Wilson Mtn Dedham MA, Tue. Aug. 6, 2013

[RoySwkr]

I was in Dedham MA on business and couldn't pass up the chance for a new peak. There is a small parking lot with kiosk next door to the Northeastern campus just over half a mile E of 128. The trail started off as a wide woods road and at each fork we took the shortest route to the summit. The trail switchbacks to the next ridge over then up ridge to minor cliff with rock steps which my associate declined to climb. At top is large rock bump to R which kid climbs so I do too, think maybe this is summit but see bump in woods ahead. Cross flattish area then ascend, trail in sort of gulch where park map shows highpoint to L but USGS map shows it to R where I bushwhack up overgrown ledges. Return same way to retrieve my associate instead of continuing around loop. The peak with this name in Colo may be tougher but I thought there was an impressive amount of rock scrambling for Dedham.

 

[iagreewithjamie]

Nice report. There are mountains to be hiked anywhere. At 213 acres, Wilson Mtn Reservation is the largest remaining open space in Dedham

 

[Amicus]

Elev. 292 feet. Thanks for this. Maybe because it isn't in the AMC Mass. Trail Guide or even among the numerous "other trails" mentioned on the Bay Circuit Trail website Descriptions, I'd never heard of this hiking destination, even though I could drive there in 30 minutes. Were there views?

 

[Sabra]

I have never been to the Wilson Mountain reservation but it sounds fun. There are other gems in that area of the south shore. Just about 10 miles down RT 128 there is the Blue Hills reservation (635 ft elevation), and on the other side of the 128 there is Ponkapoag pond (a beautiful 3.5 miles loop around the pond). The Fells, Halibut Point Park (Rockport, MA) and Wards reservation (Andover, MA) are the outlets we frequent north of Boston.

I hope I am not hijacking this thread, but any other small gems around Boston that others can recommend for a short walk?

 

[Amicus]

There are other gems in that area of the south shore. Just about 10 miles down RT 128 there is the Blue Hills reservation (635 ft elevation), and on the other side of the 128 there is Ponkapoag pond (a beautiful 3.5 miles loop around the pond). The Fells, Halibut Point Park (Rockport, MA) and Wards reservation (Andover, MA) are the outlets we frequent north of Boston.

I hope I am not hijacking this thread, but any other small gems around Boston that others can recommend for a short walk?

I've hiked the places you mentioned except Ponkapoag Pond. They are all well worth a walk but there are many others. To name a few of my favorites, nearly at random:

- World's End, in Hingham
- Cutler Park, in Dedham, Needham and Newton
- the new Emerson/Thoreau Amble in Concord, including the trails around Walden Pond
- Great Meadows NWR - Concord unit
- Breakheart Reservation, Saugus and Wakefield
- Lynn Woods
- Dogtown, with the "Babson Boulders," in Gloucester
- Maudslay State Park, Newburyport
- Crane Beach, Ipswich (but parking is expensive if you don't live in that town)
- Many of the AVIS Reservations in your own Andover, and for that matter, many stretches of the Bay Circuit Trail, which goes through several of those Reservations.

The AMC Mass. Trail Guide (9th Ed.) is a good resource. Even better are the Trail Descriptions for the 14 sections of the Bay Circuit Trail. These do much more than describe the BCT, as the last couple of pages of each give thumbnail sketches, with website references, for the other hiking resources available in the more than 50 cities and towns through which the BCT's 200+ miles pass.

 

[RoySwkr]

Apparently this was incorrectly posted on a trail conditions map as Mt Wilson VT.

On a per-foot basis, I think the MA peak may be tougher

Were there views?

What I considered to be the summit was pretty thickly wooded, needs a forest fire or a glacier. The first bump has some views in one direction. There may be some the other direction on the loop I didn't do.