Nahanton Hill, Reservoir, Sassaman Notch Path (Blue Hills Reservation)
Hike Type: Lollipop Loop w/ Lollipop Spur
Distance: 4.17 miles
Elevation: 522 feet
My Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Book Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes moving
Parking: At Chickatawbut Overlook.
Hiking Challenges: Trail Trace the Blue Hills
Hiking Challenges: Trail Trace the Blue Hills
The Hike
"Heavier than usual traffic on your route" - Google Maps, again.
I was going back and forth on getting a hike in on this Wednesday afternoon. Traffic was abhorrent and I was already getting out late, but I rallied. It was going to be the last nice day until the weekend and I knew I'd feel better if I sucked it up. I made it to the Chickatawbut Overlook trailhead at 4:20pm (horrible). Thankfully, it was a nice partly sunny day at 67 degrees with a breeze - could be worse. The main objective for the day was the Blue Hills Reservoir, one of my three last sections - anything else would be a bonus - off I go!
As a gace of god, my mood was turned around 2 minutes into my hike when I heard the beautiful song of a Baltimore Oriole (thank you, Merlin)! I hiked the Tower Path over to the rock stairs on the back side of Nahanton Hill - I was determined to see a view! The blueberry and other bushes were starting to bloom, which made for a very scenic mini climb. My legs were feeling a bit tired from my first leg day in like six-ish weeks (and it was a weak leg day at that), so I was moving slow and steady.
The view from Nahanton showed hazy clouds north of Boston with mostly blue skies south - fun to see! I made it down and up the first Broken Hill, which is always a favorite of mine. The tent catepillars were also loving the first Broken Hill. The swamp between #1 and #1.5 was fully dried up, and just after I turned left onto the Squamaug Notch Path, which had even more tent catepillars and some red columbine flowers that I had never seen before (thank you, Seek!). I turned onto the Ridge Path and then started my loop around the Reservoir.
The path around the Reservoir that follows Chickatawbut Road was actually in great shape - I feel like my legs usually get tickled the entire time, but I had no tickling to speak of! There were a couple of fishermen on the wooded side along with what I believe to be a Great Egret. It was windy on this loop, but all nice.
The egret flew away as I got closer, naturally. I walked along the dandelion-lined path parallel to the woods, hiked the penninsula (the reeds that usually block the way were flattened - maybe from this year's snow?), and passed the two fishermen, who seem to have become friends! I then worked my way back to Squamaug Notch and the Skyline Trail to finish out the Broken Hills.
I hiked the Pocapawmet and Wampatuck Paths, landing on the Curve Path. The swamp that the Curve Path follows had some wildlife commotion going on, but I was not planning on finding out what it was! I decided to make my return via the Sassaman Notch Path, which is a really pretty old road. It makes it fun to imagine what life was like when it was an actual road proper. The path was a bit of a slog after a while, but eventually I was back in the notch, passing the tower, and back to my car!
Upon plugging this hike into my spreadsheets, I found that this was my 200th hike in the Blue Hills! How fun!
Step-by-Step
- Park at Chickatawbut Overlook.
- Start hike on Tower Path (yellow dots).
- At tower, turn left on Tower Path (yellow dots).
- At terminus, continue onto unnamed path up Nahanton Hill.
- At split, turn left.
- At 3103, continue onto Skyline Trail eastbound (blue rectangles).
- At 3144, turn left onto Squamaug Notch Path.
- At 3131, turn right onto Ridge Path.
- At Chickatawbut Road, turn right.
- Continue on path along road, hike around reservoir clockwise.
- Return to Ridge Path.
- Turnleft onto Ridge Path.
- At 3131, turn left onto Squamaug Notch Path.
- At 3144, turn left onto Skyline Trail (blue rectangles).
- Before Chickatawbut Road, turn right onto unmapped Pocapawmet Path.
- At terminus, turn right onto Wampatuck Path.
- At 3153, turn right onto Curve Path.
- At 3135, turn right onto Sassaman Notch Path (red dots).
- Follow Sassaman Notch Path past the turn of red dots, turn left onto Tower Path (yellow dots).
- Return to car.
Photo Album
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