Paddling near Cambridge, MA

Set in Middlesex County on the north bank of the Charles River, Cambridge anchors one of the most transit-accessible paddling scenes in the US. The Lower Basin — a 476-acre stretch of protected flatwater between the Watertown Dam and Charles River Dam — runs along MIT and Back Bay, with rentals a five-minute walk from the Kendall/MIT Red Line. West and north lie the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Wild & Scenic rivers, the Mystic River and Lakes, and the Ipswich River.