A year after the Massachusetts Horticultural Society ‘s temporary shutdown of the popular sledding hill at Elm Bank Reservation sparked outrage by those seeking access, the organization has announced a plan to allow public use this winter. Elm Bank is located at the intersection of Wellesley, Dover and Natick off of Rte. 16.

“For many families, sledding at Elm Bank is a simple seasonal tradition,” said MassHort President & Executive Director James Hearsum. “MHS is committed to allowing this to the extent possible.”

Though this might be a case of enjoy it while you can: MassHort says “this area is on its way to become a fully developed part of the core Garden at Elm Bank in the coming years… MHS will not prevent public access for sledding during the 2025–2026 winter season—from the first qualifying snowfall of 2025 through March 31, 2026.”

The sledding hill will be open from dawn to dusk only when the property receives at least two inches of snowfall, as measured on-site by MassHort staff. Members of the public seeking access to the hill are encouraged to check the MassHort website for updates. Parking will be allowed only in Parking Lot A.

MassHort has announced “the reopening of the sledding hill in the Garden at Elm Bank for Free Winter Recreational Access.” A dedicated winter gate at the northwest corner of the soccer fields will provide access, and to be clear, that won’t mean sledders need to pay as people do to visit the gardens or MassHort seasonal events like the Festival of Trees, which drew more than 3,600 visitors on opening weekend.

Mr. Swellesley and friends were among the first to get turned away from the hill last December following the season’s first snowfall. The next thing you knew local TV stations glommed onto the story, and members of the public protested in both civil and less civil ways (such as by tearing down fencing and spelling out “LET THEM SLED” with the remains).

The issue arose after MassHort had put up fencing—since reinforced—around and at the bottom of the hill to protect its expanding gardens. Even though the garden attractions in that area had closed by winter, MassHort kept fencing up to safeguard the area and its crop. The organization’s leadership worried that people could get hurt sliding into the fencing and that MassHort could be held liable for injuries.

“We recognize that the deer fencing cut across a long-standing use of the Garden and we did not have a legally or insurance compliant way to maintain that access. We have worked over the past year to ensure access and legal compliance,” Hearsum said in a statement.

MassHort has a bargain 99-year lease on the property with the state’s Department of Conservation & Recreation, which has worked with the organization to preserve sledding hill access.

Changing rules for the Elm Bank sledding hill is one of several examples of the public losing the kind of access it has enjoyed for years to outdoor attractions in that immediate area. Just west of Elm Bank, the South Natick spillway (aka, waterfall) at the Charles River dam is slated to be removed next year (new parks are planned around what will become an ordinary stretch of river), and just to the east of Elm Bank, half of the Lake Waban trail has been closed to public access since the pandemic.

More: Where to sled in Wellesley