Scroll to see photos of this year’s volunteers and their hard work.
You just can’t beat our volunteers.
In 2025, our volunteers donated over 2,200 hours to remove invasive plants, pick up trash, lead guided outings, collect valuable data, submit Trail Reports, conduct trail maintenance, assist with outreach events, and so much more. That’s 500 more hours than in 2024. In Massachusetts, that’s $88,200 in work in the Fells. Wow!
Check out the sections below to see how our volunteers helped support the Fells this year.
Hit the trails
Volunteers in our Trail Adopter program, in partnership with Earthwise Aware (EwA), recorded 2,915 items to note on the trails through the donation of more than 320 hours of their time. These reports covered downed trees, missing blazes, flooded trails, dog waste, trail usage, and so much more. These Trail Adopter reports help the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and FOF maintain the trails, keeping them safe and open for use.
Trail Adopter reports cumulatively counted 1,111 bags or piles of dog poop, 1,108 pieces of trash, 203 fallen trees, 80 clogged culverts, and 45 missing or broken signs, among a few other items. That’s a wealth of valuable information that we can use to inform future work sites, campaigns, and volunteer activities.
Interested in becoming a Trail Adopter? Complete this form here and join us for an upcoming orientation.
Take a hike
Our Outing Leaders offered 62 educational walks and 29 guided hikes this year. More than 900 people attended these free, public outings offered by volunteers, staff, and TerraCorps members alike. Thirty-eight Babes in the Woods hikes were enjoyed by 793 attendees, and 86 participants joined five Hike ‘n’ Seeks. Learn more about these programs here.
Want to join a hike? Check out our calendar here. Want to lead a hike? Let us know by contacting our Field Programs Manager, Maddie Morgan, at maddie.morgan@fells.org.
Thank you DCR and EwA!
A huge shoutout and thank you to the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Earthwise Aware (EwA) teams.
We could not host these volunteer events without the generous support, guidance, time, energy, and tools of the DCR Fells team.
We’re also grateful for the EwA team, who developed the mobile applications our volunteers use to collect data on trails, submit reports, and determine the health of the Fells. EwA consultants and volunteers also analyze the data collected to help guide our future conservation efforts and projects.
Join us in thanking the DCR Fells and Earthwise Aware teams for keeping our park safe, sustainable, conserved, and enjoyable for years to come.
Lend a hand
Friends of the Fells offered 49 open volunteer days to remove invasive plants, fix culverts, repair trails, and pick up trash. That’s 107 hours of programming offered for volunteers to help maintain and care for the Fells.
At those programs, 135 volunteers assisted with trail work, bridge repair, and culvert clearing. Thirty-two volunteers were trained to be Trail Adopters at Trail Adopter orientations, and 43 volunteers helped remove trash and litter. Over 500 volunteers helped remove invasive plants, including Common and Glossy buckthorn, Asiatic bittersweet, Garlic mustard, Japanese knotweed, Black swallowwort, Porcelain berry, Multiflora rose, and more. FOF purchased large, reusable trash bags late last year and has filled them 58 times over with trash and invasive plants this year.
We cannot thank our volunteers, this fabulous community, and the many partners enough for all your hard work, devotion, and support to care for the Fells in 2025. We are constantly in awe of the many people who love the Fells as much as we do.
Corporate volunteers didn’t hold back
Two years ago, we started a corporate volunteer program in which businesses support their volunteer day with a corporate engagement donation. The donation covers the cost of supplies, planning, and execution of the volunteer event while the volunteers remove invasive plants, pick up trash, and maintain trails. This year, we worked with 11 corporate partners and 142 volunteers to remove Garlic mustard, Common buckthorn, Asiatic bittersweet, Japanese knotweed, Black swallowwort, and Porcelain berry. The groups removed 19 large bags of invasives and created nine large miles of invasive plants slated for removal.
If your company, school, or organization is interested in partnering with Friends of the Fells in 2026, please contact Maddie Morgan at maddie.morgan@fells.org.
Thank you to our 2025 partners and volunteers
In 2025, the following groups joined us to give back to the Fells or have supported us as a partner organization:
ALKU
Appalachian Mountain Club 20s and 30s
American Tower
Be.bio
Bevi
Boston Cares
Braskem
Buckingham Browne & Nichols School
Cadence
Cambridge Running Club
Church of the Ladder Day Saints North Shore Youth Group
Earthwise Aware (EwA)
Elaine Construction
Gay for Good
Great Malden Outdoors
Goodera
Google Serve
Idle Hands Craft Ales
Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR)
Melrose High School Cross Country Team
New England Mountain Bike Association (NEMBA)
Northeast Trail Crew
Paddle Boston
Patagonia
Repair the World Boston
SEEM Collaborative
Sierra Club
Team Rubicon
Tufts FOCUS
Tufts Leonard Carmichael Society
Trail Animals Run Club (TARC)
Winchester Cub Scouts
Ultragenyx
UVA Boston Alumni Group
Want to volunteer with your group? Learn more about our group volunteering opportunities here.