Explore Central Massachusetts
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Legendary sower of seeds and planter of apple orchards Johnny Appleseed was born here in 1774.
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Leominster
If you were driving over the only covered bridge in Massachusetts east of the Connecticut River, where would you be?
.
Pepperell
Balance Rock on Wachusett Mountain is one of largest glacial erratic rock formations in Massachusetts – this double boulder formation has two boulders resting atop each other – each about six feet in diameter and weighing about 30 tons.
Sudbury
30,000 runners now take on the Boston Marathon every year. If you ran the first race in 1897 though, where would you have started?
Ashland
The Redstone Schoolhouse, built in 1798 and which featured in the “Mary Had a Little Lamb” nursery rhyme, is still standing where?
Sudbury
Eli Whitney, who invented the cotton gin and played a major role in the industrial progress of America, was born where?
Westborough
Isaiah Thomas, publisher of the Massachusetts Spy newspaper, performed the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence here in 1776
Worcester
New England’s largest zoological experience spans over 200 acres. What’s it called?
Southwick's Zoo
The first ever purchased Monet painting of water lilies arrived here in 1910, followed by a Gauguin painting in 1921.
Worcester Art Museum
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Dance to the sounds of holiday joy at the Groton Hill Music Center! Afterwards, be sure to stop for a bite at the Gibbett Hill Grill.
Groton
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Princeton
Home to Wachusett Mountain, the region’s idealistic locale for embarking on new adventures.
Princeton
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Home to Great Wolf New England – New England’s largest indoor waterpark
Fitchburg
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The Park's bucolic forest offers amazing trails for hiking, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, horseback riding, and mountain biking, plus fishing, boating, and swimming in warmer months.
Hopkinton State Park
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Jack's Abby
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At Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers, get a behind-the-scenes tour to see how their beer is made, followed by lunch in their newly renovated beer hall and a tasting of their famous seasonal lagers.
The Heritage’s astounding collection of historic aircraft, tanks, armored vehicles, classic automobiles and rare relics from the Revolutionary War through WWII to today includes immersive exhibits, living history events, and over a dozen one-of-a-kind artifacts.
American Heritage Museum
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New kinds of adventures begin at Southwicks Zoo where families can discover unique animal experiences.
Southwick Zoo
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Sip and revel in the joy of the season with a fine glass of red or white.
Hardwick Winery
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Find fine eateries and exciting seasonal events and celebrations in the energetic Worcester Canal District.
Worcester
Canal District
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Winter is no time to be cooped up and chilling out at home. In fact, the so-called “quiet season” is the perfect time to break out and visit the Heart of Massachusetts. Here, when the temps start to drop, the excitement is just heating up with activities, events, and experiences that will thaw your cold-weather blues and get the blood flowing. We’re telling you: This seemingly quaint place has a year-round pulse.
The Heart of MA Super Region consists of three regions — Discover Central Massachusetts around Worcester, MetroWest Boston, and Visit North Central Massachusetts — each with its distinct character and vibe. But the whole of this Heart is much greater than the sum of its parts, which work together to provide an affordable, easy, accessible, and wildly entertaining wintertime wonderland for explorers young and old — there’s really something for everyone.
For instance, if you’re looking for outdoor adventure, you can ski, snowshoe, or watch for rare and exotic birds through the lush hardwood forests and hillsides. Rather stay indoors? There are museums for history buffs, naturalists, and art lovers alike. Or if you prefer to taste your way through a vacation, cafes, wineries, breweries, and restaurants of every style of cuisine abound.
In the winter, the Heart of Massachusetts is hard to beat.
Princeton
Groton
Fitchburg
Hopkinton State Park
Jack's Abbey
American Heritage Museum
Hardwick
Winery
Worcester
Canal District
History blends into art at Harvard’s Fruitlands Museum, which houses historical Shaker collections as well as landscapes, folk portraits, and indigenous art and artifacts from New England and the Hudson River. The Danforth Art Museum in Framingham also features more than 3,500 pieces of art from the 18th century to modern times. And in the Natick Center Cultural District, the entire community is your gallery, with more than 100 artists working and hosting open studios and co-ops throughout the year, plus a wealth of boutiques, restaurants, festivals, public art, and special events.
In the Heart of Massachusetts, art is also a living, breathing thing. Performance spaces like the Groton Hill Music Center and the Hopkinton Center for the Arts have calendars packed with musicians and groups of all genres, as well as dance and theater productions. The DCU Center in Worcester is a targeted venue for many acts that travel around the country and around the world. Also look to Worcester’s Hanover Theatre or Mechanics Hall, The Center for Arts in Natick (TCAN), atac: downtown arts + music in Framingham, and The Black Box in Franklin for more traveling concerts and live performances.
Where is The Heart of Massachusetts?
Fact provided by Visit North Central Massachusetts
Fact provided by Visit North Central Massachusetts
Fact provided by Visit North Central Massachusetts
Fact provided by MetroWest Boston Visitors Bureau
Fact provided by MetroWest Boston Visitors Bureau
Fact provided by MetroWest Boston Visitors Bureau
Fact provided by Discover
Central Massachusetts
Fact provided by Discover
Central Massachusetts
Fact provided by Discover
Central Massachusetts
Test Your Knowledge About the Heart of Massachusetts
A Family Travel Bonanza
Outdoor Winter Wonderland
But you don’t need snow for outdoor wintertime wonder. In Princeton,
Wachusett Mountain State Reservation and the Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary invite you to get up close and personal with all sorts of picturesque natural splendor, from Brown Hill Summit and Glacial Boulder to tall pines and ancient Red Oak and beaver ponds. There’s also no better place than the majestic Mass Audubon’s Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary near Worcester or the gorgeous Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge in Sudbury to break out the binoculars and spot the vibrant robins, goldfinch, waterfowl, and blue jays that winter here.
Outdoors doesn’t have to mean roughing it, either. There’s the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston for year-round trail walking and garden viewing. You can literally walk through the 19th century on the streets and sidewalks of Old Sturbridge Village, a working re-enactment of a typical 1840s settlement with more than 40 historic buildings with costumed historians that can explain how our ancestors weathered the New England winters. And the Marlborough Downtown Village Cultural District features a steeple-rich landscape, street-side displays of historical photography, charming boutiques, eateries, and colorful public art.
Museums, Galleries, and Educational Centers Galore
For a break from the chill, come inside to a vast world of culture and knowledge on everything from our history to our art and music to our planet and the world around us.
Or even beyond the Earth. The EcoTarium museum of science and nature in Worcester has a state-of-the-art planetarium in which you can virtually explore the farthest reaches of the universe before investigating three floors of hands-on interactive natural history and physical science exhibits.
For history a little more recent than the Big Bang, check out the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, where your journey into the past begins in a WWI trench with bombs bursting above you and a nurse explaining what it was really like during The Great War on the Western Front. Then make your way through the museum’s immersive exhibits highlighting their one-of-a-kind collection of historic aircraft, tanks, classic cars, and rare relics from the Revolutionary War to present day.
A Taste of the Region
The quickest way to the Heart of Massachusetts is through the stomach — and when it comes to flavorful fare, the region has a full menu.
Whether you’re looking for white-tablecloth fine dining, a greasy spoon for breakfast, or street food, Central MA has you covered. There is also a wide spectrum of ethnic and world cuisine for any taste and budget. And leave room for dessert, like warm pecan sweet rolls from the area’swarm and lovely bakeries and cafes.
And if you’re thirsty, belly-up at one of the region’s outstanding craft breweries, cideries, wineries, or distilleries—check the website to plan your own brew tour!
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Discover Central MA
Visit North Central MA
MetroWest Boston
At Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers, get a behind-the-scenes tour to see how their beer is made, followed by lunch in their newly renovated beer hall and a tasting of their famous seasonal lagers
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Visit North Central MA
MetroWest Boston
Discover Central MA
When it comes to adventure and culture, the Heart of MA is a winter wonderland
New England is fabled for its foliage, but after the leaves have fallen, a different kind of fun begins in central MA — especially when the snow settles in.
The trails are guaranteed to be covered in powder at slopes in Shrewsbury, where snowmakers run all season long so skiers and snow-tubers can hit the slopes. for beginners to get their legs and experienced skiers to hone their skills. Downhill skiers and snowboarders of all abilities also flock to the mountain at Westminster, MA for some great downhill fun, and even some après-ski noshing. Worcester has the terrain for Nordic skiers, trails for snowshoeing, and even ponds that freeze solid for ice skating. And Hopkinton State Park as miles of trails for hiking, horseback riding, and even snowmobiling.
Southwick Zoo
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Central Massachusetts
Old Sturbridge Village is a working re-enactment of a typical 1840s settlement with historic buildings with costumed historians.
New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston features year-round trail walking and garden viewing.
The EcoTarium in Worcester has three floors of hands-on interactive natural history and physical science exhibits.
The Worcester Art Museum has 38,000 art works from ancient Antioch to European Old Masters, early American painting and Japanese prints.
Hanover Theatre & Conservatory is a majestic downtown concert venue with a grand staircase, 7-foot-tall chandelier, and gilded accents.
Mechanics Hall in Worcester is a renowned venue for music and dance productions and stage performances.
Hopkinton Center for the Arts features a diverse calendar of musical acts and artists as well as theater and dance productions, art workshops, and special events.
The Danforth Art Museum in Framingham features more than 3,500 pieces of art from the 18th century to modern times.
Seventeen craft breweries, cideries, a winery, and a distillery all call MetroWest home and make for a great hops, grapes & barrels tour.
The American Heritage Museum in Hudson houses an astonishing collection of one-of-a-kind historic aircraft, tanks, automobiles, and immersive exhibits from the Revolutionary War to present day.
Hopkinton State Park has amazing scenic trails for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding, as well as a lake and beaches for watersports.
The Wayside Inn is the oldest continuously operating inn in America, and it’s 100-acre property includes antique farming tools and an old schoolhouse, chapel, and grist mill.
MetroWest Boston
Mass Audubon’s Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary in Princeton provides ample opportunity for winter hiking and snowshoeing.
The Icon Museum and Study Center in Clinton hosts a collection of more than a thousand pieces of art from Russian to Greek to Ethiopian iconography.
Johnny Appleseed Visitor’s Center is a great stop along Route 2 in Lancaster for souvenirs and a little history about the region.
Groton Hill Music Center welcomes musicians and ensembles of all genres, along with dance and stage productions.
The Fruitlands Museum in Harvard houses historical Shaker collections as well as landscapes, folk portraits, and indigenous art and artifacts from the area.
The Wachusett Mountain State Reservation in Princeton invites outdoor enthusiasts for winter hiking, snowshoeing, skiing at the region’s biggest mountain and spectacular 360-degree views from the summit.
North Central Massachusetts
But you don’t need snow for outdoor wintertime wonder. In Princeton, Wachusett Mountain State Reservation and the Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary invite you to get up close and personal with all sorts of picturesque natural splendor, from Brown Hill Summit and Glacial Boulder to tall pines and ancient Red Oak and beaver ponds. There’s also no better place than the majestic Mass Audubon’s Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary near Worcester or the gorgeous Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge in Sudbury to break out the binoculars and spot the vibrant robins, goldfinch, waterfowl, and blue jays that winter here.
Outdoors doesn’t have to mean roughing it, either. There’s the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill in Boylston for year-round trail walking and garden viewing. You can literally walk through the 19th century on the streets and sidewalks of Old Sturbridge Village, a working re-enactment of a typical 1840s settlement with more than 40 historic buildings with costumed historians that can explain how our ancestors weathered the New England winters. And the Marlborough Downtown Village Cultural District features a steeple-rich landscape, street-side displays of historical photography, charming boutiques, eateries, and colorful public art.
Feel the Heartbeat of Massachusetts
All of these attractions and experiences are just the tip of the wintertime iceberg. Countless other adventures await you, your friends, and your family in central MA. To plan your winter getaway visit the Heart of Massachusetts website for more info.
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After all, there’s a reason people call this scenic part of the state The Heart of Massachusetts.
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