Yellow Triangle Loop w/ Houghton's Hill and Bartol Path (Blue Hills Reservation)

Yellow Triangle Loop w/ Houghton's Hill and Bartol Path (Blue Hills Reservation)

"Dear trees, please do not fall on me"

Distance: 6.76 miles
Elevation: 948 feet
Time: 2 hours, 32 minutes
Hiking Challenges: Blue Hills 125-Mile Challenge.2, 52 Hike Challenge

Hike Type: Messy Loop

The Hike

Finally back in the Blue Hills! After a long summer of hiking in NJ, Acadia, and a short moment in the Catskills and Adirondacks, the school year is in full effect and I'm getting back to my after-school hikes. Today's plan was the yellow-triangle loop plus anything else I wanted to grab on the way. I parked in the trailside museum parking lot, changed my clothes in my car, and got started!

The hike started at the kiosk for the green-dot loop, starting on the Wolcott Path. I soon left that trail, turning right at the first junction, to follow the wide path to the Summit Road. I walked up the Summit Road for a moment, and then turned back into the woods at 1072. The weather was absolutely lovely and it felt so good to be back in these woods. At 1085, I turned right to officially start the yellow-triangle loop on what is labeled as the Puddle Path. Really nice wide trail through the woods. 

 

I remember the last time I was in the Blue Hills there were a bunch of fires, and a lot of them were around the Skyline Trail, one specifically on Wolcott Hill, so I decided to do a mini loop over Wolcott Hill to check out how things have changed/regrown, and I was really amazed at how quickly things have grown back. Last time I hiked through this area, everything was charred and dead, but now there was plenty of green with some evidence of the burns. I also noticed that the swampy areas around Wolcott Hill were dry dry, which makes sense because of the drought. Either way, I did the mini loop and continued on by following the yellow triangles. 

 

The route is fairly level after crossing the Skyline Trail the first time, and then it leads to an intersection that feels like Times Square - 1141. From there, the yellow triangle route leaves the green dot route and travels down the Houghton Path - a gentle downhill. Curiously, the blazes deviate from the map near Hillside St. The blazes turn right at that last trail junction and ends closer to the stop sign with Blue Hill River Road. I landed here, then backtracked to where the map has the trail ending. The road was very busy at this point in the day, so instead of trying to cross I backtracked and hiked to 1151. 

 

I did a quick loop with 1151 to the road, road walked (where I walked past a large dead bird), then hiked back up to 1151 and up to Houghton Hill. I turned right, and then continued my hike to 1160, where I rejoined the yellow-triangle route. There was a clearing just before 1160 which I'm curious about - maybe it's there for trail maintenance vehicles? Really not sure. Doesn't seem like it's an old property as it isn't grown in yet. 

 

The Breakneck Ledge Path is a beautiful trail with the silhouette of Hancock Hill through the trees. At this point, the rest of the trail is very gentle. Chestnut Run Path slowly descends, and the Border Path was dark and moody, but still wide and gentle. I did hike the Bartol Path, which has a very unique charm to it. I tried to hike the Carberry Path, but it gets very overgrown very quickly. 

The rest of the hike was easy-peasy, and I actually started to feel a little chilly! I followed the Wolcott Path back to the car and started my drive home. It feels good to be back and I'm looking forward to continuing my second journey of hiking all the trails in the reservation!

Step-By-Step

• Start hike at Trailside Museum parking.
• Enter woods on green-blazed Wolcott Path.
• At un-numbered jct., turn right to follow wide path to Summit Road.
  
• Turn right onto Summit Road, then turn left at 1072.
• At 1085, turn right to start yellow-triangle loop.
• At 1103, turn right to follow blazes.
• At 1092, turn left for side trip mini loop over Wolcott Hill via Skyline Trail.
• At 1117, turn left.
• At end of trail, turn left again to rejoin yellow-triangle blazes at 1103.
• Continue to follow yellow-triangle blazes.
• After 1143, continue to follow blazes. At the last jct., the blazes do not match the map. I followed the blazes which led to the Racoon Hollow Path nearby.
• Turn around and hike towards 1151.
• Continue straight at 1151 towards road, road walk to Houghton Hill Path, hike up to 1156.
• Turn left at 1156 and hike to 1160 to rejoin yellow blazes. 
• Continue to follow yellow blazes through trail junctions.
• At 1135, turn right to hike Bartol Path. At terminus, turn around and rejoin yellow blazes. 
• At 1100, turn right to hike Carberry Path, but turn around when it gets too overgrown and rejoin yellow blazes.
• At 1085, follow green-blazed Wolcott Path back to car. 

Map of Blue Hills Reservation

Photo Album