Updated Blue Hills Maps

The DCR Blue Hills Reservation, in cooperation with the Trailside Museum Charitable Trust, is proud to present our newly revised trail map and guide. This map and guide printed September 2009 contains the latest official DCR trail and park information.

Please note, there are a few changes since the last printing in August 2008, including:

• Added red dot color-coded trail loop from Houghton’s Pond to Buck Hill
• Added yellow dot color-coded trail loop off West Street in Braintree
• Minor reroute of Skyline Trail around a wet area near Wildcat Notch to reduce trail erosion
• Removal of green dot loop color coding at Little Blue Hill

DCR strongly encourages all park visitors to upgrade to the new mapfor the latest trail improvements and official park information.

The new trail maps are for sale for $2 each at the DCR Blue Hills Reservation headquarters at 695 Hillside Street in Milton and at the Blue Hills Trailside Museum at 1904 Canton Avenue in Milton. Please contact Ranger Maggi Brown at 617-698-1802, ext. 213, if you have any questions or would like a complete list of 2009 edits.

In addition a free DCR Blue Hills Reservation profile brochure is also available, with general information about facilities and features within the reservation. The free Blue Hills profile brochure does not include a trail map but does show a locator map to key parking areas and other features in the park.

For additional DCR info please visit www.mass.gov/dcr

Hike Suggestions

In the Patriot Ledger, Wayne Westcott recommends the Blue Hills as a great place for hiking:

If you prefer a more challenging terrain without paved pathways, then I suggest a trip to the Blue Hills Reservation. You will find numerous trails for all levels of physical ability, carefully marked for beginning, intermediate and advanced hikers. The trails are dirt and rock, with an abundance of small to large obstacles on the tougher trails, which require attention to foot placement and a fair degree of fitness for successful navigation.

For the full article, click here. For other hike suggestions, visit our recommended hike page.

Houghton's Pond Construction

There's quite a bit of activity at Houghton's Pond, including some rerouting and detours around the pond. While the visitor center and restrooms are still open, the DCR has hired a contractor for $748,000 to upgrade the sewer system to the Houghton's Pond bath house.

Here's the details of the project:

The work to be done under this contract consists of the installation of a new sanitary sewer system for DCR’s Houghton’s Pond Bathhouse in Blue Hills Reservation, Milton, MA.

The work includes closure and disposal of existing subsurface sewage systems; supply and installation of a six inch diameter force main and a two inch diameter force main and sanitary sewer connections; supply and installation of a sewage ejection pump and chamber, supply and installation of electrical and other utilities.

The Contractor will carry out the work with two separate and complete installation crews. One crew will commence work at the end of the new 6” diameter force main on Hillside Street. The other crew shall commence work at the Bathhouse end of the new 6” diameter force main.

An existing 2 inch diameter sewer is located on Hillside Street. It conveys sewage from DCR’s Blue Hills Reservation offices and also from the State Police barracks. To maintain sewer service, the Contractor will lay by-pass piping and replace the 2 inch sewer. The new force main and new 2 inch sewer will be laid in the same trench.

To ensure that all work is completed before the beach season at Houghton’s Pond, the contractor will complete all the work by May 21, 2010.

Slower Winds for Wind Turbines

According to an article in the Patriot Ledger, the Blue Hill Observatory has documented that the average annual wind speed on Great Blue Hill has decreased 10% over the last three decades. The Observatory's Charles Orloff noted that this reflects a nationwide trend.

Not so promising for wind turbine projects, like the one proposed in Milton near the Granite Links Golf Club. Click here to view the full story.

Budget Cuts Breakdown

For a breakdown of all the budget cuts to state agencies that relate to the environment, visit this website.

Rep Ayers Scores High w/ Audubon

Since 1985, the Mass Audubon has issued the annual legislative report card to inform citizens of how their legislators are doing when it comes to protecting the environment.

Representative Bruce Ayers has scored above average with a cumulative grade of 96%. This score is based on Yes votes on key issues, including HB 5018 that promotes green job creations and clean energy technology through a new Massachusetts Alternative and Clean Energy Investment Trust Fund.

Sen Joyce Receives 'A' Award

Senator Brian A. Joyce received Mass Audubon’s ‘A’ Award at the organization’s 113annual meeting on Thursday, October 29. The award is given annually to an individual or organization that has furthered the cause of conservation and environmental protection or broadened public awareness to nature. Since 2000, Joyce, a long-time champion of environmental initiatives, has received 9 straight ‘A’ grades from Mass Audubon for his pro-environmental legislative record.

Senator Joyce has been instrumental in preserving and protecting open space in the City of Boston and throughout Norfolk, Bristol and Plymouth counties. Among the areas Joyce has worked to preserve and protect are Hellenic Hill at Jamaica Pond in Boston, along the Neponset River in Dorchester, Milton, and Mattapan, in the Hockomock Swamp region in Easton, Rattlesnake Hill in Sharon, and at Borderland State Park. He has been a fierce advocate for the 7,000 acre Blue Hills Reservation, and has helped add acreage to the Reservation during his time as a state senator. In 2002, Joyce secured legislation establishing a trust for the Blue Hills Reservation, which is overseen by the Department of Conservation and Recreation. This trust effectively ensures that all non-tax revenues generated by use of the Reservation be directed to improvements and maintenance of the Reservation, rather than to the State’s General Fund.

In addition to securing funding and assisting with land acquisitions, Senator Joyce has long been a champion of the Blue Hills Trailside Museum that is operated by Mass Audubon. The Trailside Museum provides an invaluable and unique opportunity for schoolchildren to learn about their natural environment and the various species with which they share that environment. Earlier this year, on the 50^th Anniversary of the Trailside Museum, Senator Joyce passed legislation naming the Chickatawbut Hill Education Center in the Blue Hills after long-time director and environmental advocate Norman Smith.

Senator Joyce is the only recipient of the award this year. Past winners include the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program: The BioMap Project, the Organization for the Assabet River, David Sibley, Alan French, and U.S. Senator John Kerry.

“I am delighted to receive this award from Mass Audubon, and wholeheartedly support their mission of protecting nature and providing environmental education and awareness for the citizens of Massachusetts,” said Senator Joyce.

“Senator Joyce has a well-deserved reputation for working hard on behalf of the communities he represents and the people he serves. And we are so fortunate that he has made the Blue Hills Trailside Museum a priority for many years now,” said Mass Audubon President Laura Johnson.