Cambridge and Somerville are part of a soon-to-be unveiled urban trail that roams more than 80 miles around the perimeter of Boston.
The trail is the brainchild of Miles Howard, an avid hiker and writer, who wanted to connect towns and people across arbitrary boundaries. The Boston perimeter trail, still to be named, includes every city and town that borders Boston — Quincy, Milton, Dedham, Needham, Newton, Watertown, Cambridge, Somerville, Everett, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop. Despite being an urban trail, it includes as much green space as possible — parks, gardens, bogs, woods — and it is accessible by public transit.
The loop has 12 sections, each five to eight miles long. There are 12 miles in Cambridge and Somerville, included in sections 7 and 8. He envisions people walking the trail in a clockwise loop beginning in downtown Boston and ending with a trip from East Boston by MBTA water taxi (the price of a subway fare). But people can travel it however they like…