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Bunker Hill Monument
Rating Details »
Category: Landmarks & Historical Buildings [Edit]
Neighborhood: CharlestownMonument Ave and High Street
Charlestown, MA 02129
22 reviews for Bunker Hill Monument
Sunny Sunday afternoon and I just want to be out in the sun. Sometimes the beach is just too far or you dont want sand in your underpants...
My friend lives in Charlestown so we decided to walk over to the monument and lay on the grass. Seems like we werent the only ones with that idea..plenty of people just laying out relaxing.
It was nice. I only wish I had snacks. Maybe a picnic next time?
I dont do history so this review is based purely on the grassy area in front of the history stuff...and it still gets 4 stars.
It's a good way to finish a walk on the freedom trail, and a nice little bit of exercise to boot. At 200+ steps to the top, I have to say I was a bit disappointed to be met with a small room with a few small windows overlooking the city.
Skip it if you're claustrophobic or if breathing isn't your forte. As an asthmatic, I had no problems at all, but I have relatively well-conditioned legs that got me there and back without much post-climb wobble. Those who aren't ready for it will be gasping for breath as people squeeze by in the cramped staircase.
I think the walk to, around, and back from Castle Island was far more interesting than this, but I suppose it's important to get all the tourist stuff out of the way..."when in Rome" and all.
Big phallic symbol!
Not actually Bunker Hill!
Pointless object!
People go here to walk their dogs. Be careful where you step.
250ish steps winding circularly to the top. FREE admission. Donations would be nice.
As if walking along the Freedom Trail wasn't enough, climbing up this monument will get you to FEEL the BURN. Ok not really, but you can get out of breath. There's a marker on the stairs every 25 steps to show you how far you've gone. Luckily for me, I didn't get stuck behind anyone going up. However, I had to 'pull over' a few times to let people pass down.
When I reached the top, I was ecstatic until I saw it was PACKED with a boy scout troop. It was crowded and way too hot with that many people. The only air is coming from the stairwell or defunct elevator shaft. There are 4 windows (spaced out each 90 degrees) but they don't open for safety reasons. You can see the view of downtown Boston and the Bay, and surrounding towns/suburbs/whatever.
On 2 of the windows, there are metal rings. I thought they were marking something interesting, but nope- just pointed to another museum.
It was alright, nothing spectacular. Its a nice tribute to the Battle of Bunker Hill. The history buff in you will like it. My advice would be to go early in the day when its not as hot or packed.
me legs, me legs!
they burn, burn!
Good hike to the top, great view once there.
windy too.
don't let your mind imagine the bldg rocking.
mind did.
then I almost fell down the stairs.
that would have been cool
Climbed it - enjoyed it - paid for being out of shape because of it.
Why oh why didn't we know there was a museum nearby? That is the kind of stuff we really wanted to see.
Definitely worth a stop even without the museum. :)
This is one hell of a monument. It's an imposing reminder of our Nation's struggle for Independence. I climb it every once in a while because it's great exercise (it's nice to go on a Saturday morning before the Freedom Trailers get there) or when I have visitors who want to do some touristy stuff. I also like it because I can see my apartment building from the top and I can see it from the top of my apartment building. Furthermore, looks lovely all lit up at night. The lawn surrounding it is also a good spot to picnic, read, or play a game of catch. Basically, if you haven't been, you probably should go.
I always thought this one of the few parts of Charlestown that stood out in a positive way.
This hill holds a strong part of our American History. While history may not be as interesting to some, I enjoy it. I haven't been here in years......I'll have to stop by to take the fun task of climbing those steps.
One of the stops for the Old Town Trolley was the Charlestown Navy Ship in Charlestown. From here we took a 15 minute walk up to the Bunker Hill Monument. Statues and memorials engraved in stone surround the hill.
The Bunker Hill monument itself is a mini version of the Washington Monument. The kids and our other traveling companions wanted to climb up all 294 steps to the top. I did it a few times before, so I opted out, and walked around the perimeter of the monument, and enjoyed the view of the houses.
Not surprising, the kids and the adults who when up were a looking a little peaked when the came back down. An ice cream truck is strategically parked at the bottom of the hill, but convinced the kids to hold off.
The building next to the Monument used house a museum for the monument, but it has now been relocated down the hill
It's fun, it's free and what a view. I thought I would be funny and try to run up the stairs, but I am not a person who runs nor works out. So about 50 stairs into it I had to rest and walk the rest. LOL.. Remember this is on Breeds Hill.
This is where it all began.....
Boston is full of early American history and the Bunker Hill Monument is a salute to those brave souls who sacrificed everything to bring about this great nation. It is part of the National Parks so bring your passport book to get stamped to show off to everyone. The climb to the top of the monument is grueling. The day I went it rained and was a bit windy. The steps inside were drenched in water. However the climb to the top was worth it to see the awesome views of the city.
We went up Bunker Hill Monument. It's a National Historical Park site which makes it Cool, Plus it's FREE! It's to commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill. It's a nice looking obelisk that you can see anywhere in Charlestown.
You can get a dated stamp that proves you've been there. Talk to the ranger that's there and get a brochure on the Bunker Hill Monument plus a Freedom Trail brochure if you wish.
Then climb the 294 stairs to the top. It's pretty evil and not advised if you have a heart condition. It'll make you out of breathe for sure. There's only railing on the way down and it's curvy too.
When you get to the top, the windows are tiny, only 3 of them.
Rest up, then you have all those same steps to do on the way down.
Hrs:
9am-4:30pm
If you don't mind climbing up the 300 odd steps to the top the views are nice but not 300 steps nice. lol I mean it's cool and free so I can't really complain but it would have been nice if the top was a bit larger to accommodate the crazy tourists who actually desired to climb all the way to the top. I will say that each step has a number on it to show you how out of shape you are when you can't breathe by step 25.. but hey just follow the freedom trail here and you could see all of Boston pretty much.
This is one of the few phallic historical monuments that I have climbed up that actually had the stair count stenciled on the stairs. And at every 25 no less! Let's face it. When you go to a new city, as a tourist, the first thing we all look for is the big monument sticking out of the ground. Then we want to climb to the top, for the view. Heck, I have even been ballsy enough to not take the elevator when it was an option (hello, Eiffel Tower), just so I can say I did it.
The problem with these monuments are that you never know where the f*** you are other than not at the top yet because they didn't think to update us on the stair count. I love being able to count down and once I hit 5 stairs on these things, I usually lose track because I am just thinking about powering through all the sucky stairs ahead of me. Thanks for making it easy for me Bunker Hill. Another reason why Boston rocks. Oh yeah, and it is free.
Sitting back and thinking about it for a moment, the Bunker Hill monument is a curious way of memorializing the battle. Not that I don't like the obelisk and the view it provides of Boston, but it's not immediately apparent as to WHY they chose to build such a monument when they could have chosen from many other edifices or even a battleground walk. I'll come back to this in a minute, but as I mentioned, it's a nice view of Boston and the surrounding area (Medford, Somerville/Cambridge/Arlington) from Charlestown. I went 4th of July weekend, and it was a very clear day so you could really see for miles all around. The windows are small though, and the space is rather cramped, and of course there are the 294 steps to climb before you can get up to the viewing room. If you're not a particularly active person, I would say that you aren't missing a ton if you decide not to attempt the climb.
Back to the obelisk and the choice of monument, it was only after I went into the (fairly new, I believe) Bunker Hill museum just across the street that I understood what they were trying to do. The second floor of the museum has what amounts to a "play-by-play" of the battle, and if you look up, the ceiling is dome-shaped with a 360 degree mural painted around its base depicting how Boston looked on the day of the battle. When the colonists built their fortifications on the top of Breed's Hill, they could look down 360 degrees and see the British coming from all angles, and this is what the obelisk is trying to give yo9u a feel for.
The mural itself is amazing, but what I wish I had done was to go into the museum first, look around at the exhibits and the mural, THEN gone up to the obelisk viewing room and tried to match places then with what I saw as modern Boston.
In all, I wouldn't say it's the best monument on the Freedom Trail, but it's a very nice experience, the museum is new, and everything is free!
Walking up to the top of this thing is So. Not. Worth. It.
Nice park and information center, though, considering that the main draw here is a massive pointy concrete dildo.
Here's a historical fact for you. On Saturday, August 16th, Jessika D. decided to honor her fallen fellow Americans and heroically climbed all 294 steps to the top of the Bunker Hill Monument. It is now Monday, August 18th and Jessika D.'s legs are still in excruciating pain.
I am not going to summarize the history of the Bunker Hill Monument as you already know that part. What I can tell you is that to get it to the top it is the aforementioned 294 steps. I am not an athlete by any standards, but I am also only 20 something years old and fit enough. I thought 294 steps would be hard, but not too bad. WRONG. Once I got done my legs were shaking like leafs. Literally you could look down and see my legs shaking. I could barely walk the rest of the afternoon. Note to everyone: STRETCH FIRST. This is what I did not do and it was a grave error. My legs are in so much pain right now that walking is hard. Going up and down stairs is brutal and nearly impossible. My calves hurt, my thighs hurt, the whole length of my legs hurt. Not to self: 294 steps is too many. I think my climbing skillz rest at about 100 steps. The only other time my legs have hurt this bad was when I attended a spinning class once. I never did that again.
Once at the top, I was a little disappointed especially since it took all I had to get up there. The area is small and can fit about 10 people or so. The view of Charlestown and Boston is very nice and neat to see. But like most towers and monuments that is all that is up there. At least I can say I climbed the damned thing.
Anyway, moving on from the pain. The park around the monument is nice. I don't know if you are allowed to bring your blanket and lounge on the lawn, but if you can this is a great spot. They keep up the landscaping and unlike the Common, there was not a vagabond, crack head, or homeless person in sight. (Now, before you get all upset, I am sympathetic to the homeless that "live" in the Common. I understand the limitations that our city provides for them and wish that we had better programs available to provide for them. However, as a tourist site, which the Common somewhat is, it does take away from its touristy allure.) Whilst there we stumble upon a tour guide explain all the historicalness of the site and they also did a demonstration of firing a musket.
It is good to note that there is only one set of narrow stairs and traffic going up and down must share the space. This can make for some tight corners.
I love this part of Charlestown so much. I want to live there. The historical buildings and houses give it a feel unlike any other. Not many places in the country can authentically replicate this feel. The Bunker Hill Monument is in the center of it all and is really neat to see. Since I live here, I felt that I must take the time to go, but I do wonder if I was a tourist if it would really be worth my time....
Oh, dear Monty.
See, I was once a Park Ranger here and I spent many a day at the Monument explaining where Bunker Hill really was (a half mile away), what hill we were really on (Breed's Hill), and just what Evacuation and Bunker Hill Day entailed.
Because this place is so popular with tour groups, you should go to this location of the Freedom Trail first. You can either walk up from North Station after going to the USS Constitution or you can walk down from Community College (about a half mile from that stop or the ship). There are Ranger talks each day on the half hour and they last between 10-20 minutes long. The later in the day it gets, the more people go...including tour groups with their own leaders shouting in various languages about the hill or mobs of children who race up the stairs only to throw up on the replica of the original monument on the site.
Can you tell I hated that part of the job?
Anyways, during the winter, there aren't as many events but in the summer, there is musket firing and a parade on the Sunday closest to June 17th.
The new renovation was recently completed and Monty looks great. Definitely go and experience the city while trying to breathe after racing up 293 steps to glory.
Freaking amazing monument. You have to walk to the top. It's only 294 stairs. But beware of the overweight and the out of shape taking up space on the way up. The view once you get to the top is well worth the climb.
It's a cool piece of history. The location is so lovely. The cute houses from the 18th-19th century. That's really cool. I'm glad we squeezed this in on our way back to NYC. It was worth it.
I didn't climb up the stairs. After Notre Dame, it's really not that important anymore.
Visiting this place wanted me to crack open my old U.S. History book again and read up on the battle. That's got to say something.
Basically the same obelisk design as the Washington Monument on a slightly smaller scale. I was eager for the views of the surrounding area so I began my ascent of the 294 steps without hesitation. Alas, the monument just isn't built to handle the amount of traffic going up and down inside (and understandably so.) I was able to climb freely until about step 250 when climbing slowed to a crawl due to congestion.
The rigorous exercise had caused everyone to break out into a sweat and the resulting odor was far more unpleasant in the tiny turret than I expected it to me. The middle-aged man in line behind me exhaled in forceful, direct blasts that bathed my back and arms in the warm, moist balm of his breath. Once the line finally inched upward enough to allow me access to the tiny viewing platform in the very top of the obelisk, I found little relief--eager climbers were packed in like livestock at a meat farm. Going down isn't much easier, as you will be called upon to pass multiple people climbing the other direction, a more awkward enterprise than is anticipated. If you a) like people more than I do or b) don't mind coming into direct contact with other people's general dampness in the form of sweat etc, climb the monument anytime. Otherwise, climb the monument early in the morning, before the hordes have arrived.
The view is indeed lovely.
okay, it's cool, 294 steps of aching quads cool. but the gift shop is lacking, and the views from the top are not nearly as well-presented as they could be - i don't know, open the windows maybe?