Featuring broad meadows and pastoral scenery, Jewell Hill offers opportunities for four seasons of outdoor recreation—birdwatching, hiking, picnicking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing—in this ecologically critical landscape.

A country road bisects the former pastureland, which the Crocker family operated as an award-winning dairy farm before shifting to hay production. Today, the land provides protection for the City of Fitchburg’s water supply as well as critical habitat to many species negotiating the changing climate.

Glimpse panoramic views of Mount Wachusett along the Willard Trail before hiking the short Jewell Hill Trail through thickets of mountain laurel to the 1,411-foot Hudson Overlook. On days free of clouds and haze, the Boston skyline is visible 45 miles in the distance.

• WHEN TO VISIT
  Daily, sunrise to sunset. Allow a minimum of one and a half hours.
• ADMISSION
  FREE to all.
• Please respect the privacy of residents who live on the property. Parking area is infrequently plowed in the winter.

Crocker Road
Ashby, MA 01431

Best route: Use Rindge Road to Crocker Road to stay on paved surfaces.
(Note that Jewell Hill Road, which approaches the reservation from the opposite direction, is partially unpaved.)

Parking: Please park in the designated parking area at the top of the hill on Crocker Rd. past the house and barn, shortly before the road turns to dirt.

Get directions from Google Maps

Jewell Hill features a variety of habitats including hayfields and meadows, forested and open wetlands, streams and seeps, and hardwood and hemlock-dominated forests. This diversity of habitat types supports a great diversity of plants and wildlife, including bobolinks and barn swallows in the grasslands; indigo buntings, bears, and bobcats in the forest; and goldthread and painted trillium along wetland edges.

We recommend that you take a photo of the map on your phone so you can refer to it during your visit, or download a trail map before you head out.

• Hunting is permitted at this property subject to all state and town laws. It is recommended to wear brightly colored clothing like an orange vest or hat during the hunting season. Hunting is not allowed on Sundays. Learn more about hunting on Trustees properties, and read safety tips for non-hunters.
• Dogs must be leashed at all times.
• Please respect the privacy of residents who live on the property.
• Please note that while the parking lot is plowed in the winter, it may not be open immediately following a storm.
• PHOTOGRAPHY: We ask that photographers or their clients become Contributing Level Members before conducting portrait sessions at this property. Click here for more information, and to request permission for any portrait sessions. The Trustees of Reservations reserves the right, and may give permission to its designated photographers and videographers, or to outside media, to photograph or video visitors and program participants at all its facilities and properties.