Welcome to Free Ride, your weekly guide to a $0 day trip. Remember: the MBTA Commuter Rail is fare-free every Friday this summer.
As each weekend approaches, I’ll invite you to take a break and find some nature, art, science, fashion, music and more — all for $0 (or as close to free as I can get).
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If you take me up on one of these Free Ride trip ideas, I want to hear from you (and see your pictures!). I’ll be sharing photos from my jaunts on the Commuter Rail throughout the summer. And if you have your own Commuter Rail-adjacent free activity — a museum, park, concert or local spot that deserves some love — I’d love to hear about it.
Send me a note at daily@wgbh.org.
What’s off the Commuter Rail’s Lowell stop?
Sure, you could go to Boston and pay $20-30 a ticket to see masterful works of art. But you can also head north to Lowell, home to a collection of art galleries and local artists you can enter at no cost.
You can even buy a print or original work of art for yourself — I spotted small pieces for as little as $6 and larger ones for a few hundred. Your Free Ride won’t be free anymore, but you can feel good knowing you supported the Merrimack Valley’s art scene.
Lowell’s Market Street
Market Street is about a 20-minute walk from a Commuter Rail stop, but the Lowell Regional Transit Authority runs frequent buses (free through the end of June!) that will get you there in 5-10 minutes. Your first stop can be The Brush Art Gallery and Studios at 256 Market St., behind the visitor center of Lowell National Historic Park. They’re open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays. When you walk in you’ll see Lowellscapes, a collection of photos from around the city, like colorful lights reflecting off steel on Bridge Street by Tammy Dohner, and the Mass Mills Smokestack photographed from above (with a drone) by Coleman Rogers. Walk a bit further in and you’ll see actual studios: spaces where local artists work and exhibit their paintings, photographs, quilts and more. I loved the large portraits from Jalix Delacruz, with grayscale subjects juxtaposed against colorful backgrounds.
Down the block, the Arts League of Lowell runs the ALL Arts Gallery at 307 Market St. They’re open from noon to 4 p.m. Fridays. The gallery’s current show is called On the Merrimack, celebrating 200 years since Lowell’s founding. Some of my personal favorite pieces:
- a paper diorama by artist Dian Hosmer called “Under Cover of Darkness,” showing a woman in a black dress and orange hair running through the woods
- “MILL BOYS,” an acrylic painting from Christian Whitton that feels like a glance into the city’s past
- A collection of works from Karl Wen Sun, who uses calligraphy, photography, painting and drawing
Next door is the Gates Block Garden, where you can sit with your own notebook under a colorful mural by the artist Angurria and sketch whatever comes to you.
The next stop on your Lowell adventure requires a bit of walking — or another free bus ride from either the Commuter Rail or Market Street — to Western Avenue Studios, at 122 and 160 Western Ave. This five-story building houses studios for hundreds of artists. There are photographers and painters, sculptors and tattoo artists, fashion and graphic designers. Start on the bottom at the Loading Dock Gallery, where there are rainbow-hued prints. Then pick your path: wander around, looking at the art and popping into studios where artists have their doors open and want to chat, or you can choose your favorite medium and follow a tour — photos and video, painting and drawing, fashion and fibers, clay and glass or printmaking. Even on a slow day, it’s a fascinating place.
What’s off the South Acton stop on the Commuter Rail’s Fitchburg line?
A whimsical, kid-friendly afternoon
About a 10-minute walk from the South Acton Commuter Rail stop is the Discovery Museum, where kids and their grown-ups can learn about science and nature through play. You’ll take a right when you see Bessie, the bright green dinosaur, and walk along the museum’s front lawn until you get to the main building on the right.
You’ll see Discovery Woods on the left: there, you can explore a 550-foot tree house, sit in a book nook and observe the nature around you. The Discovery Museum typically charges admission, but this summer they’re offering free entry on Friday evenings, from 4:30 to 8 p.m., starting June 19.
A nature path for dog lovers
Head down School Street and take a left right after the Acton Fire Department station. You’ll end up at the Great Hill Conservation Area, a rocky 2-mile loop that’s great for people who love to identify local plants and bird-watch. But the best part of this trail is at the start: a pond where locals bring their dogs. If it’s a good day, you might see some jump into the water as you sit at the nearby picnic table.
A rail trail for history lovers and lily pad enthusiasts
Across the street from the South Acton Station’s inbound platform, you’ll find the start of the Assabet River Rail Trail. Start walking (or rolling — it’s bicycle, stroller and wheelchair accessible) along and you’ll see a section of train tracks from an abandoned rail extension. From there you’ll cross a bridge with a gorgeous lily pad view, pass through some woods and end up at Maplebrook Park in Maynard. If you stop at signs along the route, you’ll learn about Acton’s industrial past and the factories where workers processed leather and wove fabrics. If not, you can still enjoy a nice ride for about three miles.
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