Blue Hills Trailside Museum (Mass Audubon)

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Blue Hills Trailside Museum (Mass Audubon)

Photo: Gareth Wyn Jones · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

🦒 Zoo · Milton

2 hours · $ · No reservation needed

age fit
0–1 yr
★ 4.0
1–3 yrs
★ 5.0
3–5 yrs
★ 5.0
5–10 yrs
★ 4.0
  • 🚗
    About 25 min drive
    From Newton · Parking: Free museum lot (Route 138); admission about $8 adults, about $5 kids
  • 🍼
    Stroller-friendly
    Flat surfaces — bring the stroller
  • 🌳
    Some shade
    Great on sunny days · Good on cool days · Rain-OK · Fine on cold days
  • ⏱️
    Typical visit: 2 hours
    Best seasons: Spring · Summer · Fall · Winter

Mass Audubon's small nature center at the foot of the Blue Hills, with outdoor enclosures full of native New England animals: river otters, white-tailed deer, turkeys, a red-tailed hawk, and several kinds of owls, all rescues; inside are small exhibits and a touch table. The hike from here up Great Blue Hill to the stone tower on top is a classic for older kids.

💡 Tips
The animal area takes half an hour, right for a 2-year-old; the Red Dot trail up is 0.5 miles one way but steep and all rock, so ages 3–4 and up can walk it themselves, and the summit has a Boston view. Heated indoors in winter, and seeing the animals in snow is a treat.

What this place offers

✓otters
✓owls
✓deer
✓native animals
✓small museum
✓trailhead
✓restrooms

Featured in these guides

This weekend's weather in Milton

Forecast at the destination itself (coast and hills often differ from home)

🌦️
Sat 10/17
Showers · 37–64°F · 80% rain
☁️
Sun 10/18
Overcast · 36–58°F · 1% rain

Location

Milton, Massachusetts

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