Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary is Worcester's best full-sized nature escape, and it is much wilder than its city address suggests. Mass Audubon manages more than 400 acres here, with woods, open fields, streams, marsh, and a conservation centre on Massasoit Road.
The trails are the reason to come. They are well marked and easy to combine into short or longer walks, with interpretive signs that make the wetlands and woodland edges more interesting if you slow down. It is not Worcester's grandest sight, but it is a useful counterweight to museums, colleges, and old industrial streets.