Randolph Town Council > Environmental Justice > Pasture Road / Meadow Road access

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Access to the Blue Hills from North Randolph

North Randolph has a beautiful state park that is mostly unknown -- in 2022 we decided to put up two "Welcome" signs to show the people of Randolph where they can go to enjoy the Blue Hills right in Randolph.

A Blue Hills trail called "Pasture Road" starts on High Street -- the "Welcome" sign is at the baseball field and there are two other entrances to walk in, further north on High Street.

Another Blue Hills trail called "Meadow Road" connects the Pasture Road trail with the Donovan School parking lot (off Reed Street).

The photos below show the path in between those two "Welcome" signs, plus the route to cross the "Horse Bridge" over Rt 24 which connects these two trails to Ponkapoag Pond via a trail called "Ponkapoag Path." The orange letters on each photo correspond to the map at the upper right -- click on any photos, or the map, to show a larger-scale version.

	Point A: High Street baseball field entrance There's a small parking lot at the intersection of High Street and Edwin Street, with a sign "Welcome to the Blue Hills Reservation." You can walk into the Blue Hills Reservation between the baseball field and the concession stand (go straight from there past the second baseball field, then make a right onto the trail).
	Point B: Hill Street vehicle entrance One block north from the baseball field is an entrance across from Hill Street. This entrance is for DCR vehicles to enter, but you can walk in (no vehicles please!)
	Point C: Soren Street "Pasture Road" entrance Two more blocks north (down the hill on High Street) is the entrance marked "Pasture Road" (that's carved into the stone marker). This entrance is by foot access only -- you can walk here from the baeball field parking lot, or from anywhere in North Randolph.
	Point D: Behind the ballfield The path goes betwen the ballfields, then past the second ballfield; it's a little overgrown. These ballfields were used by Randolph Little League but that ended during the pandemic. The Town of Randolph leases the ballfields from the DCR (Department of Conservation and Resources who run the state park), and the entire ballfields are actually on state park land, but the Town maintains them (cuts the lawn, etc.) If you;d like to use them for a baseball game, go ahead! And for organized games, call the RICC if you want to restart Little League!
	Point E: Horse trail behind ballfields Just past the ballfield, there's a horse trail -- it'll have hoofprints all over the trails here! You can go straight (the path is shown between the two horses) and pick up near Point G, but it's a little rough -- up and down a hill. To the left is Harmony Hill Horse Farm, where you can rent horses (that's where these riders came from; the're headed back there). To the right is the recommended trail for easiest hiking.
	Point F: Pasture Road intersection This is the point where Pasture Road meets the horse trail behind the ballfields. The bicycle is coming up from point C, which is where Pasture Road meets High Street. To the left is back to behind the ballfields. The horse trail turns right at this point, so going straight coninues alonf Pasture Road.
	Point G: Trail Marker 5424 This is where the hilly "shortcut" (to the left of the bicycle) from point E meets up with Pasture Road. Pasture Road continues straight ahead. There's a trail marker "5424" on the tree just to the right ahead of the bicycle. The orange "G" marks the tree -- there are trail markers like this all over the Blue Hills and they are on the DCR maps.
	Point H: Trail Marker 5423 At trail marker 5423 (which is on the bicycle's left on tree with orange "H"), the trail splits -- Pasture Road continues to the left. The horses typically continue left, because that trail is bigger. A brook crosses Pasture Road between markers 5424 and 5423; after a rainy day, the trail might have running water for a hundred or so, or be very muddy here. The trail to the bicycle's right is a smaller trail that goes to "the Pipe Line" and then to Middle Road and Smith Trail -- those are open for hiking as are all trails in the area.
	Point I: Pipe Line Trail marker 5421 is the end of the rough trail from point H to the Pipe Line. The Pipe Line is a very wide and very straight trail with a gas pipeline underground. The horses take this trail sometimes, as you can see by their hoofprnits. Go north (turn right) on the Pipe Line to get to Middle Road (the "Nike/Ajax Missile Site") and to Smith Trail shich exits the Blue Hills in the Scanlon Drive parking lot. Go south (turn left) on the Pipe Line to get to the Horse Bridge.
	Point J: East side of Horse Bridge Trail marker 5413 (on the tree with the "J") is at the intersection of the Pipe Line and Meadow Road. To the right of the bicycle is the Horse Bridge over Rt. 24 (the trail is roughly paved here for a hundred yards). Straight in front of the bicycle the Pipe Line continues straight to Rt. 24 (the pipline crosses underground, but you can't!) To the left of the bicycle is Meadow Road to the Donovan School.
	Point K: Pasture Road meets Meadow Road Trail Marker 5414 is at the intersection of Pasture Road and Meadow Road. To the left of the bicycle is Pasture Road to point H (trail marker 5423). Behind the bicycle is the Horse Bridge (point J and trail marker 5413). In front of the bicycle is Meadow Road to the Donovan School.
	Point L: Rear of Harmony Hill This is the back entrance to Harmony Hill Horse Farm; the bicycle points the way to continue on Meadow Road to the Donovan School. Harmony Hill isn't in the Blue Hills Reservation; it's private property so please respect that. Their horses sometimes come out here; the rule is that hikers, riders, and bicyclists should all yield to each other -- but sometimes horses are scared of bicycles (or dogs) so please respect that too.
	Point M: Donovan School parking lot The Donovan Elementary School is a great place to park to enter the Blue Hills Reservation, IF school isn't in session! Please don't park here on shcool days -- it's a very busy parking lot! This entrance is at the back of the Donovan parking lot, up a little hill. This is where the "Welcome" sign will get posted, near the bicycle. The pair of boulders marks the entrance (and the edge of the Blue Hills Reservation).
	Point N: Reed Street entrance Trail marker 5420 marks the entrance to the Blue Hills Reservation from Reed Street. This is a DCR vehicle entrance, but you can walk or bicycle in here. The Donovan School parking lot entrance is seen past the woods, with traffic cones. To return to the High Street entrance by road, go east on Reed Street, then right on High Street, then down the hill.