Trip ideas while visiting Cambridge in Massachusetts
Mount Auburn Cemetery stands as a National Historic Landmark and one of the most significant designed landscapes in the United States. Founded in 1831 by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, it was the first large-scale rural cemetery in America and inspired a nationwide movement away from crowded urban churchyards toward park-like burial grounds. Spanning 175 acres across Cambridge and Watertown, the cemetery blends magnificent horticulture with profound history, serving simultaneously as an active burial ground, an accredited arboretum, and a beloved public green space visited by over 200,000 people each year. The vision of Dr. Jacob Bigelow and the design talents of Henry A.S. Dearborn transformed a working farm into a carefully composed landscape of winding paths, ornamental plantings, and sweeping vistas that changed the American conception of what a cemetery could be.
The horticultural richness of Mount Auburn is extraordinary, with a collection of more than 5,000 trees representing over 600 species and cultivars from around the world. Visitors can explore rare specimen trees including a magnificent weeping European beech, stately copper beeches, Japanese umbrella pines, and dawn redwoods, a species once known only from fossils before living specimens were discovered in China in the 1940s. The cemetery operates as an accredited Level III Arboretum, maintaining detailed records of its woody plant collection while offering seasonal displays of flowering magnolias in early spring, rhododendrons and azaleas in late spring, and brilliant autumn foliage that draws photographers and nature lovers from across New England. The combination of sculptural monuments and mature trees creates a landscape that feels both contemplative and uplifting, with every turn of the path revealing a new botanical treasure.
The centerpiece of any visit is Washington Tower, a 62-foot granite observation tower built in 1852 that offers panoramic views of the Boston skyline, the Charles River, and the surrounding countryside. On clear days the vista extends all the way to the Blue Hills Reservation to the south and the hills of Wachusett Mountain to the west. The tower was named for George Washington, who first viewed the strategic value of the site during the siege of Boston in 1775, and climbing its spiral staircase remains the defining experience of a trip to Mount Auburn. Nearby, Bigelow Chapel provides a serene space for contemplation with its stunning stained glass windows and vaulted wooden ceiling, while the newly renovated Story Chapel serves as a visitor center with interpretive exhibits detailing the history and significance of this pioneering landscape.
Mount Auburn is the final resting place of many notable figures who shaped American history and culture. Visitors can pay respects at the grave of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, one of the most beloved American poets, whose memorial features an elegant marble sarcophagus. The cemetery also contains the graves of Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., the renowned physician and author, Charles Sumner, the fierce abolitionist senator, and Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science. The monument to Buckminster Fuller, the visionary inventor and architect, features a geometric design appropriate to his legacy, while the burial site of Edwin Booth, the great Shakespearean actor and brother of Lincoln’s assassin, draws visitors interested in 19th-century theater history. The Sphinx Monument, erected in 1872 to commemorate the Civil War dead and designed by Martin Milmore, is one of the most striking memorials on the grounds with its carved lion body and human face watching solemnly over the landscape.
Bird watching is one of the unexpected pleasures of Mount Auburn, as the cemetery has earned recognition as an Important Bird Area by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. During spring migration, the diverse habitat of woodlands, ponds, and open lawns attracts more than 220 species of birds, making it one of the premier urban birding locations in the Northeast. Experienced guides lead regular bird walks through the grounds, and the cemetery’s Auburn Lake and Halcyon Lake provide habitat for waterfowl and songbirds alike. The combination of historical monuments, world-class horticulture, and abundant wildlife makes every season rewarding, whether you are seeking a morning of quiet reflection, an afternoon of photography, or an educational exploration of one of America’s most influential designed landscapes.