Community Corner
"Floating Boardwalk" Over Pond To Connect Walking Trails In Natick, Massachusetts
"Without a connection, rail users have to walk a mile and a half up Oak Street and into an industrial park to get between two trails."
July 31, 2026
Another Massachusetts town is getting a floating boardwalk. Natick says it is installing a "brand-new floating trail" across Pickerel Pond to connect two main hiking trails.
Find out what's happening in Natickfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The floating bridge will be 195 feet long - a much shorter version of the popular 3,000-foot floating boardwalk in Marlboro that opened in 2024. But it will connect walking trails that are currently separated by the pond, and make the Oakdale and Wethersfield neighborhoods more accessible to each other.
"Without a connection in that location, trail users have to walk a mile and a half up Oak Street and into an industrial park to get between the two trail systems," Natick environmental planner Claire Rundelli told WBZ NewsRadio.
Find out what's happening in Natickfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Pickerel Pond, the site of the planned floating boardwalk/Town of Natick/CBS News
The walk between the two trails that currently takes about 20 minutes will only take five once it's done. Construction will get underway in August and the boardwalk could be done by the end of September if all goes according to plan.
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