Scroll to see photos of this year’s volunteers and their hard work!
Our volunteers are incredible!
This year, we saw a massive increase in volunteers helping out at the Fells. Over 600 volunteers participated in our Trail Adopter program, led hikes, removed invasive species, picked up trash, collected data, conducted trail maintenance, assisted in communications efforts, and helped with community outreach. We also worked with 24 generous businesses, schools, and organizations on a variety of projects throughout the Fells.
In total, volunteers donated over 1,100 hours of their time to support the Friends and the Fells. In Massachusetts, that’s $43,109 in dedicated work at the Fells. We cannot thank our volunteers enough for all their hard work and dedication to keeping our Fells beautiful and safe for years to come!
Read more about the amazing work our volunteers have done below:
Our Trail Adopters submitted over 200 reports this year to keep the trails looking sharp. They covered more than 285 miles and contributed over 350 hours to clearing trails, removing and reporting downed tree limbs, picking up trash, clearing culverts, and other special projects. They removed 34 bags of trash, cleared 23 culverts and waterbars, and addressed issues with seven trail blazes or markers. Three volunteers helped paint dozens of new trail blazes to keep the trails well marked.
Interested in becoming a Trail Adopter? Complete the application here!
Our volunteer hike leaders offered a wide variety of guided routes throughout the Fells. There were a total of 119 social and educational hikes, over 50 Babes in the Woods hikes, and seven Hike ‘n’ Seeks. More than 700 people attended FOF community hikes this year.
Want to join a hike? Check out our calendar here! Want to lead a hike? Let us know by contacting Community Engagement Manager, Maddie Morgan, at maddie.morgan@fells.org
Thank you DCR!
A huge shoutout and thank you go to the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the DCR Fells team. We could not do these volunteer events without the generous support, guidance, time, and tools of the Fells team. Join us in thanking the DCR Fells team for keeping our park safe, clean, and enjoyable for years to come!
Friends of the Fells offered 11 open volunteer days in 2023 and our dedicated volunteers showed up ready to make a difference. We worked with 324 volunteers to remove 161 bags and 13 big piles of invasives from the Fells. We tackled black swallowwort, bittersweet, garlic mustard, multiflora rose, Japanese knotweed, buckthorn, and porcelain berry. Volunteers also removed 56 bags of trash at these events.
2023 was an incredible year thanks to the hard work of our wonderful volunteers. We look forward to working with you all again in 2024!
Thank you to our 2023 partners and volunteers!
Acera School
Alexion Pharmaceuticals
ALKU
American Tower
Analog Devices
Arc’teryx
Braskem
Cambridge Running Club
Eastern Bank
Farrington Nature Linc
Fortis Life
Gay for Good
GoogleServe
Idle Hands Craft Ales
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Medford Boy Scouts Troop 416
Mitre
National Grid
New England Mountain Bike Association
New Ecology
Patagonia
Sana Biotech
Sublime Systems
Tufts FOCUS
Tufts Leonard Carmichael Society
Verizon
Winchester Girl Scouts
Winchester High School Fells Club