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Take me to the river: The many ways to enjoy the Charles this summer

Many bridges over the Charles get more attention, but the Charles River Dam and locks are the most critical pieces of infrastructure. They shut out the sea and modulate the height of the river's waters, turning otherwise tidal mudflats into the placid lake-like basin we know and love. The dam and locks, which were completed in 1978, definitely deserve a look. From North Station, walk past Lovejoy Wharf (with the flagship brewery and restaurant of Night Shift Brewing) through the parking lot to reach the footpath over the locks. When you walk across the dam from the West End to Charlestown you might even get lucky and see the locks in action. If not, you can still check out the massive gears that enable them to open and close. Before stepping into Charlestown, strike a melodious note on the gongs of Paul Matisse's 'Charlestown Bells.' It's the first of many public art installations you'll encounter along the river banks. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up This playground in Paul Revere Park is on the Charlestown side of the Charles River Dam. David Lyon Advertisement The Zakim Bridge dominates the skyline here, yet some surprising green spaces have sprouted in its shadows. Paul Revere Park features playgrounds and ballfields, while the gracefully arching North Bank Bridge leads to North Point Park in Cambridge with another playground and spray pad. Directly under the elevated roadways, the scoops and ridges of the Lynch Family Skatepark boast a coat of colorful (and sanctioned) graffiti. Follow the water around a basin to Museum Way, which deposits you at the Museum of Science atop the original 1910 Charles River Dam and locks. Advertisement In the Museum of Science, the Yawkey Gallery on the Charles River offers interactive exhibits to learn about the natural science and the engineering of the river. David Lyon The museum is perhaps the ultimate destination for nerdy fun. There's no shortage of gee-whiz exhibits (such as the lightning bolts in the Theater of Electricity or a 65-million-year-old Triceratops skeleton), but the Yawkey Gallery on the Charles River holds its own. It may have huge windows on the river, but kids are more drawn to the interactive exhibits that combine natural history lessons with scale-model engineering puzzles about water quality and flood control. They can build variations on bridges and water control gates or even crawl around in a simulated sewer system. Cute life-size bronze statues of turtles, ducks, an otter, and a muskrat bring the river fauna inside. The bow of the ‶Henry Longfellow″ cruise vessel offers broad views of the Charles River. David Lyon ON THE WATER Feeling lazy? The Charles River Boat Company offers leisurely 70-minute cruises. Leaving from Lechmere Canal on the Cambridge side, the boat glides past rowers, sailors, and flocks of waterfowl up the river to the John W. Weeks Footbridge and back. You'll look from side to side as a guide points out landmarks along the banks, including the Back Bay skyscrapers and the 100-foot-diameter Great Dome of MIT. Keep your eyes peeled for the CSX Railroad Bridge below the BU Bridge, popular with graffiti artists. Many of the tags represent the logos of crew teams from various universities. Just upriver of the Harvard (Mass. Ave.) Bridge, the vibrant ‶Patterned Behavior″ mural by Silvia López Chavez along the multiuse path got a fresh coat of paint this spring. Advertisement Kayakers head out of Broad Canal into the Charles River basin toward the Longfellow Bridge. David Lyon If you'd rather move at your own pace, rent a kayak at Paddle Boston's Kendall Square location. You might not travel as far under your own power, but you'll be sitting inches off the water the whole way. Yes, you will get wet, but the water quality of the Charles has come a long way since the 1990s. This is the best way to admire the blue herons stalking prey in the shallows along the shores, to study the underbellies of the bridges, or to paddle through the lagoons of the Charles River Esplanade. Famed for the July 4 Pops concert, the Hatch Shell is a focal point of the Charles River Esplanade. David Lyon GREEN BANKS The Charles River Esplanade between the Longfellow and Harvard bridges is the best-known stretch of riverbank, thanks to the Boston Pops concert and fireworks on Independence Day. From the Longfellow Bridge, you'll pass Community Boating — another chance to rent a kayak, or, for experienced sailors, a small keelboat. The heart of the Esplanade, though, is the Hatch Shell. The Art Deco concert stage, which predates World War II, doesn't go dark after July 4. It's a summer-long venue for concerts and movies. Among the statues ringing the field in front of the shell, the presiding spirit is the bronze of philanthropist David G. Mugar, who introduced pyrotechnics to the July 4 Pops concert. He famously told legendary Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler, 'You bring the music, and I'll bring the fireworks.' Cross any of the bridges over the lagoon to see the monumental bust of Fiedler. Night Shift Brewing operates a beer garden on the Charles River Esplanade. David Lyon Picnic tables and benches make this stretch an excellent area to spread a repast. Or check out the Night Shift Beer Garden, where there's often at least one food truck operating next to the beer taps. If you have kids in tow, you'll find a playground near the beer garden and another farther upriver closer to the Harvard Bridge. Advertisement Charles River Boat Company runs river cruises from the Lechmere Canal behind the CambridgeSide mall. David Lyon BUCOLIC BASIN It's a little more than a five-mile walk upriver from the Hatch Shell to Christian Herter Park in Brighton. For a less ambitious walk, start at the John W. Weeks Footbridge at the bottom of DeWolfe Street outside Harvard Square in Cambridge. You'll have great views of the winding river from atop the bridge — a prime viewpoint to watch rowing regattas. Cross to the Boston side, where the footpath skirts the roadway until you reach an underpass at the Eliot Bridge. Christian Herter Park is the largest park on the Charles River basin. David Lyon Suddenly, the narrow way opens into the sprawling meadow of Herter Park, the largest section of open parkland along the Charles River basin. It's big enough to include a playground and spray fountain, a large green lawn favored by volleyball and badminton players, a Night Shift beer garden, a 350-seat amphitheater for outdoor music and theater performances, and another Paddle Boston rental kiosk. Kayakers often rent here to explore the tranquil upper reaches of the river basin, where ducks, geese, and swans paddle on the water and red-winged blackbirds flit in the marshy borders. This monumental bust of Arthur Fiedler on Charles River Esplanade is constructed of stacked aluminum slabs. David Lyon This should be enough to fill several summer weekends in the city. And when you're done, the Charles continues upriver another 70 miles or so to Echo Lake in Hopkinton. Patricia Harris and David Lyon can be reached at . Paddle Boston's kayak and paddleboard kiosk in Christian Herter Park is a good place to rent a watercraft to explore the more tranquil upriver portion of the Charles River basin. David Lyon If you go … For schedule of Free Friday Flicks at the Esplanade see . For the schedule of Landmarks Orchestra performances at the Hatch Shell, see Advertisement For information on the July 12 Charles River Jazz Festival at the Herter Park Amphitheater see For more on public art, see Night Shift Brewing 617-456-7687, 1 Lovejoy Wharf, Boston Mon.-Thu. 3-9 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m., Sun. 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Charles River Esplanade Beer Garden Wed.-Fri. 4-10 p.m., Sat. noon-10 p.m., Sun. noon-8 p.m. Christian Herter Park Beer Garden Thu.-Fri. 4-10 p.m., Sat. noon-10 p.m., Sun. noon-8 p.m. Museum of Science 1 Science Park, Boston 617-723-2500, Open daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Adults, $31; seniors, $27; ages 3-11, $26 Charles River Boat Company 100 Cambridgeside Place (Lechmere Canal), Cambridge 617-621-3001, Sightseeing tours at 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3:30 p.m., daily through Sept. 1, Wed.-Sun. Sept. 23-28. Adults, $28.50; seniors and students, $25.50; under age 12, $19; under age 3, $5 Paddle Boston 617-965-5110, Kendall Square, Cambridge 15 Broad Canal Way Allston/Brighton 1071 Soldiers Field Road Check website for hours and weather conditions Kayaks, paddleboards, and canoes, $33-$85 Community Boating 21 David G. Mugar Way 617-523-1038, Kayaks and paddleboards, $40; keelboat for up to 4 people, $99 Check website for hours Silvia López Chavez's ‶Patterned Behavior″ mural brightens the Charles River walking/cycling path. David Lyon Patricia Harris can be reached at