Ponkapoag East, Hemlock Road, Randolph Path (Blue Hills Reservation)

Ponkapoag East, Hemlock Road, Randolph Path (Blue Hills Reservation)

Hike Type: Spaghetti Loop

Distance: 8.03 miles

Elevation: 420 feet

My Time: 2 hours, 18 minutes

Book Time: 4 hours, 13 minutes

Parking: At Donovan Elementary School (weekends).
Hiking Challenges: 52 Hike Challenge 2026; Trail Trace the Blue Hills

The Hike 

I feel like we keep having rainy weekends! I didn't get out hiking yesterady due to... RAIN, and I had plans today with Christien in the afternoon, so my only window was a morning in the Blue Hills. Thankfully, I still had one more medium-big section left of my map, so off to Randolph I go! It always feels strange going to Randolph, since I used to work there. I parked at the Donovan school, booted up at the car, and was on my hike! It was a cool 54-degree morning full of wet plants and clouds overhead. I threw some bug spray on (the first of the year!) just in case I caught any ticks. I also needed a few hanging chads on the main Ponkapoag side, but wasn't going to get married to that idea - one thing at a time!

My hike started on Meadow Road and then on an unmapped connector and then unnamed trail, both of which had plenty of horse poop. I hiked the unique trails around the Ladybug Trail, Sumner Path, Cranberry Circle, and Coolidge Path (and fought for my life to stay on the correct trail, as there's a bunch of random paths), did NOT spook a deer right off of the trail, and then worked my way over to the old ballfields. There was SO MUCH horse poop.

To no surprise, Pasture Road was muddy. Not super wet-wet, but very muddy. The slippery kind of mud that you don't expect, and suddenly you're mudsliding three feet ahead. I turned onto the first unnamed trail at 5424 and noticed that this area was recently burned! According to Facebook, just a few days ago, which made sense since the smell was pungent. I was sweating from the humidity (and probably from dodging poop), and loopty-looped my way around this area, running into another deer at the footpath end of Pasture Road! There was also some impressive Japanese Knotweed.

Once I survived, I returned to Pasture Road and made my way to the Pequimmit Trail, following muddy deer tracks on the way. Pequimmit Trail was nice and dry and bisected another unmapped trail on the way to the Pipe Line. I passed some young tent catepillars and started a long figure-8 loop, turning left onto the Pipe Line, hiking the triangle at the base of the horse bridge, and then continuing onto the Wannamanhut Path. The sun would poke through occasionally, followed by another patch of darker clouds. The trail came near Route 24, and when it ended, I turned left onto Middle Road, which came to a hole in the fence SUPER close to 24. Spooky! I turned around here, crossed the Pipe Line, and continued onto the main part of Middle Road, which had a few criss-crossing trails not on the map. One day I WILL explore the Nike area, but not today.

I crossed Middle Street and continued onto an unmapped footpath. When it terminated, I turned onto the seldom-used eastern spur of Smith Trail, which gently rose and steeply dropped to some private property at an impressive rock (I almost fell down the steep drop, oops). I turned around, hiked to the Pipe Line, hiked the Pipe Line to I-93, and then turned around and hiked the full Pipe Line all the way to MA-24. Naturally, the last bit after the horse bridge entrance was the worst, but it wasn't unbearable, at least?

After my grassy excursion, I did push onto the main Ponkapoag area, where I only needed a few trails (including another bad stretch of the Pipe Line). I crossed the horse bridge, hiked Vose Path (both branches), and then continued along Hemlock Road. Just before the Pipe Line junction, there was a comically deep... dry? mud pit? Like it wasn't dirt, but it also wasn't sopping wet. Weird. I hit the stretch of Pipe Line towards 24, then the rest of Hemlock Road, across a little stream, to the road, back across the little stream, into the little stream (oops), and then I turned left to finish out the Pipe Line, which was slippery and muddy and wet (and stinky?). In my insanity, I started to conjure up a silly route called the "Pipe Line Traverse," which would either require extensive backtracking to avoid 24/93 or painful road walks.

Thankfully, life got better after the Pipe Line was done. I turned to hike near the AMC Camps and then onto Randolph Path, hitting two spurs I needed, then I returned across the horse bridge and back onto Meadow Road. I watched a little red squirrel chase a massive grey squirrel, which brought joy, almost got run over by a mountain biker, and then was back at my car! 

Now I only have four little and one medium section left: the Field Path area, the Brookwood Farm area, the Blue Hills Reservoir, the Braintree Triangle, and of course, the Quincy Quarries. Almost there!

Step-by-Step

- Park at Donovan Elementary School and start hike by entering woods and turning left onto Meadow Road.

- At Reed St., turn right onto unmapped path.

- At terminus, turn left onto path.

- At Reed St., turn around.

- At jct., turn left onto Ladybug Trail.

- At someone's back yard, turn around.

- At jct., turn left.

- At terminus, continue left onto Meadow Road.

- Hike network of trails with Sumner Path, Coolidge Path, Cranberry Circle, etc., then continue left on Meadow Road.

- At 5414, turn right onto Pasture Road.

- At 5424, turn right.

- At terminus, turn left.

- Follow to Pasture Road, then turn right.

- At turn, continue left onto Pasture Road, now a footpath.

- At 5440, turn around.

- At jct., turn left.

- At jct. at ballfield, turn right.

- At jct., turn right.

- At terminus, turn left onto Pasture Road.

- At 5423, turn right onto Pequimmit Trail.

- At 5421, turn left onto Pipe Line.

- Hike triangle at 5413, then turn onto Wannamanhut Path.

- At 5422, turn left onto Middle Road.

- At break in fence turn around, cross Pipe Line, and continue onto Middle Road.

- Cross Middle Street, continue onto unmapped foot path.

- At terminus, turn left onto Smith Trail.

- At terminus, turn around.

- At 5425, turn right onto Pipe Line.

- At terminus, turn around.

- At 5413, continue straight on Pipe Line.

- At MA-24, turn around.

- At 5413, turn left onto Randolph Path.

- Before 5401, hike large triangle at Vose Path, then continue south on Hemlock Road.

- At 5395, turn left onto Pipe Line.

- At terminus, turn around.

- At 5395, turn left onto Hemlock Road.

- At terminus, turn around.

- At 5395, turn left onto Pipe Line.

- At 5355, turn right onto Swamp Path (green).

- At 5360, turn right onto Randolph Path.

- At jct., hit spur to Ponkapoag Path, then continue.

- At 5401, turn left onto Hemlock Road.

- At 5362, turn around.

- At 5401, turn left onto Randolph Path.

- At 5413, veer right onto Meadow Road.

- Follow Meadow Road to car.

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