Blue Hills Reservation

August 10, 2019 Sunny

This is a large state park about 10 miles south of Boston. It consists of hills with trails, mainly for hiking, but also has a ski slope in the winter months. At the foot of the hills you can find the nearby Houghton’s Pond Recreation Area, another state park. Within it, there is also the Trailside Museum, our first stop.

Although it’s small, it has plenty of live animals (frogs, snakes, owls, etc.) within, along with a viewing area of a small pond. Outside are further animal exhibits with eagles, vultures, deer, and foxes. When we visited the turtle and otter exhibits were under construction.

We took the popular and short (2 mile) Red Dot Trail from the museum parking lot. It climbs steeply for a while and reaches the the Eliot Tower, with great views of downtown Boston.

Continuing along a short path, we quickly reached the other star attraction here, the old Blue Hill Observatory. Founded in 1885, it’s the oldest weather observatory currently in use.

Although you can climb the tower on a guided tour for a small fee, we decided to browse the small but interesting gift shop. It’s packed with all sorts of flying toys as well as a great selection of kites, which you’re allowed to unpack and fly from the hillside next to the observatory.

After resting a bit, we descended along the paved Summit Road, and then rejoined the Red Dot Trail for the remainder of the hike.

This park offers great views for minimal effort but you can also explore the extensive trail network. On a hot day, stop off at Houghton’s Pond next door to cool off.
Nice view of the city on a clear day.
Just a normal hike… If you’re looking for something fun to do, don’t go here. You’ll only waste your free time
It was good and the visitor center was great.
I liked the museum. The observatory was cool. It was pretty when we looked out from the tower.