People from Dorchester are well acquainted with the imposing blue shape set against the horizon just along our southern boundary. It’s Great Blue Hill, and at 635 feet above sea level, it is the tallest coastal elevation between Florida and central Maine.

The Native Americans called it “Massachusett,” which is an Indian word that means “Large Hill Place.” Back then, the summit was venerated for being as high as you could go to get close to the creator. Now, the entire state takes its name from this spot. Around here, we just call it “Big Blue.”

When you turn left from Columbia Road onto Blue Hill Avenue at the Franklin Park Zoo, and suddenly see Big Blue looming before you, it is an impressive sight. From here, Blue Hill Ave. points to it like a needle, cutting through Mattapan and ending at the base, six miles south on Route 138 in Milton.

Great Blue Hill is part of the Blue Hill Reservation, a woodsy paradise encompassed by Dedham, Milton, Canton, Quincy, Braintree, and Randolph. The reservation comprises a whopping 7,000 acres of open space for public use, all there to allow the city dweller to escape and unwind in nature.

There are times when hikers along the trails and hilltops of the park might imagine themselves to be in a wild corner of Maine or New Hampshire – except for the hum of traffic on close-by highways that, though subdued at times, seems to be unavoidable.

On top of Big Blue is the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, established in 1885 by a graduate of MIT. A National Historic Landmark, it is the oldest continuous weather recording station in the country. On most days, Mount Wachusett is visible from the observatory at 44 miles, and on the clearest days, New Hampshire’s Mount Monadnock can be seen 75 miles distant.

A bit lower, on the north side, there is another tower, named for the landscape architect Charles Eliot, who helped create the park. Before the 1880s, this region was all pastures and farmland; visionaries like Eliot set out to return the landscape to its natural state.

From Eliot Tower, the Mormon Church on Arlington Heights is discernible, but Boston’s skyscrapers block the view to the Middlesex Fells on the north. Still, at this height, the contour of the Boston Basin is clearly evident.

To the northeast lies a faint outline of the arm of Cape Ann reaching into the sea. Looking toward Milton and Canton, Houghtons Pond and Ponkapoag Pond reflect the sun like giant mirrors, and even though the peak foliage season has passed, large swaths of red and orange can be seen in the trees that turned late. Altogether, these things made for a very satisfying prospect during a recent visit.

Native Americans quarried the blue granite on Big Blue to make tools and arrowheads. In 1825, a modern quarry was begun on the hills at the eastern edge, in Quincy. The first railroad in the US brought the granite to the nearby Neponset River, where it was floated to the harbor and shipped to some of the most important building sites in the country.

During Boston’s Big Dig, the fathoms-deep quarry was filled with soil taken from tunnel construction. Today, rock climbers scale the jutting stone megaliths and steep cliffs that rise from a level expanse of green grass. Practically every square inch of exposed rock has been covered with paint.

Over the years, graffiti, painted and repainted again, has formed a multi-colored latex skin that has altered the environment and created the effect of an incredibly big, and quite dazzling, abstract expressionist painting.

There are many different types of trails in the Blue Hills, designed for either leisurely strolls or more strenuous effort. The Skyline Trail crosses the reservation, starting at Moritz Pond and ending at Fowl Meadow, a distance of six miles as the crow flies.

Along the Skyline Trail, hikers surmount Rattlesnake Hill, Wampatuck Hill, Nahanton Hill, Kitchamakin Hill, Chickatawbut Hill, Buck Hill, Hemenway Hill, Wolcott Hill, Great Blue Hill, and Little Blue Hill. If you plan to make the trip, give yourself all day and pack a lunch.

In one corner of the reservation, there exists the remains of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp that was in operation from 1933 to 1937. It was a Depression Era solution to unemployment that put men to work on the reservation, building roads and towers and making other improvements. We still use the footpaths that they ingeniously cut into the rock to permit passage on the steepest trails.

There are many things to do at the Blue Hills, including hiking, strolling, picnicking, swimming, biking, fishing, bird watching (over 160 species), rock climbing, horseback riding, snow-shoeing, cross-country, and downhill skiing. There is a museum of natural history, and picturesque log cabins operated by the Appalachian Mountain Club. In addition, the park is flanked by two golf courses.

The ecology of the Blue Hills includes ponds, marshes, swamps, upland and bottomland forests, meadows, and an Atlantic white cedar bog. When the conditions of season and weather are aligned, walking through the bog can make for an unforgettable experience.

The bog extends about three-quarters of a mile into Ponkapoag Pond. You enter by stepping onto rough-hewn planking strung together with chain held in place with wooden stakes driven deep below the water’s surface. Maneuvering this boardwalk can seem like walking on a floating barrel, especially if you encounter an individual coming from the opposite direction.
Deep inside the bog, the boardwalk threads through a hollow core fashioned by brambles and tree trunks. With the planks slightly submerged beneath you, it seems as if you are walking on water down an endless archway of vines and greenery. It is delightful to see light filtering through the leaves and reflecting off the ice and water in glittering fragments of yellow and gold.

When you have made your way to the end of the line, simply turn back and do it all again.