Little Blue Hill Area (Blue Hills Reservation)
Hike Type: Spaghetti Loop
Distance: 4.80 miles
Elevation: 427 feet
Time: 1 hour, 55 minutes
Hiking Challenges: Blue Hills 125-Mile Challenge (2nd Round); Blue Hills Grid
Hiking Challenges: Blue Hills 125-Mile Challenge (2nd Round); Blue Hills Grid
The Hike
My body was a little tired from yesterday's jaunt, so I decided to hit a section that I haven't been to in a while - Little Blue Hill! I made my way down after school, parking in the weird park and ride off of MA-138, and got started soon after! The goal was more or less to get all the trails in the section between Green Street and MA-138. The biggest challenge was getting onto the correct trail, espectially between Little Blue and 138. I immediately took the wrong trail from the parking lot and ended up almost walking into a man standing and staring into the void... I made my way back and followed AllTrails to hit the correct path, and continued on!
It was warm in the high 40s with rolling clouds - it had clearly rained earlier but it was lovely to see sun and blue skies. The spur trail off of 6877 was a little strange - blocked by a blowdown, there was a sign that read "TRAIL <-", and it seemed to skirt past someone's yard and terminate at a driveway. Continuing on around the Cosmos Path I crossed two unmapped trails up Little Blue on the left, one with another "TRAIL" sign. There were some beautiful greens and teals on the pine trees around the Moulton Path/Cosmos Path junction, and I was delighted to see the field that the Cosmos Path crosses over was mowed (versus 2ft high grasses from last time I was over here).
After crossing the field that may have doubled as a dog park (?), there were on and off showers, but nothing too drastic. I continued along and passed one other hiker, and then it started to rain rain. I took shelter next to a tree and then basically tree hopped with my camera in my sweatshirt. Thankfully it wasn't too cold out. I went back and forth debating whether or not to cut my hike short, and just as I was deciding to call it, it started to hail for at least 3 minutes. Thankfully it was the pretty small pellet type of hail, and not the kind that stings. Once that passed I finished up my Cosmos Path semi-loop, and decided I'd keep moving along with my hike, which was the right choice! The weather was great for the rest of the afternoon.
I hit the short, steep climb up to the ridge of Little Blue and back down again, and then hiked the Skyline Trail to Green Street and back. I passed the same guy from before a couple more times before we parted ways, and I noticed a significant temperature drop after the rain. Now on the K Path, I was enjoying the gentle terrain and the sea of green prickers, while walking slowly to keep distance between a couple that was now in front of me with their unleashed dog. They ended up going in a different direction, which was welcomed by me, but their dog did growl at me for no good reason. Leash your dogs.
Finally making my way toward the top, I first found the Hemenway Bench that likely had a lovely view years ago, and then followed the trail up to the summit of Little Blue Hill, where there is a lovely open space with a slightly obstructed view of Great Blue Hill, and just a smidge of graffiti. There are a TON of unmapped trails up here, enough where I was able to get lost twice and then follow a third herd path back to the actual trail. Some blazing would be nice up here. I worked my way down via the mapped trail and then took the spur off of 6896, which was effectively not a trail. Someone tied orange flagging tape to mark a path, but without it would be fully undiscernable. About halfway down a small footbed appeared, and the trail ends at another network of unmapped trails in a restoration area which I have since dubbed "the land of 1,000 condoms," unfortunately. Some funny business happens in these woods - there were at least 5 wrappers I walked past and two used ones on the ground... How do they even achieve this? The parking lot closes at 8, so maybe its a cold weather activity when the sun sets earlier? A myster for sure!
The final stretch of the hike is hitting the remaining bits of the Skyline Trail. The section going up Little Blue was steep, and the section leading to 138 was nasty, but now they're done! I had to work hard to find the correct trail leading to the parking lot, but I managed and made it out alive! A weird afternoon in the woods, but still glad I made it out.
Step-By-Step
- Park at Park and Ride on MA-138.
- Start hike along Cosmos Path, try to stay on path and avoid unmapped trails.
- At 6877, hike out and back along trail.
- At 6877, turn right back onto Cosmos Path.
- Hike to 6680, then backtrack and continue on Cosmos Path.
- At 6650, hike spur to row and continue on Cosmos Path.
- At 6850, turn right onto K Path.
- At terminus, turn around.
- At 6800, turn right onto Skyline Trail.
- At 6896, turn around.
- At 6600, turn around.
- At 6800, turn left onto K Path.
- At 6670, turn right onto Cosmos Path.
- At 6830, turn right onto Moulton Path.
- At 6891, turn around.
- At 6880, turn right into woods and hike trail to Little Blue Hill.
- At summit, turn around and follow mapped trail to 6896.
- At 6896, follow orange flagging tape onto unclear trail.
- At terminus, follow unmapped trails to the Skyline Trail.
- Turn left onto Skyline Trail.
- At 6896, turn around.
- At MA-138, turn around.
- At next mapped junction, turn right and return to car.
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