Trailside Museum to Buck Hill via Red-Dot and Skyline (Blue Hills Reservation)
Distance: 9.3 miles
Elevation: 1962 feet
Time: 4 hours, 5 minutes
Hiking Challenges: 52 Hike Challenge; Blue Hills 125-Mile Challenge.2
Time to officially start my second round of the 125-mile challenge! I really enjoyed the first round (even the annoying parts), and now I'm really looking forward for round two to connect the dots between different hikes I've done and deepen my knowledge of these trails. I have some big hikes planned in the next few weeks, and for all of July, so I wanted to use this day as a bit of a training hike. The plan was to do a loop I knew well, Trailside Museum to Buck Hill, and possibly add a few side trails that I either enjoyed or wanted to get out of the way early. During this hike, I also decided I'm going to do a scavenger hunt for all of the stone trail makers throughout the park.
I parked on the Wolcott Path side of the Trailside Museum to hike the trail behind the museum, which was a little tricky to find (it looks like the main entrance to the trail was washed out. Then, it was time to climb up the south side of the red-dot trail up to Big Blue - a trail that I have spent MANY days on. I passed a couple smoking their cigarettes on this trail, which was very irritating, and turned out to be a way to foreshadow the upcoming hike. A few steep moments, but it's a short trail so never too bad. At the top, I climbed up the Eliot Tower, admired the new picnic benches, and then continued my journey down the Skyline Trail North. I noticed how different the trail looked, since the last time I was there was during the winter and spring. Then, I noticed how drastically different some sections were, but not because of the seasons, but the recent wildfires! It was eerily beautiful. One side of the trail was lush and green, and the other side was orange and charred. Some sections still had the smoky scent, mostly between Wolcott Hill and 1141.
I remembered the trail cutting the corner around the skyline trail at 1170 being hard to find, so I planned to hike it, and didn't find it again. Next time! I did decide to take the trail over Hancock Hill (again) just because of how rugged and beautiful it is. I'm still not sure which of the paths is the actual trail, BUT I successfully made it down this time! From the main panoramic view, I skired to the left a little and saw a cairn. From there, it still wasn't wildly clear which way was correct, but there appeared to be old paint on some rocks, so I followed those and made it back to the trail in a way that felt mildly correct! Big day. I followed the Hancock Hill Path back to skyline and made my way down to Park Headquarters, where I met one of the nastiest porta potties.
I crossed the busy road and continued on my way! The Skyline Trail here is less overcrowded, but still gets its fair share of use. A few steep climbs, an always annoying scramble down Tucker Hill, attempting to hike the weird unblazed/unrecognizable path that skirts near the "S" of "South Boyce" on the map, a giant rock on North Boyce, and then I was atop the beautiful Buck Hill! I am never not amazed at the views from Buck Hill. The ocean to the west, the other hills and mountains to the east, Boston to the north, and the flat south shore to the south. Just breathtaking! I took a snack break here and took too many photos, as per usual.
The return trip started back on the Skyline Trail heading down Buck Hill, turning on Buck Hill Path at 2181, and then joining the red-dot trail at 2183 towards Houghton's Pond. The south side of Buck Hill was another recently burnt section, which imposed the same feelings of sadness and awe. I reminded myself that the fires are okay and they're a part of the forest, but I can't help but get frustrated how humans are almost always the unintentional cause. This part of the hike was generally easy-going and uneventful until I ran into a MASSIVE group of hikers between 2094 and 2071. They were kind and tried to move out of the way, but it was a narrow area, so it was interesting trying to dodge human contact. Once I landed at Houghton's Pond, I took the paved loop back to where the Skyline Trail crosses Hillside Street, and then made my way to the Skyline Trail South.
The Skyline Trail South was its usual steep self. I hardly saw any other people due to it being 7:00pm on a weekday, which was lovely. I uneventfully made it back to the top of Great Blue Hill, took the Eliot Circle clockwise, and started the final stretch of my hike on red-dot/Racoon Hollow Path back down the hill. This spring has been so dry that the usual swampy areas were nearly bone dry, which was eerie but welcomed. When the red-dot trail hits the Summit Road, I followed the road to the water tower, and then hiked some of the criss-crossing trails back to the parking lot. I was tired by the end of this, but so happy to have made it out into the Blue Hills!
Stone Trail Markers
- 1033: El. 635 Great Blue Hill 0.9 mi
- 1055: Observation Tower
- 1063: No. Skyline Trail
- 1186: Wolcott Path
- Hillside St/Skyline/Bugbee: Skyline Trail
- Hillside St/Skyline/Bugbee: Bugbee Path
- Hillside St/Skyline South: So. Skyline Trail
- 1066: So. Skyline Trail
- 1030: Skyline trail
- 1050: Observation Tower
- Between 1055/1063: Raccoon Hollow Path
- MA-138/Summit Road: El. 635 Great Blue Hill
Step-By-Step
- Park at Wolcott Path parking lot.
- Start hike at 1033 on green-dot Wolcott Path.
- Veer right, cross creek bed, and hike path that goes around the Trailside Museum (unclear).
- Hike past the Abigail Adams kiosk and the the red-dot south trail towards 1051.
- Just before 1051 and the road, turn right to see views over ski slopes.
- Return to 1051 and continue climbing on red-dot trail to the Eliot Tower.
- Take Skyline Trail North to Hancock Hill, following the well-blazed trail.
- Climb the hill after 1070 and then take the unblazed (and at times unclear) trail over the ridge of Hancock Hill. (Generally, when given an option, stay left).
- Enjoy the views!
- To descend from the clearest panoramic view, skirt slightly to the left until you see a rock cairn. This, paired with old spraypaint, will lead you back down the Hancock Hill path.
- Turn right onto the Hancock Hill Path.
- At 1172, turn left to re-join the Skyline Trail.
- At Park Headquarters, continue onto the Skyline Trail/Bugbee Path.
- At 2054, continue on Skyline Trail to summit of Buck Hill, attempting the unblazed/unnamed/barely recognizably side path west of Boyce Hill.
- Continue to summit of Buck Hill and 2181 on the Skyline Trail.
- At 2181, turn right onto Buck Hill Path.
- At 2183, turn right onto red-dot trail, follow blazes until 2053 at Houghton's Pond.
- Follow gravel road and then paved road back to Bugbee Path and then the Skyline Trail heading to Park Headquarters.
- Cross Hillside Street again and hike towards Skyline Trail South.
- Follow Skyline Trail South to the summit of Great Blue Hill.
- Take Eliot Circle trail clockwise.
- Take red-dot/Racoon Hollow Path down, following blazes.
- At intersection with Summit Road, follow Summit Road down.
- At the water tower, hike the path to the water tower, and then the wide path towards the parking lot, but continue straight through Wolcott Trail back to the auto road, and finally take the path from the beginning of the road to the parking lot.
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