Blue Hills Reservation

Visitor parking is free at the Houghton's Pond parking lot.

Maps and information are available at park headquarters. (10 minute parking)

Attention Blue Hills Hikers,
Parking at the Donovan School parking lot located at 123 Reed Street in Randolph is strictly prohibited during school hours (7:00Am-3:00PM). This lot is only available to hikers during after school hours, weekends, and holidays. Alternate parking areas nearby (available during school hours) include Fisherman’s Beach near 1060 Randolph Street in Canton, Randolph Little League Fields on High Street.

Thank you for your cooperation. 

• Hiking
• Mountain biking
• Horseback riding
• Camping
• Swimming
• Boating (non-motorized)
• Canoeing and kayaking
• Golfing
• Cross-country skiing
• Downhill skiing
• Rock climbing

• Athletic fields
• Educational programs
• Grills
• Historic sites
• Lifeguard
• Museum
• Observatory
• Pavilion 
• Picnic areas
• Restrooms
• Science center
• Visitor center

• Houghton’s Pond Recreation Area
  • Bathhouse and restrooms
  • Beach mat
  • Beach wheelchairs
  • Marigold Marsh interpretive boardwalk
  • Picnicking
  • Playground
  • Visitor center and restrooms
• Trailside Museum (operated in partnership with Mass Audubon)
• Paved hiking trails
  • Summit Road (0.9 miles one way. Steep: average slope of 9%, max slope of 20%)
  • Old Route 128 by Houghton's Pond (Dirt for first 100 yards. 1 mile one way. Flat: slopes under 5%)
  • Old Route 128 in Braintree off of West Street (Dirt for first 100 feet. 0.5 miles one way. Flat: slopes under 5%)

• Boats are only allowed on Ponkapoag Pond, Canton.
• Dogs must remain on-leash
• Dogs are not allowed on beach at Houghton Pond

Visit Houghton's Pond inside Blue Hills Reservation for some summer swimming and fishing activities!

Find park programs and events

Blue Hills Deer Management Program

Learn more...

About the Blue Hills

The Blue Hills were so named by early European explorers who, while sailing along the coastline, noticed the bluish hue on the slopes when viewed from a distance. More than ten thousand years before those Europeans arrived, Native Americans made their home in the hills. The Natives referred to themselves as Massachusett, or "people of the great hills". Eventually the Europeans began settling in this region. The colonists built houses and barns, cleared fields for crops and livestock and logged the hillsides for lumber.

In 1893, the Metropolitan Parks Commission purchased the lands of Blue Hills Reservation as one of the first areas set aside for public recreation. Today, the reservation is rich in both archaeological and historic resources. Sixteen historic structures listed on the National Register tell the fascinating tales of Native Americans, explorers, farmers, quarry workers and inventors. Additionally the Blue Hills Weather Observatory, a National Historic Landmark, sits atop Great Blue Hill, as a crowning feature.

The living treasures of the Blue Hills include flora, fauna and natural phenomena – from coyotes to copperheads, dogwoods to lady's slippers, and turkey vultures to dragonflies. Trails traverse upland and bottomland forests, marsh, swamp and pond edges, meadows and an Atlantic white cedar bog. A great variety of plant and animal life thrive in the diverse habitats, including several rare and endangered species in Massachusetts, such as the timber rattlesnake.

Blue Hills Planning Unit

Blue Hills Complex