Coalition for a Better Blue Hills to host inaugural BlueHillsFest

By Candace Paris

Blue Hills Reservation is a prominent feature of the greater Boston area. The Blue Hills Ski Area and the Mass Audubon Blue Hills Trailside Museum are hard to miss for anyone traveling on Route 138 near the Canton-Milton border. Less well known is that WGBH, Boston’s public media station, is named for Great Blue Hill within the reservation, site of the station’s first transmitter.

Yet while most Cantonites probably are generally aware of the Blue Hills, fewer are likely acquainted with all it has to offer. That’s not too surprising, given that the reservation is quite large and generally undeveloped, consisting of 7,000 mostly hilly acres spread across pieces of six different towns: Dedham, Canton, Milton, Quincy, Braintree and Randolph. Even if people are familiar with some aspects of the reservation, a lot more is hidden in plain sight.

That is why the Coalition for a Better Blue Hills is preparing for its debut event: the BlueHillsFest, to be held on Saturday, September 26. Coalition member organizations want to encourage area residents to discover all that the Blue Hills has to offer.

The area has long been recognized as a valuable resource. It was given formal status in 1893 when the Metropolitan Parks Commission purchased the lands to set aside for public recreation. The Blue Hills Weather Observatory had already been founded in 1885. Since then, a variety of organizations have set up operations to assist the public in accessing the land. Currently, about 12 entities operate in or immediately adjacent to the reservation.

Friends of the Blue Hills, a nonprofit organization, was created in the 1970s to build stewardship of the area through increasing public awareness and participation in its resources. Jen Klein, the current executive director, recognized that while the organizations operating in the area each had their own mission, they shared a common focus on bringing more people to the reservation and on supporting the natural environment — but they weren’t all talking to each other. She started reaching out to them in March 2025 with the goal of creating a group that, at a minimum, would promote communication and perhaps spur collaboration.

The response was enthusiastic — and enlightening. Klein was surprised to learn that this was not a new idea: a group had been formed in 2018 (before she came on board) but was derailed by the pandemic. On being told a new group was forming, organization representatives said that the first group was “wonderful” and expressed gratitude for her effort.

The new group was originally named Blue Hills Partnership Coalition, but it changed this year to Coalition for a Better Blue Hills. Originally, representatives met quarterly, but they decided to meet more often (they currently come together every other month).

Klein cited BlueHillsFest as a “great example of what has come out of the coalition.” Member organizations, which are mostly small budget operations, have cooperated on small projects as well, sharing physical resources such as a paper shredder and AV equipment.

Noting that the coalition’s motto is “Stronger Together,” Klein listed its goals, including keeping each other informed of happenings, mutual promotion of programs and events, and advocacy efforts. Fundraising initiatives are also in the works. Other plans call for creating a coalition charter, with a formal chair and co-chair. (Klein has been acting as an informal chair.) The Fest will likely become an annual event; other events may be added.

The Coalition for a Better Blue Hills includes the following members: AMC Ponkapoag Camp; Blue Hill Observatory; Blue Hills Ski Area; Brookwood Community Farm; Massachusetts Dept. of Conservation and Recreation (DCR); Friends of the Blue Hills; Neponset River Watershed Association; New England Base Camp; Mary May Binney Wakefield Arboretum; and Mass Audubon Trailside Museum. Houghton’s Pond (managed by DCR) and Rise & Thrive Education Inc., a nonprofit that operates the concession stand at the pond, also participate.

Lauren Ober, manager for Ponkapoag Camp, noted that the “hidden gem” offers 20 cabins and three tent sites on the Green Dot trail. “I hope more people come and utilize the space — a lot of people don’t know we exist,” Ober said.

She will be offering coffee and snacks at the lodge from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Dan Byrnes, DCR visitor services supervisor for the Blue Hills Reservation, said, “The State Reservation has been a green oasis for the people of Metro Boston for 131 years, and BlueHillsFest will be a celebration of that oasis and all the people and organizations that have made it what it is today.”

BlueHillsFest events will begin at 9 a.m. and generally run until 4 p.m., although each location will determine its own schedule and activities, which include tours, guided hikes, lawn games, a live animal show and more.

“Passports” are available at all locations and include spaces for host signatures. Collecting at least six signatures entitles a guest to submit a chance for a raffle basket of merchandise and activity passes with a total value over $1,000. While several signatures may be efficiently collected at certain locations, such as Houghton’s Pond, Klein hopes that people will consider starting at a location not already familiar to them to learn more about the area.

In case of rain, the Fest will be held the next day, Sunday, September 27. For more information about BlueHillsFest, go to betterbluehills.org/fest.

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