The forest in the city

Stony Brook Reservation, where Roslindale, Hyde Park and West Roxbury meet, has some 12 miles of paths through the woods.

Two docks on Turtle Pond let you feel like you're in the North Woods (especially in the fall). No loons, but ducks, geese, frogs and fish (there are also deer in the reservation).

The paths wend around numerous hills and dramatic rock outcroppings:

Yes, that's a fire pit at the bottom of the outcropping. As an urban forest, Stony Brook attracts its share of people doing stuff they probably shouldn't - like leaving large bags of trash in even the deepest of the woods and tagging up the paved path that circles the main part of the reservation - including this tag by somebody you'd think might have outgrown tagging, if he's old enough to remember WCOZ:

In the spring, Boston firefighters usually make at least one visit to the forest to put out a brush fire. The fires leave these eerie areas denuded of green ground cover - but as you can see below, the underbrush quickly tries to come back:

Enneking Parkway, one of the roads that runs through the forest, is named for Walter Enneking, a painter from Hyde Park who convinced Henry Grew - whose estate once included the forest, the golf course and Grew Hill - to bequeath the land to the state.