Heart Pond Beach is the Town of Chelmsford's public beach on Heart Pond, a 91-acre kettle pond in the South Chelmsford corner of town where Chelmsford meets Westford. The pond has gone by several names over the years (old records call it Hart Pond, and some locals still say Baptist Pond), and it reaches about 20 feet at its deepest. The beach itself is a short strip of sand at 5 Pond Street on the northeast shore, looking southwest down the length of the water toward a ring of wooded shoreline and lakeside houses.

From Acton Road (Route 27), turn onto Pond Street and the beach lot is right at the water. The lot is small and fills on hot weekend afternoons. The Bruce Freeman Rail Trail runs past the edge of the beach, so a lot of visitors come by bike or on foot from Chelmsford center or from Westford and Acton to the south. There are bike racks at the trail entrance next to the beach and an information board put up by the town.

Swimming is allowed only inside the marked swim area off the sand. The shoreline is sandy and the pond is fairly shallow for a kettle pond, which helps it warm up by early summer. There are no lifeguards. The town ended lifeguard coverage at both of its beaches (here and at Freeman Lake) on June 29, 2024, and the current facility page says plainly that you swim at your own risk. Keep a close watch on children, and stay out of the water near anglers and boats.

Admission is free. The beach is open dawn to dusk and is open to residents and non-residents alike, with no sticker or parking permit listed by the town. Portable toilets sit in the parking area except in winter. Town rules ban fishing from the beach, grills and any open flame, alcohol, smoking and glass bottles, and ask visitors not to feed the ducks and geese. Dogs are allowed on a leash, and owners have to pick up after them. Camps and large groups are discouraged, and any commercial use needs written approval from the town.

Water quality is the main thing to check before you go. From Memorial Day through Labor Day the Chelmsford Health Department samples the beach weekly for E. coli and closes it when counts top 235 per 100 ml, when harmful algal blooms show up, when there's too much animal waste, or when weeds make wading unsafe. Every Heart Pond sample in the 2026 season through August 31 passed, and the town listed no cyanobacteria concerns. That has not always been true. In late August 2022 the town closed the whole pond to swimming and boating because of an algae bloom and did not reopen it until September 8. If the water looks green or blue-green, stay out and keep dogs out too.

Small boats can be carried in and launched from the beach, and kayaks and paddleboards are a common sight. There is no ramp for motorboats. Across Pond Street there's a small grassy area with a swing set, picnic tables and a Little Free Library. Heart Pond is also a warm-water fishery with largemouth bass, chain pickerel, perch, bluegill and bullhead, though fishing has to happen away from the beach itself.