Blue Hills Western Skyline Loop

Hike: West Skyline Tail Loop
Location: Blue Hills Reservation
Nearby Town: Milton, MA
Elevation (Max): 635'
Elevation Gained: ~680
Mileage: 2.5 miles
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate (steep climb to Great Blue Hill summit)
Trailhead: Take Exit 3 off I-93, Head N on Blue Hill River Rd, Turn R on Hillside St, 2 Parking Lots on R, Trailhead near Park HQ
Website: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/metroboston/blue.htm

I went to college outside Boston, so the Blue Hills Reservation was a go-to hike. This 7,000 acre park, a collection of 22 big hills (up to 635') just outside Boston overlooking the city and the harbor, is a real treasure for the people in the Boston metro area. My hiking partner, E, and I would head out here for a hike whenever we had the time and good weather. There are numerous trails in the park, but the main trail, and most ambitious, is the Skyline Trail. The Skyline Trail traverses the park on an east-west orientation for a distance of 9 miles.

This hike heads up into the woods from Hillside St. near the Reservation HQ. The trail is a 2.5 mile loop on the western section of the Skyline Trail that hits the following hills, in order: Houghton Hill, Great Blue Hill, Wolcott Hill, Hemenway Hill, and Hancock Hill. These trails are very well marked using a numbered intersection system to keep you from getting lost, or, if you do, to set you straight quickly. E and I went on this hike on a warm day in early May. The main drawback of Blue Hills is that, due to its location within the Boston metro area, it can become overcrowded, especially on the first warm days of spring.

We made pretty quick work of the hike with a brief stop on the summit of Great Blue Hill where there is a firetower that provides great panoramic views of Boston to the north, the harbor and islands to the east, and, on a clear day, Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire to the northwest. We also stopped in at the weather observatory where we picked up some granola bars. There are also bathrooms at the observatory. On the summits of each hill we took in the views, and especially enjoyed the dramatic color gradation between the dark green conifers and the light green of the newly sprouting deciduous leaves. After the hike, as was our Blue Hills post-hike tradition, we got Indian take-out from Minerva Indian Cuisine in Norwood. Below are some pictures from the outing.
Boston Skyline from Great Blue Hill firetower

Light/dark green Great Blue Hill from Wolcott Hill