Sarah A.
Yelp
This place is very cool and definitely worth a visit. I came on a super nice day around 11AM and had trouble finding a parking spot in the lots near the quarries, so I drove a little further up the street and parked at the lot associated with a baseball field, then walked down the hill, back to the street and over to the quarries. Note that this baseball lot also has a great view of the city, if you're looking to take photos of the Boston skyline. When I arrived at the quarries, there were lots of people setting up their gear and climbing the rocks as well as families walking around on the paths and even one guy who had set up his own huge bean bag chair and was sunning himself in the open field. The overall vibe was really safe, so I would not be too concerned about coming here alone in broad daylight and walking around. Everyone I encountered was very polite and people stepped to the side responsibly at some of the points on the trails where only one person could pass through at a time. Even though it hadn't rained in a few days, there were areas that were kind of muddy and wet, so I do not recommend coming here after any significant rainfall.
I am a huge fan of street art and was really impressed by all the cool graffiti. Most of it is pretty amateurish but it's still fun, aside from a couple tags with truly offensive, racist messages. However, I did see an attempt by one of the taggers to police the others, warning them to "F* the racist graffiti". Overall, though, it's really fun and most of the tags are cool and light hearted like one I spotted on a trail in the woods:"F* Your Couch!". This might not be a great place to bring your kids though, because some of the graffiti is pretty vulgar and might provoke some awkward questions and discussions.
I definitely recommend wearing sneakers with good tread and traction or even work or hiking boots because there's a lot of broken glass from all the beer bottles. Also, I climbed over a bunch of rocks around a little pond to get a better look at some of the tags and noticed a lot of discarded spray paint cans in the water, which is kind of sad. It would be cool to organize a group to volunteer to pick up some of the trash. However, I don't want to make it sound dirty; aside from the broken glass and occasional clusters of spray cans, it's very nice and I loved taking photos that showed off both the beauty of nature and the graffiti. The skyline views are really impressive.
I was a little confused as to where the hiking trails are here. I picked up what I thought might be a trail only for it to end at a fence and have to turn back. I was hoping to get a good hike in here, but I spent most of my time walking around taking photos instead of actively exercising. Not that that's such a bad thing, but if you're really looking for an energetic hike, I'd go to the Blue Hills instead. Also, I didn't notice any trail maps or signs indicating trails. Maybe I was in the wrong area. Next time, I'll try to park closer and see if I can see anything in the lots that would help direct me.
Really unique and fun place. It would be cool to bring friends who are visiting Boston here.