Our Blog
Forest Bathing in the Blue Hills
Forest Bathing Saturday, July 27 in the morning (register for time and place) While your senses are always active when you hike in the Blue Hills, you may experience the Blue Hills a little differently with this program. As a special thank you to our members, Friends...
Special Meeting on By-laws
Special Meeting to Approve Change in Our By-Laws The Friends of the Blue Hills Board of Trustees has proposed a number of changes to the organization’s by-laws.  Click for our proposed by-laws. Our current by-laws require that members vote to approve the changes. ...
Blue Hills Engagement
James Walsh proposed to Alysha on top of Great Blue. Spoiler alert... she said yes!
Blue Hills Proposal
Daylight savings March 13, 2016, he proposed while hiking the white dot trail. September 16, 2017 we were married. November 26, 2018 we welcomed our daughter Wren, named in honor of my husband’s love for nature and birds. #bluehillslovestory (Unfortunately, I can’t...
A Life Changing Day
A beautiful fall day in October of 2001, I woke up to what would be a life changing day! My now husband had planned to propose in the Blue Hills, and he designed a day-long scavenger hunt throughout the Blue Hills, that involved poems he wrote as clues for each...
We’re turning 40… and there will be lots of fun!
Friends of the Blue Hills is turning 40 years old... and you're invited to celebrate 40 years of protecting the Blue Hills with us all year long! We hope you'll celebrate with us at these upcoming activities and events... Download the 40 'must see' Blue Hills...
Friends Find 40 Photo Scavenger Hunt
Celebrate 40 years of protecting the Blue Hills with a chance to win a $250 gift certificate and by exploring the Blue Hills! How well do you know the Blue Hills? Here’s your opportunity to really explore this fantastic natural treasure...
The Blue Hills Holiday Shopping List
Holiday shopping can be hard, but this list makes it easy. Microspikes— ice is slippery and can be a nuisance, especially in the harsh New England winters (and late falls.. and early springs). Microspikes (or nanospikes) provide extra traction and can comfortably slip...
Six Tips for Surviving & Thriving While Winter Hiking
Winter hiking can be intimidating. When temperatures get colder, days get shorter, and the snow falls, it can be hard to get motivated to get hiking and visit nature. One way to reduce this stress is to make sure that you are prepared and equipped for the elements....
#OptOutside Hike for Black Friday
#OptOutside Hike for Black Friday Friday November 23, 11:00 am Meet at the Blue Hills Trailside Museum north parking lot The Friends of the Blue Hills has joined up with REI’s #OptOutside campaign on Black Friday Hike series to encourage people to enjoy the outdoors...
Clues to the rock-solid businesses of history
On A-Live, join Director Judy Lehrer Jacobs and Al Bina on a small tour through time, uncovering the industrious history of the quarrying business in the Blue Hills. Learn about the transition that rock made from raw material into ready-to-build solid rock, to be...
The Blue Hills as a Trail Runners’ Playground
When we are born, we first learn to sit up. Then eventually we move about on all fours, crawling from spot to spot. Next we practice standing and taking our first steps, learning to walk and falling occasionally, but always getting back up. Then we master walking,...
Blue Hills A-Live, a historic weather observatory
Imagine having continuous, homogeneous weather data from over 100 years. What trends and changes could we notice? What amazing storms would we be able to track? What innovations in weather measurement and data analysis would we witness? The Blue Hills Observatory has...
Blue Hills A-Live, discovering trees with Laura Beebe
Trees play an important role in our ecosystems. They provide shelter and food for many species, they dull noise from industry and traffic, and they convert carbon dioxide to oxygen! Learn in this episode of Blue Hills A-Live how trees act as important buffers in the...
DCR Approves 2018 Deer Management Plan for Blue Hills State Reservation
The following is the press release from the Department of Conservation. For more information about the management plan visit the DCR website. DCR Approves 2018 Deer Management Plan for Blue Hills State Reservation BOSTON – The Department of Conservation and...
Disappearing trees in the Blue Hills and around
Although it may seem like there are a lot of trees (especially in the Blue Hills!), we're actually losing trees... and as Laura Beebe describes, that is a problem that is rather difficult to solve. Learn about the important and surprising roles that trees play-- from...
A Runner’s Playground
We all love a good day on the trails hiking, but have you ever thought about picking up the pace and going for a run on the trails? On Blue Hills A-Live, trail runner Tess Harvey tells us why the Blue Hills are great for trail running, the benefits of taking your run...
What’s bugging them? Discover threats to insects!
The Blue Hills are alive in many ways. We hear birds sing, see animal prints in the mud, and smell the beautiful flowers (and sneeze from their pollen). There is also so much life crawling in the grass or flying around us--I'm talking about the insects! Bugs are an...
The changing ecology at Quincy Quarries
Rick Kesseli is back to talk about how human development can change the flora and fauna in an area. At Quincy Quarries, mankind has been changing the land for the past 200 years. Learn about the types of native and non-native species that reside there now and...
Hidden History at Lyon’s Turning Mill
Did you know that the northeastern-most part of the Blue Hills helped fuel a booming business that provided granite to many historic monuments and buildings? Just next door to the Blue Hills lies the amazing remains of the Lyon's Turning Mill. Explore the historic...
Rock climbing at Quincy Quarries
Check out this week's Blue Hills A-Live to learn about rock climbing in Quincy Quarries in the Blue Hills. Doug Martland from Eastern Mountain Sports tells us how to get started, identify good routes, and how to get climbing in Quincy Quarries!
Discovering what lies on top of the Blue Hills
In this week, on Blue Hills A-Live, we learn from Rick Kesseli about the plant life that survives on top of these Blue Hills. Next time you climb Great Blue, Buck, or Chickatawbut hill, be sure to not only take in the vast views but to observe the life right at your...
Carnivorous Plants in the Blue Hills
Let Emmi be your guide to these unusual, carnivorous Blue Hills plants on this week's Blue Hills A-Live!
Blue Hills A-Live: Meadow Habitat
There are some habitats that are filled with interesting species that rely on humans to be maintained. Learn about the species of birds and plants that exist in the meadow at Brookwood farm, how it is being maintained, what threatens these species, and more on Blue...