Friends of the Fells

Participants traverse Fells trails while making new friends. Photo by Mac Doucette.

For over twenty-five years, Friends of the Fells has welcomed families to our popular weekday hiking program, Babes in the Woods. Hikes are designed for caregivers who carry their children and are offered every week, all year long, weather permitting. For new parents especially, it’s a great way to connect with others in the same stage of life, and get exercise, all while learning about nature. In the last 12 months, 231 families participated in Babes in the Woods hikes, with many enjoying multiple outings.

The program is very simple. Each week, hikers meet at a different trailhead, and then walk, usually moderately paced, for an hour and a half. This is usually about 2.5 to 3 miles. Hike leaders think about incorporating beautiful views or places of interest; such as the overlook at Long Pond or the Silver Mine near Sheepfold. Participants get a chance to learn about local flora and fauna. Sometimes they get treated to the smell of a sassafras leaf or a snapping turtle sighting in the Middle Reservoir. Deer, frogs, crayfish, snakes, bald eagles, and barred owls are just a few of the animals encountered on the hikes.

Dennis, a longtime Babes in the Woods leader and volunteer, points out some cool features of the Fells forest. Photo by Mac Doucette.

Many studies have shown how helpful nature can be for mental health. Because being a parent is difficult enough already, the Babes in the Woods hikes are offered for free—no one suffering from post-partum depression or anxiety should be denied this opportunity.

The hikes go out in all kinds of weather. Snow and light rain do not stop them, but heavy precipitation or poor air quality will. They are also canceled if the heat index is 90°F or above, or the wind chill is 25°F or below. Some people might be surprised that the hikes go out in below-freezing weather, but babies make fantastic personal space heaters.

There are several volunteers available to help, if someone needs to stop for any reason, such as to tie a shoe, to breastfeed, or to adjust a carrier. Hike leaders and assistants check in with each other frequently to make sure the group stays together. Very rarely, a participant will need to turn around and head back home, and there are extra volunteers to help guide them back for this reason. Leaving home with a new baby for the first time can be very daunting, and this gives people peace of mind when it comes to their precious cargo.

Learn more about our 2024 accomplishments in the Fells here!

So far in 2024, Friends of the Fells staff and volunteers have led 112 guided outings in the Fells, not including our popular Babes in the Woods programs. These hikes were attended by more than 700 people and covered a wide variety of topics and mileage around the Fells such as plants, wildlife, seasonal changes, and history.

Twenty-seven volunteer hike leaders donated many hours to scout, prepare, and lead these hikes for the Fells community. A huge thank you goes out to Boot, Jeff, Carol, Tom, Laurie, Dennis, Hobbit, Kyle, Karine, Jill, Audrey, Doug, Alison, Julia, Tinie, Leah, Jac, Jaclyn, Sean, Barbara, Joel, Max, Heather, Jodi, and Charlotte for providing so many incredible ways to explore the Fells for our community!

Take a look at some snapshots from our hikes this year below! Interested in joining us for a hike? Check out our calendar here.

Scroll to the right to see some of our hikes this year!

Photo by Colgan Johnson.

Learn more about our 2024 accomplishments in the Fells here!

MOST students survey Melrose from a rocky outcrop in the Fells.

The first day of the Fells Adventures After-school program began on April 8, 2024, the day of the total eclipse. While Massachusetts was not in the eclipse’s path of totality, students came prepared with eclipse watching glasses, and we got to experience the cool, clamminess of the air as the sky dimmed around us. It was an exciting way to start the 8-week pilot program in which eight students, grades 4-6, from the Malden Out of School Time Program (MOST) experienced new challenges of trail hiking and outdoor exploration.

Many students who participated in Fells Adventures had never been to the Fells before and had never experienced any extended time in a forest. The first day was full of wonder and curiosity, though mingled with their wonder was a palpable dose of uncertainty about what their forest experience was going to be like. It bubbled out of them, mostly in the form of questions. Questions about what creatures lived in the muddy water we passed by, and why there were so many bugs, and if there were bears and snakes! No doubt, there were some new things to get used to and some additional buy-in needed!

When we made it to our first destination – a high, rocky outcropping with views expanding all around us – we felt like we were on top of the world. With the sky gently dimming, we donned our solar eclipse glasses and soaked in the landscape spread out before us. We took time to appreciate the rare beauty of the moment and maybe, just maybe, the buy-in had begun.

In the weeks that followed, the kids settled into the forest. They watched with wonder as an owl took flight from an overhead branch. They spotted red tailed hawks soaring through the sky and frogs peeping out near the water’s muddy edge. When a garter snake startled us, slithering by under the leaf litter, it was met with screeches of excitement and curiosity, rather than with fear.

Using hand lenses, participants had a chance to observe the forest in a unique way. They uncovered, at the micro level, the underbelly of the forest. Simple moss on a stick morphed into a whole city of soft, plush green streets and alleys gently swaying in the breeze. Tiny, hairlike tentacles revealed themselves on a budding flower. On the bark of a tree, insects not visible to the naked eye were hard at work burrowing and finding food.

Kids became noticeably more comfortable being in the forest as the weeks went on. Some participants asked to lead the group, feeling empowered to walk ahead and be the first to experience the trail as it unfurled before them. Students were able to tackle steeper climbs, and they learned to support each other when precarious parts of the trail presented new challenges.

During these eight weeks, participants increased their self-confidence as an intangible connection to nature emerged within them. They traversed rocks, explored waterfalls, streams, and reservoirs, and stood tall on rocky outcroppings, proud of their accomplishments and ready for their next adventure.

The Friends of the Fells is excited to be partnering with the MOST program again this school year and will be offering both fall and spring programming. Many of the students from last spring will be participating for a second round (buy-in complete?) and new students will join in the Adventure!

Learn more about our 2024 accomplishments in the Fells here!

Board member and Trail Adapter extraordinaire Charlie McCabe leads a trail work day to clear a culvert and manage trail drainage.

In 2024, FOF trained 44 volunteers to survey and maintain Fells trails through the Trail Adopter program. We hosted 11 orientations to walk volunteers through the process of reporting trail issues such as downed trees, missing or broken blazes, dog poop bags, trash, heavy erosion, and other trail issues.

Trail Adopters submitted almost 2,000 reports this year. These reports are used not only to provide timely updates for the DCR and FOF teams to address issues, but also to provide project ideas and identify long-term park needs to both teams. Trail Adopters are crucial to maintaining Fells trails and collecting valuable data on the status and health of the forest.

Interested in getting involved? It’s easy! Apply to be a Trail Adopter here and check out our calendar for upcoming orientations.

Learn more about our 2024 accomplishments in the Fells here!

Ninth grade students at Stoneham High School helped design signs to educate the public about future trail closures.

Rogue trails fragment habitats and make it difficult for wildlife and plants to thrive and remain undisturbed by human activity. You can learn more about the detrimental impacts of habitat fragmentation on the Fells in Earthwise Aware (EwA)’s report here.

In 2024 we began piloting a rogue trail closure project in Greenwood Park, in partnership with EwA, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), MassTrails, and a Stoneham High School 9th grade science class.

Our partner EwA conducted multiple surveys across the Fells to determine the best location for a pilot rogue trail closure project. Greenwood Park was selected as the pilot project due to the presence of natural communities around Whip Hill, a rare species core, and a vernal pool core in addition to it being a lesser-used area of the park.

Earthwise Aware Habitat Fragmentation Map – Patches 352 and 354. Whip Hill.

EwA highlighted four additional sections in the Fells that we can strategically tackle to create the most impact and protect the Fells’ most ecologically valuable spaces. You can learn more about these areas and why they were selected here.

Together with DCR and EwA, Friends of the Fells will close three trails around Whip Hill in the coming months and monitor their closures to measure success.

Learn more about our 2024 accomplishments in the Fells here!

So far in 2024, we have hosted 28 events focused on removing and managing invasive plants. Over 370 volunteers have helped us remove 139 bags and 32 large piles of invasives from the Fells, devoting 750 hours of their time. That’s $29,000 worth of volunteer hours in less than a year.

We have seen tremendous progress in our project areas this year. In partnership with DCR and Landscape Stewardship Inc. (LSI), a licensed herbicide applicator, we entered year two of a three-year project that addresses invasives in Greenwood Park, around Wright’s Tower, and around Bellevue Pond. We tactically addressed Japanese knotweed, Asiatic bittersweet, Glossy buckthorn, Garlic mustard, Porcelain berry, and Multiflora rose through manual removal with the help of our volunteers.

After volunteers cut Japanese knotweed in June of 2023, LSI applied herbicide to the plants in August of 2023, after it flowered and before our first frost. The ideal time to spray knotweed is in this window, which happens between August and October of each year. This is because the plant is beginning to pull down its resources and nutrients for the winter, so it will carry the herbicide down into its root system. However, the plant often grows too tall in a season to safely apply the foliar herbicide from the ground. Therefore, volunteers cut the plant in June to decrease its height and make it easier to spray in the fall.

Japanese Knotweed at Greenwood Park

Between the Botume House and Tudor Barn, volunteers have consistently worked to uproot, cut, and remove bittersweet, Porcelain berry, and buckthorn. Using a variety of tools and strategies, we successfully cleared large areas of the path between these buildings of buckthorn and beat back populations of bittersweet and Porcelain berry. There is still a lot of work to be done, and consistent monitoring of these sections for returning saplings and seedlings each year will be required. However, we’re already seeing promising results with the appearance of White wood asters and young maple trees along the forest floor.

Bittersweet, Porcelain berry, and Glossy buckthorn

Our work on invasives will continue as far into the winter season as weather and temperatures allow. We plan to work on bittersweet and buckthorn while keeping an eye on the meadow over at Greenwood Park for debris we can remove and make way for volunteers and any mechanical treatment (e.g. mowing) in the following season.

Interested in helping these efforts? Learn more about volunteer opportunities here and keep an eye on our calendar here for upcoming events.

Learn more about our 2024 accomplishments in the Fells here!