The Minuteman Commuter Bikeway, a major community path popular with both locals
and visitors, runs through Arlington Center. It also connects to several other bikeways in
the region. The 10-mile multi-use trail was repurposed from an inactive railroad right of
way. Inaugurated in 1993 and completed in 1998 after 18 years of construction, the
bikeway was made possible through decades of dedicated community activism.
The bikeway approximates the route Paul Revere took on his famous ride to alert
Minutemen of the coming of the British; it passes through Cambridge, Arlington,
Lexington, and Bedford. These communities maintain the bikeway and continue to
keep it safe and make it more convenient and appealing for all to use.

The bikeway is convenient to popular historic sites in Arlington involved in Arlington 250
commemorations, including the Cyrus Dallin House Museum, Samuel Whittemore Park,
the Jason Russell House, and the Old Burying Ground.

Several companies rent bicycles at each end of the bikeway and along its length. A
short documentary, “Revival: The Story of the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway,” was
produced to celebrate the bikeway’s 25th anniversary and tell the story of its creation.

The Minuteman Commuter Bikeway is one of the most successful bikeways in America
and one of the few trails to be inducted into the Rails to Trails Conservancy’s Rail Trail
Hall of Fame.

Take a Free Self-Guided Tour of Arlington’s Cultural District
The Minuteman Commuter Bikeway runs through the heart of Arlington’s Cultural
District near Whittemore Park and the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum. Visitors to town are
invited to enjoy historian Ed Gordon’s self-guided Cultural District Audio Tour, which
provides an engaging narrative illuminating Arlington’s history.

Written by Laura Grey