Mount Auburn Cemetery — Attraction in Watertown

2024-03-24 a level 4 accredited arboretum 2023-10-08 about 2 weeks early for foliage. 2023-05-28, Memorial weekend, as before, free flags offered near the entrance. 2023-05-14 sun, Mother's Day... 2023-04-22 sat, a budding garden, everything coming out. 2022-11-06 sun, wordless, a glance once more at autumn colors 2022-09-27 wed, rained last night, early morning here, glistening diamonds greeting everywhere on grasses, leaves, flowers... 2022-05-28 sat, maturing spring, flowers everywhere; Bigelow Chapel open house. 2022-04-30 sat, so beautiful.... spring fresh colors. 2022-04-27 wed, vernal beautifulness. 2022-04-10 sun, many bird watchers and flower viewers. 2022-04-03 sun, spring is here. everyone in a cheerful mood. 2022-03-13 sun, flying heron like a Klingon starship. 2022-03-05 sat, spring in the air, beautiful in a different light. 2022-02-27 so beautiful: snow capped, scarfed, caped, canvased and blanketed. 2022-02-06 sun, brumal beauty & Leo's arts class 2022-01-11 tue, coldest day this winter. 2021-12-26 birds, colors of season. 2021-12-19 beautiful still as yore, today, spiritually serene in its own lights after a night of drizzling. A morning mostly crisp and occasional brisk with wind. What a beautifully sounding, mystical Halcyon Lake. A blue heron gentleman standing tall, feather mantle-caped, dressed up with a pompom scarf, like a philosopher pondering for a fresh meal. Rose still red. A tree senile teething with icicles. 2021-11-28 sun, a crisp day with nature's master piece. A ~50 year old willow tree by the Willow Pond was recently taken down due to disease. A group there to moan, worship, pray with dancing, singing, chanting, drumming, kissing, hugging... and commemorated. 2021-11-13 so beautiful, walking on foliage carpet. 2021-11-10 belated fall & falling; beautiful! 2021-09-03 When most unexpected, there 2 beautiful & handsome deer again. 2021-06-09 relocation of a catbird nest with 3 eggs. 2021-06-02 Washington Tower is now open. 2021-04-28 flowers..., like rainbows on Mt. Auburn Cemetery. previous: a...

March 2024: I'm editing my rating down to one star. For the last couple of years it is appalling how little they clean up at this Cemetery. I visit my Mum's grave twice a week and during special times of the year I will leave a tiny memento that I can either stick in the ground (for example at Valentine's Day, this was literally a stick with a circle on top that says "love you") or a small bunch of flowers. Two days after I put it there, it was gone. No matter what I put there, within a day someone removes it. And yet the area that my Mum is buried in looks like a war zone... I don't ever remember the debris from trees, pine cones, tree branches, all sorts of stuff on the walkway and all around the graves. Every time I visit I bring my rake and a brush and dustpan to clean up. If I am able to I will help clean up other graves in that area as well because it just looks awful. For this Cemetery which charges incredible amounts of money to be buried there it is sad to see the lack of care given to the final resting place of the souls who are already there. If I had the money, I would take my family out of there. I'm sorry to have to edit this review in this way but I have been coming to this Cemetery with my Mum (her brother was buried there before her) for almost 60 years and it has never looked like this in all that time. If anybody reading this can do anything about it, please take care of this place, not just for the people who visit, but for their loved ones who are...

Rich birding in a beautifully landscaped cemetery with lots of great old oaks, maples, conifers, and flowering fruit trees. Interesting topographical features include dells, valleys, hills, ponds, and ridges to explore. Plenty of cover for skulking birds as well: rhododendrons and shrubs. Public restrooms at the entrance, along with a drinking fountain. Check out the chalkboard at the front gate for recent bird sightings. Wonder why there isn't a second restroom at the very distant far end of the cemetery... Definitely wear shoes appropriate for walking up and down hills, through wet grass (most paths are paved, some are rougher with stone and woodchips), and over acorns. Spring birding at Mount Auburn draws a crowd, with every birder in town making an attempt at this birding hotspot. If you can, try birding here during off-peak hours, like late morning on a weekday. Or a cloudier, mistier day when fair weather birders stay indoors. Even when there's few migrating birds around, it's a gorgeous greenspace with turkeys, ravens, chipmunks, ground squirrels, secretive coyotes, and sleepy raccoons (if you're stealthy).

Note: no dogs, bicycles, jogging, or food allowed! If you prefer to bird while walking your dog, or picnic while looking at the graves of historical figures, try Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain. It's like the laidback version of Mount Auburn Cemetery. And there's famous people buried there, too. (Lookin' at you, Anne Sexton, e.e. cummings, and...