The Emerson-Thoreau Amble is a 1.7-mile walking path, over public and private property, blazed throughout with trail markers bearing a silhouette of the two famed authors. This trail represents an approximate walking route used by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau from Emerson’s “Bush” house to Thoreau’s cabin on Walden Pond. The natural beauty and tranquility of the forest, combined with the cultural and historical features rooted here makes the Amble a unique walking experience.

From its beginning at Heywood Meadow near Concord Center, the Amble passes through damp lowland along the Mill Brook behind Ralph Waldo Emerson’s House until it crosses a wooden footbridge over the Brook and emerges beside Walden Street. The trail turns left onto a cart path and continues past the Concord Ice Company, then left again into the Hapgood Wright Town Forest. After crossing a second footbridge over Hugh Cargill’s Ditch, the trail passes through a dense pine woodland.

At Fairyland Pond, the Amble proceeds clockwise around the pond, then left up a hill to Brister’s Spring. From the spring, the trail continues to climb Brister’s Hill, turning right at the next trail intersection onto Tuttle Lane. A short distance after passing the Brister Freeman homesite marker, the Amble crosses Walden Street to a pedestrian crosswalk at Route 2. From the sidewalk along Route 126, the trail turns right into the woods of Walden Pond State Reservation where it reaches its destination, the site of Thoreau’s cabin on Walden Pond.

The Emerson-Thoreau Amble is maintained by Concord’s Division of Natural Resources and the Concord Trails Committee.