Braintree Traingle (Blue Hills Reservation)

Braintree Triangle (Blue Hills Reservation)

Hike Type: Out-and-Back; Lollipop Loop

Distance: 1.66 miles

Elevation: 39 feet

Time: 35 minutes
Hiking Challenges: Blue Hills Winter Trace

The Hike

Last day of winter! I know that I'm not going to finish the Winter Trace this season, but I figured I'd do my best to set future me up for success. I took a day off of work, and started the journey with a "warm up hike" around the Braintree Triangle (also known as Ponkapoag East). It was a chilly, breezy morning out here in no-mans land. Some of the water in the swamp was frozen and the muddier parts of the ground were nice and crunchy. The highway is very close, and I was constantly reminded of that as cars whipped by. 

The first part of the hike was an out-and-back along the Hemlock Path. There were at least three defined paralleling trails, so I did my best to guess which was correct! Near the highway, there are some ruins that may be old road or fence posts - its unclear. Some of the structures were similar to the barricade found on the other side of the highway, so maybe that's it. I couldn't stop thinking about how wild it was that they cut the Great Cedar Swamp in half with a whole interstate. 

Back at the beginning, I continued my hike along the paved Old Route 128, which was very featureless aside from the marshlands on either side. The trail gently gains minimal elevation, and near the end there are a few unmapped trails on either side. At 5611, I turned into the woods along the continuation of the Braintree Pass Path. The woods were nice an open here, and the old road was wide and soft with pine needles. The path terminates at I-93, and its hard to not imagine the world before the highway when the path connected to the other side. 

Now following the yellow-blazed loop, I continued left onto a much more rugged trail paralleling the highway, before turning left again and hiking over a ton of broken glass, which was interesting. It just isn't a place I expected to see so much broken glass. The return trip was quick, and the weather was finally starting to creep up. It went from 31 degrees to 41 degrees in the half hour I was out - and I was looking forward to a bit more later in the day. 

Step-By-Step

    - Start hike at parking area off of West St. in Braintree (5620)

    - Hike along the Hemlock Path out-and-back.

    - Back at 5620, turn right onto Old Route 128.

    - At 5611, turn right into woods onto Braintree Pass Path.

    - At 5610, turn left onto Winnemoiset Path.

    - At 5600, turn left onto dirt portion of Old Route 128.

    - Continue onto paved section of Old Route 128.

    - Walk to car.

Blue Hills Reservation Map

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