Great Blue Hill
.jpg?width=1600)
Great Blue Hill rises to 193 m in Massachusetts. Chickatawbut Hill stands 156 m to the east-northeast, 2.8 miles off. The nearest named place is Path Continues, a attraction 0.1 miles away. Revolutionary Heritage Byway passes 3.8 miles off.
The story
Great Blue Hill, originally known as Massachusett, is a hill of 635 feet (194 m) located within the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, Randolph and Canton, Massachusetts, about 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown Boston. It is the highest point in Norfolk County, and the Greater Boston area, and the tallest of the 22 hills that make up the Blue Hills chain in the Blue Hills Reservation. The modern name for the hill was given by early English colonists who, while sailing along the coastline, noticed the bluish hue of the exposed granite faces when viewed from a distance (due to Riebeckite). The Blue Hills' eastern slopes face the ocean and lie within Quincy. The area once attracted quarrying for its "blue granite". Great Blue Hill was a point of reference for the Indians, and the local tribe were known as the "people at the large hill" (Massachuseuck). The English called them the Massachusetts, which ultimately became the name of the state.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q1544232, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 193 m
How to reach it
- 3.8 mi off the Revolutionary Heritage Byway, National
- 13.7 mi off the Battle Road Scenic Byway, National
- 26.4 mi off the Great and Breakneck Hill Roads
Overlooks nearby
- Skywalk Observatory · 10 mi
- Sunset Ledge · 14 mi
- Lookout Point · 18 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Wolcott Hill: 0.4 mi
- Little Blue Hill: 0.5 mi
- Hemenway Hill: 0.8 mi
- Houghton Hill: 0.9 mi
- Cherry Hill: 0.9 mi
- Blue Hills Trailside Museum: 0.5 mi
- Fairbanks House: 3.5 mi
- Captain Robert Bennet Forbes House: 4.4 mi
- Bay State Model Railroad Museum: 5.3 mi
- Morse House: 5.6 mi
- Flatley Field: 1.5 mi
- Ponkapoag Playground: 1.7 mi
- Camp Meigs Playground: 1.8 mi
- University Station Park: 1.9 mi
- Sprague Pond Park: 1.9 mi
- Paul C. "Puzzy" Carter Marine PFC Memorial: 2.2 mi
- Francis D. Martini Memorial Shell: 2.3 mi
- Nike Missile Launch Site BO-55: 2.3 mi
- Oakdale war memorial: 2.9 mi
- Bishop Riley: 3.0 mi
- TOOTHY!!!: 5.6 mi
- Welcome to Camp Christina: 5.8 mi
- EARLY HISTORY OF STOUGHTON MURAL: 6.0 mi
- Constitution Common: 6.2 mi
- John Adams: 6.3 mi
- Formal Garden: 1.0 mi
- Kitchen Garden: 1.0 mi
- Lucerne-Balsam Streets Community Garden: 5.4 mi
- Leland Street Cooperative Garden: 5.8 mi
- Wheatland Avenue Community Garden: 5.9 mi
- Fishermans Beach: 1.9 mi
- North Beach: 6.5 mi
- South Beach: 6.6 mi
- Tenean Beach: 6.7 mi
- Powissett Beach: 6.9 mi
- Homans Land Trust: 0.8 mi
- Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate: 1.0 mi
- Indian Line Farm: 1.0 mi
- Blue Hill Vista: 2.1 mi
- Stratford Road Conservation Land: 2.4 mi
- Path Continues: 0.1 mi
- Pastoral Center: 3.8 mi
- John Quincy Adams Birthplace: 6.0 mi
- John Adams Birthplace: 6.0 mi
- United First Parish Church: 6.3 mi
- Breakneck Ledge: 0.8 mi
- The Shield: 4.1 mi
- J Wall: 4.6 mi
- K Wall: 4.6 mi
- R Wall: 4.6 mi
- Nature's Pavilion: 6.4 mi
- Oak Lea: 6.5 mi
- Pine Knoll: 6.6 mi
- Babcock Arboretum: 6.6 mi
- Stella Tirrell Picnic Table Area: 8.8 mi
- Boathouse: 13.9 mi
- Keeper's Dwelling: 13.9 mi
- Oil Shed: 14.0 mi
- Boston Light: 14.0 mi
- Rainshed: 14.0 mi
- Westwood Rest Area: 2.3 mi
- Commissioners Landing: 10.3 mi
- Interstate 95 Rest Area: 16.3 mi
- Rest Area I-95 (South Bound): 17.1 mi
- Pakomet Spring: 2.4 mi
- Quarry Spring: 15.5 mi
- Rock Falls: 5.8 mi
- Cascade Falls: 16.2 mi
- Haywardville: 17.5 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 6.6 miles of Great Blue Hill. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chickatawbut Hill | ENE 75° | 156 m | 2.8 mi |
| Hancock Hill | ENE 66° | 155 m | 1.1 mi |
| Buck Hill | E 85° | 151 m | 2.0 mi |
| Fenno Peak | ENE 76° | 151 m | 2.9 mi |
| Nahanton Hill | ENE 74° | 145 m | 3.1 mi |
| Hemenway Hill | ENE 60° | 140 m | 0.8 mi |
| Tucker Hill | E 87° | 133 m | 1.4 mi |
| Kitchamakin Hill | ENE 75° | 133 m | 3.0 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 06:49 | 18:20 | 18:57 |
| June solstice | 05:09 | 19:42 | 20:25 |
| September equinox | 06:32 | 18:07 | 18:44 |
| December solstice | 07:11 | 15:31 | 16:16 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: May–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 27 | 28 | 36 | 47 | 58 | 67 | 73 | 71 | 64 | 53 | 42 | 33 |
| Precip in | 4.5 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 4.8 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 5.5 | 4.3 | 5.4 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Blue Hill Coop, under a mile away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidata- USGS Geographic Names Information System feature 612926 — Great Blue Hill, Norfolk County, Massachusetts.
OpenStreetMap element node/358273119
Day trips start here
- Dedham · 3 mi
- Canton · 4 mi
- Milton · 4 mi
- Boston/Outer Neighborhoods · 5 mi
- Eastern Massachusetts · 5 mi
- Norwood · 5 mi
Take the scenic way to Great Blue Hill.
Byway plans around your taste, mapped places, real weather and opening hours — then opens every leg in Google Maps with one tap.