Welcome
to this website. The Fells are the Middlesex Fells, over two thousand
five
hundred acres of forest, craggy hilltops, lakes, ponds and streams
about five
miles north of downtown
![]() |
Join me for a modest hike in the Fells Saturday, May 3rd, 10: 00 - Noon First signs of Spring Meet at gate 8 on South Border Rd in Medford Steady rain postpones to Sunday Saturday, May 17, 10:00 - Noon Lady Slipper Orchids and more. Long Pond parking lot, top of South Border Rd, Winchester Questions: call me on my cellphone 781 854 2058 |
| Wild Columbine Aquilegia canadensis photo taken in the Fells, May 2003 |
For more detailed, general information about the Middlesex Fells please go to the website of the Friends of the Fells by clicking here at www.fells.org It is there that you can order a map, which is essential for hiking in the Fells - and it comes free if you join the Friends. And it is there that you can learn about organized hikes (geology, birds, plants, animals), our battles against inappropriate development and other threats, and the history of the 19th century visionaries who fought so hard to create the Fells reservation and thus preserve it for our enjoyment today. The Middlesex Fells is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) which also has a page about the Fells on its website at: www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/metroboston/fells.htm
Below is a list of months linking you to a description, plus photos, of what can be found in the Fells each month of the year.
Another link takes you to Flower Galleries of photos of native plants of the Fells with blooming times. There you can see more images than shown on the monthly pages with some emphasis on the more unusual as well as the 'good-looking' plants.
In addition, further down on this page, there is reference to the two main floral surveys conducted in the Fells over the years with some ideas of how different ones of us might contribute to this monitoring in the future. So keep watching this space! Inquiries, comments and news of what you've seen are all welcome and can be sent to bryan.hamlin@comcast.net
Bryan Hamlin
Click on the month of your choice for what to look for in the Fells at that time.
January September
October
November
December
For overall information on the geology, weather and all forms of wildlife in eastern Massachusetts I recommend The Natural History of Eastern Massachusetts by Stan Freeman and Mike Nasuti, published in 1998. At the back is their Massachusetts Natural Calendar describing, month by month, what wildlife activity is occurring in the region, some of which applies to the Middlesex Fells. For those who enjoy the changes in the seasons I strongly recommend an old but great book - Sundial of the Seasons by Hal Borland, a selection of his outdoor editorials from The New York Times, published by J B Lippincott in 1964. Borland brilliantly catches the mood of the different seasons and gives much old lore on plants and animals. A great read.
For the Fells Native Flower Gallery click here
|
I have two 45 minute power-point presentations
on the Fells, using many of my photographs. The first is entitled Spring in the Middlesex Fells and covers the period from March through June. The second is entitled Summer and Fall in the Fells. I have presented to several garden clubs and libraries in the area. For bookings contact me at bryan.hamlin@comcast.net or 781 395 7722 |
| Pink Lady Slipper, Cypripedium acaule |
Floral
surveys of the Middlesex Fells
Upon creation of the
Middlesex Fells as a
reservation in 1894 a floral survey was conducted by Walter Deane and
colleagues and published in 1896 1. We owe a great debt
to these pioneers for
providing us with this base-line of what plant species existed at the
start 110
years ago. Here is the map of the Fells that accompanied Deane's Flora.

reproduced by permission from the archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University
Much has happened to the Fells since then. New, wider roads have been created carrying a lot of traffic, in particular I-93 forming an almost solid barrier between an east and west Fells. An electric railway line has come and gone (1946), and the soap-box derby track at Sheepfold is still in evidence. Although land has been lost to the road widenings, the creation of Stoneham Zoo and, to some extent, Wright's Park, there have been a few gains as well, most significantly the addition of Lawrence Woods in the southwest. General Samuel C. Lawrence, the first mayor of the City of Medford, owned a huge estate part of which was wooded. The public were welcome into these woods so that they served as an unofficial annexe to the Fells in the early years. General Lawrence died in 1911 and in 1925 this wooded part, now known as Lawrence Woods, was officially added to the Fells.
For more details on the first forty
years of the Fells I recommend Round
About the Middlesex Fells published
by the Medford Historical
Society in 1935. Compared with the original condition, where there were
more fields and open spaces, the
Fells have been allowed to go back to a reasonably
natural
state with re-growth of forest as well as much tree planting in
the
early part of the 20th century. But in the first decade of the 20th
century the trees of the Fells were hit very badly with gypsy moth
infestations. More recently there have been serious
fires, human usage is on the
increase
and invasive species have made their encroachments. All these things
have
brought, and
will continue to bring, changes to the flora of the Fells. Between 1920
-1922, a Mr Kidder collected many plant samples in the Fells which are
now held at the Harvard Herbarium. He did not publish a report.
As the centenary of
the reservation
approached, a survey of flowering plants was made by Brian
Drayton
through three growing seasons between 1990 and 1992 (Drayton and
Primack, 1996) 2. Drayton compares what he
found to
what Deane had found a century earlier, noting in what location he
found particular plants. Most interesting are the lists of those plants
found
by Deane but not found by Drayton, and vice versa. Sadly, but not
too
surprisingly, the former is the longer list. It should be noted however that Drayton confined his area of
survey to west of I-93 and north of
Our team now consists of Betty Wright (trained by the New England Wildflower Society), Irina Kadis of the Arnold Arboretum, and Don Lubin, one of the leading authorities on ferns in New England, and myself. In 2007 we have received great help from Walter Kittredge of the Harvard Herbarium, and Alexey Zinoviev, an expert, amongst other things, on willows. This is truly, and needs to be, a team effort.
We have refound several species earlier reported as having disappeared from the Fells, as well as identifying others not reported before. By October 2007 we had between us identified approximately 660 species of vascular plant and intend to continue for one more year before publishing our results.
Everyone's help is needed. If you think you've spotted something unusual, please let us know. In this regard, grateful thanks to Mia MacCollin, Dana and Inge Jewel, Joyce Kreider and Joe Hayes for pointing me to the location of some special plants. We all have an eye for different things and some will know more about trees and shrubs, others about grasses, or invasives, and each will have knowledge about their favorite part of the Fells.
Sadly but inevitably some native species have been lost over the past 110 years, due to various factors. But there is no evidence that the overall diversity, i.e. the total number of plant species, has diminished. We welcome your comments and news of discoveries. bryan.hamlin@comcast.net

1. Walter Deane ed.
Flora of the Blue Hills, Middlesex Fells, Stony Brook and Beaver Brook
Reservations of the Metropolitan Parks Commission,
2.
Drayton, B. & R. B. Primack. 1996. Plant
species lost in an isolated conservation area in metropolitan