Frequently asked questions Quick answers, and where to go for the details. Can’t find it? Call 617-696-0562 or email info@bluehill.org. Search questions…
Quick answers, and where to go for the details. Can’t find it? Call 617-696-0562 or email info@bluehill.org.
No questions match that search. Call 617-696-0562 or email info@bluehill.org and we’ll answer it directly.
Hours, tours, and getting to the summit.
Public hours change by season. Current hours and admission are on our Visit page.
Book tour tickets online. School groups, scouts and organizations should book a group program instead.
Most visitors hike up. It is about a 20 to 30 minute walk from parking. Trail options, parking and directions are on our Directions page.
The summit road is open to authorized vehicles only. Contact us in advance with your date, group size and vehicles, and we will send instructions.
Public parking is at the base of Great Blue Hill. Lots fill early on nice weekends, so arrive early or plan a weekday visit.
Conditions on the summit can be much harsher than at the base. Check our Visit page and social media for closures before you head out.
The road from public parking is about one mile at a 15 to 20 percent grade, but we can arrange vehicle access to the top. The building is more than 140 years old. Many public rooms are accessible, though some areas, including the tower observation room, are reachable only by stairs. We can bring exhibits to accessible rooms and arrange other accommodations.
Contact us before your visit and we will plan it with you.
What to expect once you arrive.
Restrooms are available in the Observatory during public hours. There is no food service on the summit, so bring water and snacks for the hike.
Leashed dogs are welcome on the reservation trails. Only service animals are allowed inside the Observatory.
Personal photography is welcome. Commercial shoots, weddings and drones need advance approval.
The gift shop is open during public hours. Members get a discount.
No. Bring your member card during public hours. If the gift shop entrance is locked, knock at the front staff entrance and a staff member will greet you.
Joining, renewing, and partner organizations.
Levels, benefits and online signup are on our Membership page.
Yes. Choose any level on our Membership page and add the recipient’s name.
No. The Friends of the Blue Hills are a separate organization and do not fund Blue Hill Observatory & Science Center.
No. We are not affiliated with Mass Audubon or the Blue Hills Trailside Museum. Members of partner organizations do receive a gift shop discount; ask at the shop.
Schools, groups, teens, summer camps and public events.
Programs for all ages, on the summit or at your site. Descriptions, pricing and group sizes are on our Programs page.
Send us your preferred dates, group size and ages. Any group size works, including small families.
Yes. Every program is available as outreach.
Often, yes. Contact us and we will work with your budget.
Yes. Our meteorology career intensive gives teens hands-on experience with working meteorologists.
Yes, through the Blue Hills Nature Academy.
Our monthly virtual Observatory Salon brings scientists and experts to talk about weather, climate and the environment. We also host an annual Climate and Weather Conference and seasonal events on the summit.
Yes. Our Artist-in-Residence program brings artists to the summit to respond to weather, climate and the sky.
Ways to support 141 years of observation.
Gifts of any size keep the record going and fund our education programs. Members also support us directly.
Yes. Volunteers help with visitors, events and operations.
What we record and how to get it.
We have kept a continuous record since February 1, 1885, with three manual observations every day. Daily, monthly and annual summaries are free on our Weather Data page. Detailed historical data is available on request.
No. Forecasting is the job of the National Weather Service. We observe and record. Our data feeds NWS models and gives meteorologists and researchers the long-term climate context behind each forecast.
Switching to daylight time would break the consistency of the record twice a year. Staying on EST keeps every observation comparable across 141 years.
Climate researchers, meteorologists, educators, attorneys, medical researchers and environmental agencies. As the only privately operated WMO Centennial Observing Station in the United States, our record is especially valuable for studying long-term climate trends.
What visitors ask about once they reach the top.
So you can look down at the clouds instead of craning your neck up. It echoes the nephoscope, a mirror instrument early observers used to track cloud movement. One is on display in our History Room.
It’s a green roof. The plants absorb rainfall, cut contaminated runoff, keep the roof cooler, and take up carbon dioxide.
The 240-foot transmitter for WGBH-FM radio. Its microwave dishes serve other communications.
Kites built this place. Between 1890 and 1910, Observatory kites carried instruments up to three miles high to measure the upper atmosphere, decades before airplanes and weather balloons took over.
How the equipment on the hilltop and tower works.
The white Hazen temperature shelter, precipitation gauges, a weighing rain gauge, snow boards, the ombroscope, and NWS automated sensors. You’ll have to visit to find out what the ombroscope does.
A Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorder. The glass sphere focuses sunlight onto a card marked in hours, burning a trace as the sun moves. The length of the trace measures hours of bright sunshine. The one in our History Room was in daily use on the roof from 1898 to 1993.
The focused spot is narrow and keeps moving, and the card is treated to char without catching fire. Traces are wider in summer and at midday, when sunlight is strongest.
Very little. The coated card gets wet but dries quickly in the wind and sun.
On snowboards: flat boards in the instrument enclosure, measured with a ruler in tenths of an inch. Official totals use readings at six-hour intervals.
Redundancy protects the record. Multiple instruments ensure no data is lost, let us cross-check readings, and measure different aspects of wind such as sustained speed and gusts.
The NWS ultrasonic wind sensor. The spikes keep birds off it.
Rarely. It has no electronics or moving parts and has been in daily use since the 19th century. We check it against other pressure instruments every day.
Events, archives and media.
Yes. The summit is available for private and corporate events.
Our archive holds 141 years of handwritten observations, most not yet digitized. Researchers can contact us about access. Gifts to our digitization effort help make the full record public.
Email cos@bluehill.org.
Who runs it, who owns it, and how it is funded.
The nonprofit Blue Hill Observatory & Science Center, since 1999. Before that: founder Abbott Lawrence Rotch, Harvard College, and the National Weather Service.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, since 1971. It is part of the Blue Hills Reservation, managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Memberships, program fees, grants, public support, and individual and corporate gifts. Our filings and reports are public.
Our staff are happy to help with visits, programs, data and membership.
Monthly Skymail, event announcements, and research summaries.
