it has some very picturesque little stopovers you can make.

Cuttyhunk Island is one of my favorites, also the Seamen's Bethel in New Bedford.

# 1 - #367 would be Kennedy mansions, then would come the thirty- eight Kerry mansions...

Another waste of my tax dollars at work!

Donald_McRonald: 236: Sully's mom's vag.

I can't disagree with this one.

Not saying, to prevent the Steinbrenners from buying it.

Kazaa: The best way to get there:

"Ok, whatcha gotta do is get on 95 north, follow that to 495, then ya take that for about an hour. Then your gonna see signs for the Mass Pike. Ok get into the fah left lane, then take the Mass Pike west and you'll see this WHICKED huge Radio Shack. That's where ya get off, and you're in Worchester, you're right there, pal."

/obscure?

One of the best SNL skits ever.

TeddyRooseveltsMustache, you're not Finnish, are you?

The Berkshires.

Princeton Common oughta be on the list. From it, you can see Boston 50 miles away. One of the greatest places to see a sunrise from anywhere in New England.

Dusk-You-n-Me: Having just moved to MA, this thread is relevant to my interests.

You missed the good times by about 12 years.

clambam: Oh, and Fruitlands Museum in Harvard. It was big with the Transcendalists back in the 1800's (Emerson and the Allcotts hung out there), and there's a breathtaking view of the Bolton Flats.

North Adams is also heavy on the scenery, and the "Mohawk Trail" leading to it has some very picturesque little stopovers you can make.

After having lived in North Adams for 2 years, let me put it this way: Skip it.

I_Can't_Believe_it's_not_Boutros

hehe

Old Sturbridge Village
Pioneer Valley, Skinner Mt, Antonio's Pizza
Quabbin Reservoir
Moore State Park when the Rhododendrons are in bloom
Hardwick ; the center of town is like a postcard from the past.
Boston Harbor Islands
Good lakes and ponds to paddle in central Ma.

Live in MA, skeptical of there being 1,000 actually worthwhile places.

The Glass Slipper near Chinatown

Newstead Montegrade.

I'm with Wrong_Intentions. In ye olde commonwealth -- wee in square miles and population -- there aren't 1,000 pieces of paradise. They'd be better off working from the other end. Just ID the places that don't suck too badly. You could end up with 200 to 300.

Then again, every damned street corner is named for some dead PFC in some war and called the so-and-so square. Local pride is not in short supply here.

Higgins Armory Museum in Worchester

Thorne's in Northampton

Interstate 93 at Sullivan Square. Site of the Mooninite tragedy.

Bartholomew's cobble in Ashley Falls, best place to see hawks and other raptors.