Blue Hills 125-Mile Club
Challenge yourself — explore the Blue Hills — hike every mile of every trail!What is the
125-Mile Club?
It’s the ultimate Blue Hills challenge. Hike, bike or run every trail — all 125 miles, at your own pace, on your own timeline — within the Blue Hills Reservation. (Of course you can only bike on the trails permissible for biking — you can then choose how you’d like to explore the other trails!) Join a community of Blue Hills enthusiasts just like you! Share your tips, your stories, and your memories. Complete the Skyline Trail for your first patch. Complete the whole challenge for your second patch. Do it all over again for your third patch. (Each patch is unique!)
Click the Button above to sign up.
A free Blue Hills guide will be emailed to you when you join!
Keep track of your hike on your favorite trail app or by marking your hike on your map!
Click the button above to share your progress!
Need help with route planning? Click above to see route suggestions for every part of the Blue Hills.
Want some company while you explore the Blue Hills? Click the button above to join us for a guided hike!
Please help promote the 125-Mile Club. (More members, more joy!)
Share hike photos on social media and tag them with #BlueHills125Club or #BHSkyliner.
Join our Facebook group or follow us on Instagram.
Incentives
Blue Hills Skyliner Commemorative Patch
Hike the Skyline Trail – end to end – and get your special Blue Hills Skyliner patch!
Finished this already? Click here to record your accomplishment and get your patch!
125-Mile Club Commemorative Patch
Hike all 125 miles of trails and get your Blue Hills 125-Mile Club patch!
Finished this already? Click here to record your accomplishment and get your patch!
125-Mile Club Second-Time Commemorative Patch
Already finished the challenge? Excellent! Why not do it again? Start all over… and earn a new, different patch for completing the challenge a second time. Plus: get double the satisfaction by finishing again!
Finished this already? Click here to record your accomplishment and get your patch!
Details
Please use one map for the entire challenge. Don’t worry about any other maps (for example, if they show the trails slightly differently). You don’t have to do any trails that may have been added after you got your map. Likewise, if DCR is scheduled to remove any trails, you don’t need to rush to complete them. If a trail is marked closed, you should not do that trail. Simply indicate on your map that it was closed.
Only trails completed after you sign up for the 125-Mile Club count toward the challenge. All trails you hike, bike, or run after signing up count. If you say you’ve done a trail, then you’ve done that trail!
Sign-up for the Blue Hills 125-Mile Club
The 125-Mile Club is free to join! However, we’ll need some of your info to send you goodies… like patches! Please consider donating to FBH to help defray the cost of the patch. Even better, become a member to help care for the park you love — and to keep the trails clear and the park thriving!
Finished all 125 miles? Hit a milestone? Let us know!
Record your milestones and celebrate your progress by clicking here to receive your patch!
While joining the 125-Mile Club is free, there are costs associated with patches and caring for the trails.
Consider making a $10 donation to cover the cost of your patches. Or donate to cover the cost of patches for others.
Better yet, consider becoming a Friends of the Blue Hills member! With your membership, you will receive a free Blue Hills map and you will be helping to ensure the trails are clear and passable all year long!
By the Numbers
Did you know that the Blue Hills spans 6 towns, 7,000 acres, and nearly 125 miles of trails?
Section Maps
The Blue Hills Reservation comprises six sections: Blue Hill, Houghton’s Pond, Chickatawbut, Quincy Quarries, Ponkapoag Pond, and Fowl Meadow. By participating in the 125-Mile Club, you’ll explore them all! You can also view and download the entire Blue Hills trail map.
Feels great to complete them all! Have been enjoying the Blue Hills for many years and this gave me a new perspective and goal on my continuous journey. Limited to 3-4 miles at a time for me at the moment, I had to get creative to get to every section and overlapped quite a bit. It took approximately 160 miles of hiking for me to reach all 125 miles with this method. Enjoyed every second!
That’s amazing! Congratulations on a job well done — and a patch well-earned!
Almost one year in, approaching 70 miles hiked with my faithful canine hiking buddy! Covered the quarries area last weekend – for the first time found the connecting trail in the area behind the “graffiti rocks” down to historic granite rail site. Not the most pristine area of BH, but definitely unique and historic!
So glad you’re continuing your journey. Thanks so much for the update!
Run #11 for 125, 2022:
at 53 miles so far…
Hawk Hill and environs
I’m slowly whittling my way through and enjoying every chance I can get out! I’ve done most of the trails but never documented them before. Yesterday, 4/2/2022, I did the green-dot loop around Ponkapoag which was new for me. Previously I’ve only done the Boardwalk, something I can still twist my twin sons’ arms to do! To keep track, I’m tediously highlighting a pdf of the map by hand and would love to know how others keep track.
Joel – I, too, had printed copies of the 6 maps, that I carried on the trail, and would highlight hikes after I did them. I actually liked doing that! I also highlighted the large BHR folded map and kept that at home as my master copy. Beyond that, I used the free version of the AllTrails app to track mileage and hours – that info I recorded on a spreadsheet. Anyway, good luck and have fun! Hope to see you out there!
125 #2! 125.22
First 4 miles in the books yesterday 3.18. Plan to finish by June 21, 2022.
See you on the trails!
Woohoo! You go, Ed!
Finished! Completed the 125-mile Challenge! 36 separate hikes totaling just over 166 miles; 60 hours of hiking.
Saved the Skyline South for last (seemed appropriate) and finished at BHR Headquarters. Should have popped in for my patch, but getting it in the mail will be fun, too!
Full details later on Twitter #BlueHills125Club.
Most excellent work! Congratulations.
Finished the Quincy Quarries map yesterday. I’ve done more hiking in December than in October and November combined!
All that’s left in the quest for 125 is half the GBH map. Thought I might finish it in 2021, but that’s not going to happen.
I’m up to about 150 miles total due to the necessary backtracks and retraces — it’ll be interesting to break down the mileage when all is done.
Still documenting on Twitter #BlueHills125Club. Hope everyone is still hiking; it’s beautiful out there!
Jeff — Go you! So awesome that you’ve been hiking so much — and seeing so much of the Blue Hills!
We’ll look for your tweets!
Any plan to update the milestones and finishers lists?
Ouch! Thanks for the reminder!
Took the first step on the 125-Mile Club this afternoon. 3.6 miles. Museum to Wolcott Path to HQ and up the Skyline to big Blue and home again. What a day. Can’t wait for the next 121!
YAH! So glad you started. And this is definitely about the journey… glad you’re off to an amazing start!
Some of us are still hiking! Passed 100 miles this past weekend (but that includes backtracks and retraces). Finished Fowl Meadow, Ponkapoag Pond, Houghton’s Pond, and Chickatawbut maps. Hoping to finally do the Skyline in one shot on Friday. Started documenting on Twitter #BlueHills125Club
Yah! So glad you’re still hiking… it’s still great weather for it. Thanks so much for the update! We’ll look for your Tweets!
Completed the skyline trail over the weekend, from the skating rink to the abandoned road by 95. Beautiful trails! Well worth it. How do I get a patch for completion?
Woohoo! Congratulations!
Just finished my 3rd time through the Blue Hills, the first since signing up for the challenge! It was great to have this motivation to go through all the trails again – I loved it. Time in the Blue Hills has been such an important respite as I have cared for my wife during her chemo/radiation treatments and parented our three kids through the pandemic. Thanks for this wonderful gem in our backyard!
Wow. What an amazing story. Thank you so much for sharing it. It’s wonderful that you have gotten so much from the Blue Hills!
Are you okay if we share your story with others? (Especially the Facebook group for the 125-Mile Club… I think they would love to hear it!)
Miles 23 to 31 in the books!!
Houghton’s Pond was mobbed because of the heat, but I had the rest of the reservation almost all to myself!!
A good tip! It’s great to explore all of the Blue Hills!
Bob Ryan and dog, Bunker, both completed the Skyliner and 125-Mile Club Challenge
SO EXCITING! Whohooo!