The Blue Hills reservation is another large preserve that is part of the Massachusetts department of conservation and recreation network. The Blue Hills is located in Milton, Mass. just off of RT 93 exit 3 for Houghton’s Pond, another great hike which I will review another day. There is a bountiful amount of trails to hike as well as plenty of other outdoor activities in the area such as: fishing, mountain biking, non-motorized boating, camping, horseback riding, and more. The trails range from easy strolls through well packed paths, to moderate-hard climbs that involve an assortment of ascents and descents. We choose, this particular time, to take the southern part of the Skyline Trail.

The Skyline Trail is split into two sections, north and south, which meet on Hillside Road and the entire trail is about 9 miles long. If you want to do the whole thing you need to devote about 5.5-7 hours of time given the difficulty of the ascents. We choose to do the southern part of the trail which is only 2.6 miles and can easily be done in under 2 hours, including stoping to eat lunch for a few minutes. The best place to park is on Hillside road across from the state police barracks. From here you head towards the preserve facilities building and start your ascent onto the Blue trail from behind this series of buildings.

The initial ascent up to the “Skyline” is a pretty steep and you have to be careful if the rocks are wet because there isn’t much dirt. Your basically climbing up large boulders to the top of the hills. Once you get to the top there is a great southern view of the Milton/Randolph/Braintree valley – a perfect place to snap off a few shots or even a cool panoramic. As you continue along the trail it weaves through the trees and every few hundred yards or so gives you a great view in one direction of the surrounding valley area.

The rest of the trail is an array of ups and downs that offer a moderate challange for most types of hikers, but a my be a bit hard for someone not accustomed to rigorous exersize.  People use the trail for all sorts of activities from hiking to running to frisbee golf.  The latter was particularly interesting seeing how steep some of the ledges are.

At the top of the next hill is where Elliot Tower is and where you have an amazing veiw of Boston.  This is a great place to stop and eat lunch and relax in the sun (weather permitting).  The inside of the tower is filled with an array of interesting grafitti that can provide a bit of amusement or a sense of nostalgia (if you name is there).  A short hike from Elliot Tower is the weather observatory facing south.  This also provides a great chance for a landscape panoramic.

The second half of the trail is a bit harder, at first, then the first half, but as long as you use caution when descending down the moss covered rocks you will be ok.  The trail dumps you out back onto Hillside Road, and your car is just a 1/4 mile up the road.  If you’ve completed this and are still feeling ambitious, then you can continue on the skyline trail north.  The entrance is directly infront of where you parked your car.

For more pictures of the Skyline Trail’s southern part, you can check out my Flickr photostream.

You can also grab my GPS tract.

Related posts:

1. Middlesex Fells: Rock Circuit
2. Ponkapoag Pond Walking Trail
3. Photo of the Week: 8-28-09

Today we decided to try out a new trail about 30 minutes from Quincy in Weymouth.  The trail is part of the Trustees of Reservations.  There are several entrances to this land, but we chose the Turkey Hill entrance due to its proximity to route 3A.  We parked in the small dirt lot that was only occupied by three other cars.  Erin decided to play around with the camera while I was getting the GPS and my bag ready which led to a series of random shots finishing with me ever so concentrated on configuring the my iPhone GPS to get a good signal.

As we entered the trail there we were greated by two older (60s) gentlemen leaving the trail in a very disshevled way.  Neither looked as though they had been prepared to end up in the woods when they left their house that day, but somehow it seems that was what their day turned into.  One of the men tripped over a succession of three differnt rocks as they made their way past us towards their car and all I could think was that whatever their purpose had been for being in the woods, I was pretty sure that mine was not the same.

The beginning of the trail was a well packed stone trail that curved its way up the side of the hill with 12ft wood boards laid out across the length of the trail to prevent erosion during the rain.  The trail then ends up in a large field with several paths cut into the three to four foot grass.  It is very quite and peaceful in the field and there are plenty of bird houses strew about to make for great bird watching as well as a pleasant symphony playful bird chatter.  The top of the hill, through the field, is a low grass patch that has a great view of Boston, the south shore, and out into the Atlantic.

As we left the field towards the other side of the hill we encountered a few cows just hanging out getting sum lunch and enjoying the weather much the same way we were.  I snapped a few pics of them and one of the cows seemed to stare at me with the same perplexity that someone eating in a restuarant would have if you took a picture of them while they were eating.  The other cows didn’t seem to care much that would soon be all over the internet.

As we left our spotted friends we decended into a more woodsy part of the path that led us to another farm a little farther away that had goats.  The goats didn’t seem to care at  all that I wanted to get a picture of them and simply went about his business.  From here on out the trail got a bit more woodsy and we found out selves moving at a very slow pace stepping of pricker bushes and getting attacked by spider strings, you know the things they leave behind as the travel from one tree to the next in the air.  We eventually made our way back to the field were we had a picnic with a great view of Boston.

I highly recommend this trail for a nice leisurely hike with great views of Boston.  On my scale I give it a 7 out 10.  You can follow my GPS track here and my flickr stream on the right.  Also my web page where I host all my art photos for sale here.

Related posts:

1. Ponkapoag Pond Walking Trail
2. Photo of the Week 6-19-2009
3. Middlesex Fells Reservation