Fowl Meadow & Swamp Path (Blue Hills Reservation)
Hike Type: Loop
Distance: 5.96 miles
Elevation: 82 feet
Time: 2 hours, 12 minutes
Hiking Challenges: Trail Trace the Blue Hills
Hiking Challenges: Trail Trace the Blue Hills
The Hike
Time for a Blue Hills hike with Sarah, the first in a while! I'm working medium-hard on completing my three-season tracing map, so I proposed a relatively flat hike at Fowl Meadow, and Sarah was on board! We met at the Burma Road trailhead around 3:45pm, about 30 seconds apart from each other. It was an obnoxiously warm 80 degree April afternoon and we were SWEATY from the start. We got right to work hitting the various paths around the parking area and then started a long walk down Burma Road.
Birds were chirping and flying around the reeds as we walked in and over the footbridge. The path was starting to grow with greener grasses, but still unproblematic. I was HYPERvigilant about ticks the whole time. We caught up about hiking, skiing, various life events, and eventually made our way onto the Fowl Meadow Path (one of my favorites - a bit more narrow than Burma Road lined with tall trees) and hiked the little spur former trail at 6009 (I did not notice the usual weird items in the woods - maybe they were removed by humans or water?). We came to the terminus and Sarah went "IS THAT THE TRAIL?!," staring directly at the Neponset River, and I happily reassured her that it was not, and we had to turn onto the Indian Path.
The Indian Path was drier than expected and a little more grown-in than expected. The first "crossing" was just a pit of mud, which was truly a wonderful sign for the rest! The Neponset River Gague listed 8ft, which is below the benchmark level for water-on-trail of 9ft. On the trail, we followed the meandering path for what felt like a long time, hiking over three piles of deer poop and getting passed by two Acela and two MBTA Commuter Rail trains. We even saw a turtle! It would really be a lovely hike if it was better maintained! We turned back onto Burma Road, signed by some flagging, and then finished up the tail end of Burma Road (naturally I yapped about how this was all going to be I-95, roughly). I almost stepped on a garder snake, which sent me at least 30 feet into the air!
To be kind to future me, I also proposed we hit the little loop off of the Swamp Trail, and thankfully Sarah is down for a nice little lackluster hike! The footbridge on Fowl Meadow Path was back where it was supposed to be (last time I was here it was washed down a few feet) and I noticed some large bird houses on top of shiny metal sheets wrapped around a few trees in the swamp proper... interesting!
We squished past the always-flooded stretch and continued through the area that has been absolutely enveloped in what I assume are invasive vines. We saw a car door? I always wonder if the weird stuff in this area 1) has just been dumped here, 2) has been washed-in from floods, or 3) are leftovers from when the state took this land to build 95? A mystery!
We made our way onto Green Hill Path and hiked towards Field Path, and then back towards the spur on 6106. We then followed the Green Hill Path out to the unmapped trails that connect back to Fowl Meadow Path. We were swatting bugs! By far the biggest bummer of spring...
Back on Burma Road, we had a nice long walk out, past a toad, and soon enough were back at the car with another hike in the books!
Step-by-Step
- Park at Burma Road parking.
- Hike paths around parking area, then start hike on Burma Road spur.
- At end of spur, continue onto Burma Road.
- At jct., turn left onto spur to Brush Hill Road.
- At Brush Hill Road, turn around and turn left to continue on Burma Road.
- At 6005, turn right onto Fowl Meadow Path.
- At 6009 (not on map), turn left onto path.
- At large tree, turn around.
- At 6009, turn left onto Fowl Meadow Path.
- At terminus, turn left onto Indian Path.
- At terminus, turn right onto Burma Road.
- At terminus, turn around.
- At 6005, turn right onto Fowl Meadow Path.
- At jct., turn right onto Swamp Trail.
- At 6105, turn right onto Green Hill Path.
- At 6104, turn around.
- At 6106, turn right to hike path.
- At height-of-land, turn around
- At 6106, turn right onto Green Hill Path.
- Follow trail outside of Blue Hills Reservation, turn left at every jct.
- Continue onto Fowl Meadow Path.
- At 6005, turn right onto Burma Road.
- Follow Burma Road to car.
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