Best known through Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, Walden Pond and the surrounding Walden Woods was a favorite destination for walks by local Concord Transcendentalists Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Thoreau’s writings inspired respect for nature and even, some consider, the birth of the American conservation movement. Today, Walden Pond comprises the heart of the Walden Pond State Reservation which is owned and operated by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962, ensuring that visitors can enjoy the area as Thoreau once did.

A cairn of rocks and series of granite posts mark the site of Deep Cove where Thoreau built his one room cabin and, from July 4, 1845 until September 6, 1847, carried out his experiment in simple living and philosophical meditation. That period saw the completion of his first major work, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, and provided the basic material for his second, Walden or Life in the Woods.

After two years living in Walden Woods, Thoreau spent another seven refining his ideas in several drafts of the manuscript that would become Walden. While Walden was not highly popular in Thoreau’s own lifetime, it slowly and steadily gained a following afterwards, informing the work of conservationists like John Muir and Rachel Carson.

The popularity of Walden ensured the enduring status and renown of Walden Pond, a body of water that Thoreau described as a “lower heaven.” In 1922, the Emerson family, who still owned the land surrounding the pond, granted the area to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with the stipulation of “preserving the Walden of Emerson and Thoreau, its shores and nearby woodlands for the public who wish to enjoy the pond, the woods, and nature, including bathing, boating, fishing and picnicking.” Since then, Walden Pond State Reservation has expanded to 250 acres of land open for visitors to explore and enjoy daily.