Cochituate State Park

You can rent single or double kayaks, paddle boards that even an 8 yr can manage or a peddle boat the whole family can peddle together, all from Boston Boating which also offers sailing lessons. There are rest rooms and changing rooms, picnic benches and individual grills, as well as a clean, sandy beach.
Three of us had a ball, two days in a row, for about $ 40 a day and less than 6 miles from home.
It can get crowded on mid-​summer weekends, but get there when it opens at 10am or on a weekday in Sept and you might have the whole lake to yourself.

I haven’t been here since I was a kid and now I know why: it’s only for families and kids. I was here on a Sunday and it was packed with 1000 screaming kids. On top of the screaming kids were the constant whistle warnings coming from the lifeguards.
The water may be clean but with all those kids who knows what’s going on. The boating facility and rentals is decent but unless you’re coming with kids, don’t bother.

Lifeguarded here in the late 80 ’ S good local place to take the family. Well maintained beach and a large area for boating very close to the metro west area.

This is a good beach alternative for us because we have a little one and we just can’t spent 1+hours in the car anymore.
The park is pretty clean, especially considering the amount of people that were there when we went. The park attendants regularly empty the trash bins, etc.
There are two large fields that provide plenty of space to set up games. There are lots of picnic tables and grills!
They don’t allow alcohol at the park, which I think helps weed out the louder/​wilder crowds.
I’m not a huge fan of lake beaches but the water was mostly clear, warm and was perfect for the little guys.

Went snowshoeing here the other day and it was awesome! Beautiful, well maintained and not crowded at all. Had a blast and will definitely be back. Felt very safe as well.

I come here every 4^th of July, a tradition me and my cousins have. Great place to cook out and break a sweat for a good swim. Only thing I hate is the immature people that go sometimes, but it doesn’t stop me and my family from enjoying this day every year. Also added my dog to the tradition lol.

Jetskis are not allowed on the lake.
The water looks dirty, so not sure you would really want to swim or boat. The beach and woods are nice though.
$ 5 to park and it looks like they rent canoes, kayaks, etc.
Okay stop for a picnic, but other than that probably wouldn’t go back.

We frequent Lake Cochituate in the summer. It’s not as clean or peaceful as Walden Pond, but parking doesn’t fill up, there’s a fair amount of space on the beach so that you’re not on top of one another, and there is a shady picnic area with grills. It’s also very convenient. Often in the summer, after we’re running our Natick/​Framingham-​area errands, we’ll pop into Cochituate for a quick dip because it’s such an easy location if you’re just west of Boston.
It’s a great place for families to spend some time on a hot day. It’s cheaper than the town beaches and doesn’t have as many restrictions as them.

Eeeee… lakes ya kinda gross. Just after you submerge into the water be sure to shower afterwards.
I enjoy this lake for a quick swim after work. As I’m swimming I can keep an eye on traffic and decide whether or not its time to go. There’s a bathroom/​changing facility and there’s lot of woods to walk around. I’ve also rented paddleboats which you use your feet so its fun and different.
Good summertime spot. Parking 5 $ but sometimes when I go after work its so late that they don’t charge.
Just in the water stay away from kids & «clingy» couples. Haha

I love, love love Cochituate State Park. I’ve come here twice with my friend and her 3 year old daughter, both times intending to go to Walden Park (but Walden Park had reached capacity.) I love swimming here and hanging out on the beach and kayaking. If you don’t have kids, you may not enjoy it as much – it is definitely a lively, multicultural buzzing kind of place full of people picnicking and children playing. There are restrooms and usually an ice cream truck and boats/​kayaks to rent. It is also easy to bring your own – the access to the water from the parking lot is very convenient.

My company holds their summer picnics here and I went for the first time this past summer and I really liked the park. It’s really huge an has a beach. There’s planty of parking and it’s very clean.
We had so much room to play many games like volley ball and dodge ball. There’s also a huge picnic table area

You can pretty much do anything you want here, kayaking and canoeing. laying out on the beach, swimming and of course getting your BBQ on.
There is always plenty of parking, places to have a picnic etc.
Across the street and further down is another part of the park that is a bit smaller and usually more private.
There is supposed to be a great trail that winds around the lake but I have to find it or go on. I would love to do some trail running one day and hope that its a good enough trail for running.

If you live in the area, Lake Cochituate is a great place to have a BBQ, swim, sun and play. Especially if you don’t have the time or patience for a trip to the Cape or Maine.
It’s not the nicest facility, but I’ve definitely seen worse! We got there @ noon on a Saturday and there were PLENTY of open parking spaces.
We passed plenty of open picnic tables and BBQs and found a spot closer to the beach. There aren’t too many garbage cans, but they do have workers driving around in a little cart emptying the trash periodically. And they have recycling bins too, which is nice.
I only dipped my feet into the cold, but refreshing, water. The beach was pretty clean from what I could tell.
It’s a great place for a kids’ birthday party or a group get-​together.

I went there on a Saturday with family to attend a church outing event. The place is packed — so packed that if you need to drive out of the park in the middle of day, do NOT count on being able to get back. Sometimes they close the gate before noon time and re-​open at 3. No drive-​in or walk-​in allowed. This is exactly what happened to me. This was a major turn-​off because my wife and kids were still in the park. I had to drive back home. (Luckily my wife drove her own car on that day).
As one can imagine, park staff are really rude and unhelpful. So unless you really like the lake, I would avoid going there at all.
In summary: park itself is ok; Way too many people; Very bad staff and management.

This is my BBQ/​swimming/​get all tanned up summer spot!
For a $ 5 parking fee you can go to a clean Lake with plenty of grills and picnic tables. This is the perfect place if you want to do a cook out by the lake with family friends. There’s tons of space and restrooms available.
Even the restrooms are kept clean and the grounds of the park are always being checked up on by grounds people. They come around all the trash barrels every hour to pick up the trash. That helps to keep bugs and bees away! I’ve never had a problem with bees at this lake unlike other places I’ve been to.
This is also a dry– no alcohol permitted park. The grounds people WILL go around everyone’s spots and check coolers. Don’t even try to sneak it in.
There’s also kayaking, boat rentals, and canoeing on the other side of the lake.

This place would be awesome… if I was 5 years old. On any summer day, that is the chief demographic of this park. Second is the parents who are more preoccupied with the sun and lake than the fact that their little brats are tramping dirt all over my towel and what? yes, your daughter just ran off with my drink. Precious.
If this place were not so packed, or say, kids weren’t allowed– it would be great. There is the beach area and behind that under the shade of some trees is a picnic area complete with tables and grills. It would be fantastic if there were age restrictions.
If you can zone out the kids (and that partially relies on them), this could be a decent place to plop down in the sun and take the occasional refreshing dip in the fairly clean lake. If kids aren’t your thing, go elsewhere.

Cochitutate State Park is a beach/​park/​boat launch in Natick, made up of two (or three) big lakes that are all connected. There are a few places throughout the park with picnic tables and a beachy area where you can swim.
They also have boat rentals, which is what my sister and our significant others’ decided to do one sunny day. They offer paddle-​boats and canoes. My husband and I got a paddle-​boat and the other two decided to get a canoe. They provided us with life preservers, and off we went.
The main lake itself is gorgeous, and it was a nice ‘paddle’ around, going under a few bridges and out onto the middle of the adjacent lake. It was in the middle of this lake that things started going wrong. My sister decided that she wanted to switch with me, so we precariously switched spots mid-​lake. We situated ourselves and continued on our way. A while later, the paddle boat that my sister and hubby were using BROKE. It simply wouldn’t paddle anymore.
So, we switched again, my husband getting into the canoe with my sisters’ boyfriend. The went off to tell someone we needed to be rescued, and we just floated around on the lake for what seemed like 10 hours. Eventually, a young gent in a small motor boat came to our aid. He tied up our broken boat and helped us on board his.
We eventually got back to shore, and while we were gone, my sissies BF had convinced them to give us our money back.
Despite this minor snafu, we still ended up having a fun day. We ate our picnic lunch when we got back, and walked around little.
They probably need to upgrade their equipment, but I would definitely go back if I was looking for something to do and was in the area.