THE PARKS...
Bash Bish Falls State Park
Phone - (413) 528-0330
Website - www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/bash.htm
Admission Fee - None
Directions – From Route 7 south of Great Barrington take Route 23/41 west for 4.9 miles to South Egremont. Turn left onto Route 41 South, then take the immediate right, Mount Washington Road, and continue as it becomes East Street. Turn right onto Cross Road then right onto West Street and continue for 1 mile. Turn left onto Falls Road and follow for 1.5 miles to the parking lot and trailhead on the left.
The Park
Indian lore tells us of a young woman called Bash Bish, who lived in a village near these falls. Accused by a jealous friend of adultery she was sentenced to die. Bash Bish was strapped to a canoe and turned loose upstream from the deadly cataract. The canoe plunged into the falls and Bash Bish’s body was never found. When Bash Bish’s young daughter, White Swan, grew up she often lingered sadly in the gorge and one day leapt to her death just before her lover Whirling Wind could reach her. She too was never found but it is said the images of Bash Bish and White Swan sometimes appear in the waters of Massachusetts’ highest waterfall, almost 200 feet tall. John Frederick Kensett, a leading member of the Hudson Valley School of artists, painted the falls in the 1850s. In 1860 the area was purchased by Jean Roemer, who built an elaborate Swiss-style chalet mansion that was to burn to the ground years later. The Massachausetts Department Environmental Management acquired 400 acres surrounding Bash Bish Falls in 1924.
The Walks
Bash Bish Falls lies on the New York-Massachusetts border and can be reached from parking lots in either state. Adventurous dogs will want to pick their way down a serpentine trail from the Massachusetts side that will take about twenty minutes. The New York route is longer - about one mile - but level the entire way. For extended time on the trail in the woods around Bash Bish that are peppered with hemlock trees. You can hook your dog up on the South Taconic Trail that passes around the park.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Vehicles prohibited but expect plenty of folks joining you and your dog on the hike to the falls
Workout For Your Dog – If you approach the falls from the Massachusetts side
Swimming - Not around these falls
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are allowed west of the parking lot/food stand
Something Extra
When Jean Roemer owned Bash Bish he invited celebrated French acrobat Charles Blondin to walk across the falls on a tightrope. Blondin had gained fame by becoming the first person to walk across Niagara Falls and he is said to have found Bash Bish more frightening than Niagara because of the black boulder-lined chasm beneath him.
Beartown State Forest
Phone - (413) 528-0904
Website - www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/bear.htm
Admission Fee - Yes, parking fee May through October
Directions – From Route 7 in Great Barrington, take Route 23 East for 5.3 miles to Monterey. Turn left onto Blue Hill Road;park headquarters is one-half mile on the left and the park entrance, Benedict Pond Road, is 2.2 miles on the right.
The Park
Beartown was a hilltop farming community abandoned in the latter 19th century. The slopes not cleared for cropland were stripped of trees for charcoal-making to fire the furnaces of the Richmond iron industry. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts began purchasing these barren hillsides in Great Barrington, Monterey, Lee and Tyringham to assemble the Beartown State Forest. An additional gift of 1,000 acres in Monterey came from Susan Ridley Sedgwick in memory of her husband Arthur Warton Swann that became the adjoining Swann State Forest. It is considered to have been the first scientifically managed state forest in Massachusetts. One legend holds that the park received its name from an early Lee pioneer who killed a bear here with a knotted rope.
The Walks
With more than 12,000 acres in Beartown State Forest there are plenty of multi-use to take off on with your dog -more than 30 miles worth. The unpaved roads and wide ski trails scoot around the forested hillsides and up mountains for a full day of canine hiking in the woods. The star trail for dog owners will likely be the Benedict Pond Loop, a 1.5-mile jaunt around the 35-acre lake. The calming waters are in sight almost the entire trip. This is mostly level going, although it can get rocky under paw. The Appalachian Trail joins Benedict Pond at its eastern end and a short trip north leads to a jumble of rocks known as The Ledges. Further on, the trail explores the Swann State Forest and can be used for a canine hiking loop of several hours’ duration.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Natural dirt trails that can get squishly near the water
Workout For Your Dog – Mostly level hiking
Swimming - It is not always easy but there are several spots along the Benedict Pond Trail where your dog can slip in for a dip
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are permitted on the forest trails but not on the beach or in the beach area in season
Something Extra
Benedict Pond is one of the best places in the Berkshires to take your dog out in a canoe. Set at an elevation of almost 1,600 feet the hills ringing the water are another 400 feet high.stretch is on the opposite side of the water from the day-use areas where the trail slips along a ridge of hemlocks and rock formations.
Clarksburg State Forest
Phone - None
Website - www.wrlf.org/pinecobble.html
Admission Fee - None
Directions – (to Pine Cobble Trail) Take Route 2 East from its junction with Route 7. After 0.6 mile, turn left on Cole Avenue at the first stoplight. Cross the Hoosic River and make a right on North Hoosac Road. Follow for 1.8 miles and turn left on Pine Cobble Road to the parking area on the left, .2 of a mile up the hill. The trailhead is across the road.
The Park
For the past 200 years Williams College students have had a tradition of hiking into the nearby mountains. A school holiday in the spring known as “Chip Day” was devoted to tagging nearby peaks. In the 1830s this study break would become known as “Mountain Day.” In 1915 the Williams Outing Club was formally organized, dedicated to blazing new trails around Williamstown, maintaining existing paths and promoting member outings. One of the club’s most popular outing destinations is Pine Cobble, located in Clarksburg State Forest. Today the trail to the summit is maintained by a consortium of private owners, the Williams Outing Club and the Williamstown Rual Lands Foundation.
The Walks
The canine hike to the Pine Cobble, long cherished for its expansive views from the top of 600-million year-old gray Cheshire quartzite cliffs, covers about two miles. You first tag the summit of East Mountain and then continue another half-mile to the 2,100 foot Pine Cobble. This is an energetic outing for your dog with a steady climb until the final few hundred yeards where it becomes quite steep. If you choose to pause on the way up at this point, look around and enjoy a unique oak forest speckled with white pines. The route is rocky under paw but not as bad as some. After your dog gets her fill of relaxing on the exposed cliffs with views on three sides you can penetrate into the lightly visited 3,000-acre state forest on the Appalachian Trail. There is about a four-mile stretch to the Vermont border - not that you’re not allowed to leave the state and hike further with your dog.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Foot traffic only; the Pine Cobble Trail is within easy walking distance of the Williams College campus and gets plenty of use
Workout For Your Dog – Yes it is
Swimming - None
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are allowed to hike throughout the management area
Something Extra
In the middle of the trail, just before the final push for the summit, is an unusual triplet oak tree. After the original tree was cut down, three shoots sprouted around the edges of the old stump while the center rotted away. The water-filled basin of the tree makes for a perfect drinking bowl for your dog.
Field Farm
Phone - (413) 458-3135
Website - wwww.thetrustees.org/pages/303_field_farm.cfm
Admission Fee - None
Directions – At the intersection of Route 7 and Route 43, take Route 43 West and turn immediately onto Sloan Road on the right. Proceed one mile to the entrance on the right. The Bloedels donated their blend of architecture and nature to the Trustees of Reservations in 1984 who manage the 316-acre property today.
The Park
Parts of this property have been under cultivation since 1750. Two centuries later, after returning from service in World War II with the North Africa Tank Corps, Lawrence Bloedel purchased the former Nathan Field farm and abandoned his pre-war life as Williams College librarian. In 1948 Lawrence and his wife Eleanore set about building a house to accommodate their expanding collection of contemporary American art. Frank Lloyd Wright was contacted for the commission but he demanded to design the furniture as well and Bloedel wanted to do that himself. Instead the couple retained Edwin Goodell who built a modern window-dominated home with simple lines. In 1966, Ulrich Franzen designed a Victorian Shingle-style house for the Bloedels’ grandchildren, known as The Folly.
The Walks
The four-mile trail system at Field Farm is bisected by Sloan Road. All canine hiking here is easy-going with negligible elevation changes and mostly soft, paw-friendly paths. The star trails at Field Farm are the open field paths with views of the Taconic Range to the west and Mount Greylock to the east. Compared with the airy pastures and hayfields the oak and birch woodland trails are decidedly ordinary. The Oak Loop, part of the stacked-loop trails on the north side of the Counterpoint, a welded steel masterpiece designed by Arline Shulman in 1971, sits in the garden at Field Farm with the Taconic Range as a backdrop. The attached Caves Trail gains its distinction from a gaggle of small streams that disappear into a series of underground channels and limestone caves. The South Trail, across the road, pushes out through pastureland past the Field Farm’s wetlands before looping on a small forest route.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Soft paw-friendly fields and natural dirt woods trails
Workout For Your Dog – Mostly easy going for your dog
Swimming - A small pond is at the center of Field Farm
Restrictions On Dogs - None
Something Extra
The grounds at Field Farm are accented by thirteen modern sculptures, including works by Richard M. Miller, Jack Zajac, Bernard Reder and Herbert Ferber. If this just whets your appetite for contemporary art, the Folly house is open for guided tours in the summer.
John Drummond Kennedy Park
Phone - None
Website - www.townoflenox.com/public_documents/lenoxma_parkland/Kennedy_Park2.pdf
Admission Fee - None
Directions – In Lenox on Route 7A, just south of the intersection with Route 7/20. Parking is available at the Lenox House or atop the hill at the Church on the Hill.
The Park
On this property at 1460 feet above sea level in 1902 General Thomas Hubbard built the resplendent Aspinwall Hotel. The colonnaded, Spanish-style hostelry hosted high society in 400 elegant rooms -each with its own fireplace. The Aspinwall even boasted a resident orchestra so guests could enjoy music as they lounged on the veranda enjoying views of the Catskills and the Green Mountains. The resort flourished until a fire burned it to the ground in 1931. The Aspinwall was never rebuilt and the property sat idle until the town of Lenox purchased 450 acres here in 1957. For many years it was known as Aspinwall Park but the name was changed to John Drummond Kennedy Park in 1973 to recognize the efforts of the man most responsible for its existence as a public space.
The Walks
Your dog will take immediately to these wide, well-groomed trails - 31 in all. If you have trouble making up your mind, head out on the #1 (Main Trail), that dissects the park for its entire length, or the #11 (Overlook Trail) from the West Dugway entrance. As you wander along you can check out the landscape and decide on how to spend the remainder of your canine hiking day in Kennedy Park. There is plenty to set your dog to panting here as you are almost always moving up or down through these attractive woods. Unlike may parks with reforested farmlands in much of the Berkshires, you will find some of the county’s largest trees here.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: This is a popular destination for equestrians and mountain bikes
Workout For Your Dog – A sporty hike here
Swimming - None
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are welcome in this invigorating community park
Something Extra
Kennedy Park has some of the best resting/picnic spots in the Berkshires. The site of the Aspinwall Hotel is now a grassy picnic spot; the ruins are gone but the views remain. In the center of the park is a wooden gazebo with tranquil mountain views. The Overlook Trail will take you there.
McLennan Reservation
Phone - (413) 298-3239
Website - www.thetrustees.org/pages/319_mclennan_reservation.cfm
Admission Fee - None
Directions - From Route 102, just west of the intersection with Route 20, go south on Tyringham Road. Pass through Tyringham center and continue two miles to a sign for Fenn Road on the left. Pull off and park near the barn. Walk .2 mile up the dirt road to the trailhead on the left.
The Park
Robb de Peyster Tytus, a noted Egyptologist and politician, assembled a 1,000-acre estate from farms in Tyringham and Otis that he called Ashintully , from Gaelic meaning “on the brow of the hill.” Between 1910 and 1912, Tytus built a 35-room Georgian-style mansion that would come to be known as the Marble Palace. Tytus enjoyed his home for scarcely a year before dying in 1913. His widow Grace married John S. McLennan, a Canadian senator and newspaper publisher, a year later. The couple had one child, John Jr., who acquired the property in 1937. The Marble Palace burned to the ground in 1952, long after McLennan had established his residence in a farmhouse below. McLennan converted a nearby barn into a music studio, becoming an accomplished composer of piano and organ orchestral music and winning an American Academy of Arts and Letters music award. John McLennan donated 491 acres of his estate beginning in 1977 for this reservation.
The Walks
This canine hike on the slopes of Round Mountain and Long Mountain is completely in the trees, about two miles including the walk up to the trail- head. You start out moving straight up but just as it appears you are in for a strenuous day the trail jogs left and levels out among Christmas ferns. When you reach old homestead stone walls the trail widens and becomes increasingly paw-friendly under towering hemlocks. Soon you’ll hear the sound of rushing water below and you begin to move beside an attractive, energetic stream. Now the remainder of the loop travels around the mountain. This remains a sporty outing for your dog but not the back-breaker it appeared when you took off on the trail.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: This is a lightly visited place. The trails are for foot traffic only; bikes are not allowed.
Workout For Your Dog – Mostly easy going
Swimming – When Hale Pond is full it is one of the best doggie swimming pools in the Berkshires.
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are welcome throughout the reservation
Something Extra
McLennan Reservation is a great place to observe the toothwork of beavers. Hale Pond can be Hale Meadow when the beavers are less active. The energy of the local beaver colony determines the water level of Hale Pond.
Monument Mountain Reservation
Phone - (413) 298-3239
Website - www.thetrustees.org/pages/325_monument_mountain.cfm
Admission Fee - None
Directions – Parking for the recognizable landmark is on the west side of Route 7, north of Great Barrington and south of Stockbridge.
The Park
The “monument” of Monument Mountain was a distinctive pile of stones at the base of its southern slope that inspired myriad Mohican Indian legends and tickled the muse of artists as early as 1815. William Cullen Bryant composed “Monument Mountain,” an episodic poem that recounted one Mohican tale of doomed forbidden love. Others were not so romantic. Treasure hunters had scattered the rock pile by the middle of the 19th century and Monument Mountain supported farming and iron smelting activities that devastated the woods until stands of red pine were planted in the 1930s to reforest the landscape. In 1877, after most of the farms were abandoned, David Dudley Field Jr. built a scenic drive on the mountain for public use. In 1899, Helen Butler, daughter of a prominent New York attorney acquired many of the old farm- lands and donated them to the Trustees of Reservations.
The Walks
Thanks to a loop trail that approaches the summit from two directions, there are several options for hiking with your dog at Monument Mountain. If you are after a spirited workout take off on the Hickey Trail from the north end of the parking lot. After a short circle around the base of the mountain you will begin pulling straight up beside a splendid seasonal waterfall. For a longer, but less intensive climb, use the Indian Monument Trail, the remnants of the 1877 carriage road that gradually works up the western slopes. The two trails merge just below the summit at Inscription Rock, memorializing the gift of the property. The 1642-foot trail high-point and the celebrated views from Squaw Peak are reached on a rocky scramble along the Squaw Peak Trail. Unless your dog is perfectly behaved and in no way skitterish do not bring her to the summit - there are rock climbs and unguarded, precipitous drop-offs. It is certainly doable, but the exposed cliffs of Monument Mountain are not the place to test an inexperienced dog.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Rocky going under paw
Workout For Your Dog – It is all climbing in the park
Swimming - None
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are allowed to climb historic Monument Mountain
Something Extra
The most famous story about Monument Mountain took place on August 5, 1850 when Nathaniel Hawthorne, having just finished The Scarlet Letter and the leading American literary figure of the day, met a young novelist named Herman Melville on a hike here. The two men were part of a party, along with Oliver Wendell Holmes and several others, who hauled a wagon loaded with picnic food and wine up the mountain. Rain started pelting the slopes and the men took refuge in a cave to begin a friendship that led Melville to call at Hawthorne’s Lenox cabin a few days later. He eventually moved to Pittsfield where he completed the novel the two men had been discussing - Moby Dick. Melville dedicated the book, published in 1851, to Hawthorne. Their friendship, however, was fleeting. Hawthorne moved his family back to the Boston area a year later and the two writers only met once more.
Mount Greylock Reservation
Phone - (413) 499-4262
Website - www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/mgry.htm
Admission Fee - Parking fee at summit only
Directions – The auto road across the summit is accessed from the north just west of North Adams on Notch Road and from the south in Lanesborough from Route 7 on North Main Street. Look for brown signs.
The Park
Mount Greylock, at 3,491 feet, is the highest point in southern New England. Known geologically as a monadnock, or isolated hill, it has long attracted attention. Jeremiah Wilbur gouged the first trail to the summit around 1800 and in 1831 students from Williams College constructed the first observatory tower that poked above the trees on the top. Throughout the 1800s trees were removed from the slopes to power local industry and as landslides and forest fires became more frequent public conservation efforts began to stir. A cadre of 42 concerned citizens formed the Greylock Park Association in 1885 to purchase 400 acres around the summit and on June 20, 1898 the Massachusetts Legislature passed a law creating the Greylock State Reservation, the first state park in the Commonwealth.
The Walks
At Mount Greylock you can hike longer with your dog (more than 70 miles of trails), higher with your dog (some canine hikes will gain over 2,000 feet in elevation) and see some of New England’s oldest trees (200+ years old). Nascent canine hikers can drive to the summit when the auto road is open and loop around on the Overlook Trail and Appalachian Trail. This sampler covers over two miles and still delivers plenty of ups and downs to complement the famous multi-state views. For serious canine hikers there are several long-distance options to tag the summit. One of the wildest but most scenic trails on the mountain is the Thunderbolt that picks up 2,175 feet in less than two miles. The steep, twisting route was constructed by the CCC in 1934 as a championship ski trail and named after a famous roller coaster at Revere Beach near Boston because both gave such an unforgettable ride. Today your dog can hike where many a past major downhill race was contested, including the 1938 and 1940 United States Eastern Ski Association Championships. In 1844 Ralph Waldo Emerson urged his friend Henry David Thoreau to climb Mount Greylock, a place he described as “a serious mountain.” Thoreau took the route that today is the Bellows Pipe Trail, so-called for the wind gusts that are forced through the notch. Thoreau wrote about his experiences on Greylock in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. If there is one must-do major canine hike in the Berkshires it is probably The Hopper. Surrounded on three sides by steep slopes, this unique valley studded with old-growth red spruce has been designated a National Natural Landmark. An 11-mile loop includes the Hopper Trail, the Mt. Prospect Trail and the Money Brook Trail and tags the summits of Mt. Prospect, Mt. Williams and Greylock.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Wooded throughout; some rocky patches on slopes
Workout For Your Dog – Oh yes; there aren't many short strolls on Mount Greylock
Swimming - There are plenty of streams coursing down the slopes of Mount Greylock but swimming is not a strong feature of these canine hikes
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are allowed on the trails of the Berskhires signature park and in th campground
Something Extra
The 107th Company of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) lived and worked on the mountain during 1933-41. Their camp was located at the site of the present-day campground on Sperry Road. One of their first projects was the construction on the summit of Bascom Lodge. Designed by Pittsfield architect Joseph McArthur Vance, it embodies the rustic style then in vogue, designed to blend in with the landscape using native materials of stone (Greylock schist) and lumber (red spruce and oak). The lodge is named for John Bascom, an early commissioner of Mount Greylock who dedicated the mountain in 1906 thusly: “Greylock, our daily pleasure, our constant symbol, our ever renewed inspiration,for all who have fellowship with Nature.”
Mount Washington State Forest
Phone - (413) 528-0330
Website - www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/wnds.htm
Admission Fee - None
Directions - From Route 7 south of Great Barrington take Route 23/41 West for 4.9 miles to South Egremont. Turn left onto Route 41 South, then take the immediate right onto Mount Washington Road. Continue as it becomes East Street. The parking area is at Forest Headquarters on the right.
The Park
In the late 1600s Robert Livingston married into the wealthy Van Rennselear family of New York and soon parsed together an empire of 175,000 acres from the Hudson River eastward. In 1705 he swallowed large chunks of the Berkshires under the Patent of Westenhook. By this time a handful of Dutch families were already living in this area. English settlers began arriving to live on land granted as free towns by the Massachusetts Colonial Legislature. Livingston charged rent to these newcomers and tempers flared, culminating in the killing of William Race by a group of Livingston’s agents in 1755. When forty proprietors purchased a plantation on Taghconic Mountain (Mount Washington) in 1757, Livingston’s agents burned six farms.It took 17 years to resettle the area and the Town of Mount Washington was finally incorporated in 1779.
The Walks
The marquee canine hike in Mount Washington State Forest is the 2.8mile trek to Alander Mountain and its expansive 270-degree views. You’ll be going down as much as up for most of the early going but after a double stream crossing it is straight up to the 2240-foot peak. Until the campground about halfway to the summit the going is on a wide jeep road and there will be plenty of unbridged stream crossings that your dog will happily bound through. You’ll finish on a traditional, rock-studded, often wet footpath. When your dog gets his fill of mountaintop views of the Hudson Valley and the Catskills you can return by the same route or continue across to the South Taconic Trail. Heading south, you’ll reach the tops of Mt. Brace and Mt. Frissell and close your full-day loop in the state forest on the Ashley Hill Trail.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Alander Mountain is a popular destination and all trails below the campground are multi-use
Workout For Your Dog – If you just want to walk your dog in the woods it is also possible to wander the trails without climbing the mountains on shorter loops
Swimming - The streams are mostly for splashing only
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are allowed throughout the park
Something Extra
Charcoal, which burns hotter than plain wood, fueled the Colonial iron forges of the Berkshire-Taconic region. Ore discovered in Salisbury, Connecticut was hailed as the purest anywhere by its supporters. To keep these hungry blast furnaces aflame required the cutting of 600 acres of trees every year. The demand for charcoal eventually led to the complete destruction of all 120,000 acres of virgin forest in southwest Massachusetts. Charcoal is made by stacking, covering, and smoldering wood in outdoor kilns. Birch trees, which don’t mind the depleted soils, can often be found growing on an old charcoal site. Look for them along the Charcoal Pit Trail.
Mountain Meadow Preserve
Phone - (413) 458-3144
Website - www.thetrustees.org/pages/333_mountain_meadow_preserve.cfm
Admission Fee - None
Directions – From the intersection of Routes 2 and 7 in Williamstowntake Route 7 North. After crossing the Hoosic River start looking for Mason Street on the right. Turn onto Mason and continue to parking area at the end of the short residential street.
The Park
Although less than 200 acres, Mountain Meadow Preserve packs plenty of diversity into your canine hike. Former farm fields have transitioned into wildflower meadows and grasslands -you can still spot abandoned farm machinery on the property. The surrounding hills you visit next are spiked with pits and cleared roads, souvenirs from a mid-20th century gravel operation. With the tilling and digging over, Pamela Weatherbee, a local botanist and author of Flora of Berkshire County, donated the land to preserve the ecological diversity of Meadow Mountain.
The Walks
The canine hiking in the preserve is divided into two loops, each an adventure unto itself. The first you reach with your dog is a circuit ringing an upland wildflower meadow. It is an easy ramble around the field but expect to stop plenty of times to admire the open views of the Taconic Range. The second trail enters the hardwood forest to begin a jaw-shaped loop that will eventually find a ridgeline and top out at 1120 feet. Your elevation gain will be 600 feet and staying straight on the trail will give you the less rigorous ascent. Additional hiking with your dog is available by dropping onto a connector trail and climbing back around Mason Hill. Another connector leads into Vermont and the decaying homestead of Grace Greylock Niles, a 19th century naturalist noted for her popular book dealing with the swamp flora of the region.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Dirt and grass trails; meadow and woodland trails
Workout For Your Dog – About an hour of hiking available
Swimming - Nope
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are permitted on the trails in the preserve
Something Extra
Across Mason Hill your destination are the ruins of an old camp that burned in the 1970s. Imposing stone chimneys are all that remains, framing a view to the south of Mount Greylock. Hoosac valley, Bog-trotting for Orchids. Look for foundation and wall ruins and cellar holes. All told, there are more than four miles of paw-friendly trails in the Mountain Meadow Preserve.
Notchview
Phone - (413) 684-0148
Website - www.thetrustees.org/pages/345_notchview.cfm
Admission Fee - Yes, parking fee for non-Trustees members
Directions – From the intersection of Route 8A and Route 9 in Windsor center, take Route 9 East. After one mile turn into the entrance on the left. After considering leaving the property to the Commonwealth or the Epicopal Church, Colonel Budd decided to bequeath his farm to The Trustees of Reservations. He died in 1965 and the park opened to the public in 1969.
The Park
The earliest inhabitants of this land were the Mohican Indians who were run off their land in Albany, New York and relocated to Stockbridge in 1664. It would be another century before English settlers filtering out of eastern Massachusetts would force the Mohicans off this land as well. Remnants of the tribe today can be found in Wisconsin. By the end of the 19th century the 3,000 acres that would become Notchview supported 20 homesteads. In 1920, Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Budd, who earned The Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in France in World War I, met the widowed Helen Bly in London. Mrs. Bly lived in a 250-acre estate on Route 9 she called Helenscourt. The two married and returned to the Berkshires where they set about consolidating the local farms and building the 3,000-acre estate Notchview.
The Walks
Whatever you have in mind for hiking with your dog is on the menu at Notchview. There are more than 15 miles of paw-friendly hiking trails available. First time visitors can sample Notchview on the Circuit Trail that loops back through the middle of the property, ducks out of the trees for a quick view and finishes back at the Visitor Center. The 1.8-mile trail travels just about the entire way on a pebbly farm road that is kind to the paw. Although the land has long supported farming most of the open land has been reforested in red spruce and northern hardwoods. After this easy ramble you can decide how much of the large park to chew off with your dog. The highest point at Notchview is the 2,297-foot Judges Hill but the reserve averages more than 2,000 feet so your dog can keep his four-wheel drive in reserve for most of the day. Across Route 9 is an excellent leg stretcher -the Hume Brook Forest Interpretive Trail. This route was created in the 1970s to educate the public about multiple use management and demonstrate the basic principles of modern forestry.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: No bikes are allowed and there is plenty of room to spread out; all natural trails
Workout For Your Dog – A good woodsy romp is in store here
Swimming - There is a beaver pond here and there but dog paddling is not a highlight of your dog’s outing here
Restrictions On Dogs - Colonel Budd was seldom seen on the farm without his beloved dogs - they are welcome at Notchview still
Something Extra
Notchview is one of Massachusetts’ premier nordic cross-country ski destinations in the winter.When the snow is on the ground you can ski on one trail with your dog - the loop south of Route 9.
Pittsfield State Forest
Phone - (413) 442-8992
Website - www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/pitt.htm
Admission Fee - Parking fee in season
Directions – Take Route 7 to Route 20 West. Turn right on to Hungerford Avenue, continue for 0.2 mile, then bear left onto Fort Hill Avenue, and continue for 1 mile. Turn left onto West Street. Continue for 0.2 mile, and turn right onto Churchill Street, and continue for 1.7 miles to Cascade Street. Turn left and follow the brown lead-in signs to the park.
The Park
George Washington made a land grant here in 1777 to William Berry in exchange for his service at the Battle of Bennington in the Revolutionary War. Over the years, like most mountains in the Berkshires the trees began to fall - first for grazing fields and cropland, then for iron blast furnaces and, eventually by 1900, for the Estes Stave Factory to manufacture wooden caskets. Much of what you find in Pittsfield State forest today is complements of the Civilian Conservation Corps during its stay in the 1930s. They built roads, dams and many of the present-day buildings. Most noticeably hundreds of acres of spruce and red pine were planted that give the park its leafy appearance today.
The Walks
There are over 30 miles of mostly multi-use trails criss-crossing Pittsfield State Forest - and at times it can feel like there are twice that many. The focal point for most day visitors will be around the Berry Pond Circuit Road. Berry Pond, on the shoulders of the ridgeline of the Taconic range, is Massachusetts’ highest natural body of water at 2,150 feet in elevation. Of the several routes to its shores, the yellow-blazed Honwee Loop Trail segment nearest the paved road is probably the easiest for your dog to scale Berry Mountain. Vehicles are barred from the trails around the Circuit Road - the further you branch out the more you bring your dog into contact with the four-wheelers. At Berry Pond you can access the Taconic Crest Trail that travels for 35 miles through the undeveloped mountains. Both New York and Massachusetts in 1993 recognized the Taconics, a nearly unbroken wilderness, as a significant biological, scenic and timber-producing resource.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: These are well-frequented trails, including use by four-wheelers. In late spring, when the woods are aflame with wild azaleas, Pittsfield State Forest is a busy place
Workout For Your Dog – Absolutely
Swimming – The ponds are few and far-between; refreshing energetic streams are a prime feature of canine hiking in the day-use area
Restrictions On Dogs – Dogs are allowed on the trails and in the campground
Something Extra
The greatest oddity in Pittsfield State Forest is a glacial erratic known as Balance Rock. The huge 165-ton limestone boulder teeters precariously upon a small, 3-foot piece of bedrock.
Questing
Phone - (413) 298-3239
Website - www.thetrustees.org/pages/355_questing.cfm
Admission Fee – None
Directions – From the intersection of Routes 23 and 57 in Monterey,travel five miles and turn right onto New Marlborough Hill Road. The parking area for the park is a half-mile on the left.
The Park
The gifts of land that became the 438-acre Questing reservation, named for a mythical beast from King Arthur’s Court, took place in the early 1990s. The flanks around Leffingwell Hill were settled back in the 1700s and the first non-Native American children were born here. After a century of struggling with the rocky soils all the farmers had migrated away and the settlement was abandoned.
The Walks
Your dog’s exploration of Questing begins with a long, gradual climb up a wide, old farm road. At the end you’ll begin a loop that mixes a wide open field and a gorgeous woods walk through a hemlock forest. The 17-acre upland field of native meadow wildflowers attracts a variety of dragonflies and butterflies, including giant green darners and monarchs. The entire canine hike covers some two miles on Leffingwell Hill.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Bikes are not allowed and there is little competition for this trail
Workout For Your Dog – Nice little challenge on this hike
Swimming - The stream that runs alongside the farm road is suited only for splashing
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are allowed on this loop trail
Something Extra
Look for cellar holes and extensive lines of carefully crafted stone walls that snake around the property, a final testament to the Leffingwell settlement.
Savoy Mountain State Forest
Phone - (413) 663-8469
Website - www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/svym.htm
Admission Fee - Yes, parking fee in season
Directions – From downtown North Adams follow Route 2 East for five miles. Turn right onto Central Shaft Road, 0.4 miles from the Florida town line. Keep right at the next two forks, continuing to stay on Central Shaft Road. From Route 2 the park headquarters is 2.8 miles, North Pond day-use area is 3.3 miles, and the campground is 3.7 miles..
The Park
Savoy Mountain State Forest is located atop the Hoosac Mountain Range, an extension of the Green Mountains of Vermont, and is the first mountain barrier encountered rising west of the Connecticut River Valley. “Hoosac” is an Algonquin word meaning, place of stones.
Settlement of the remote towns of Florida and Savoy by farmers began in the early 19th century. The construction of the Hoosac Tunnel (1851-75) for railroad transportation created a momentary population boom. But after its completion the tunnel workers left. Many moved down in the valley to Adams or North Adams to work in the woolen mills, or headed west to join in the great land rush for better farmland. Savoy Mountain State Forest was created in 1918 with the purchase of 1,000 acres of abandoned farmland following this exodus.
The Walks
There is plenty to set tails to wagging in Savoy Mountain State Forest. For dogs who like to tag mountain summits the high point is Spruce Hill at 2,566 feet, purchased with a relatively benign climb of 600 feet along the Busby Trail. Views are to the south across the Hoosac plateau and to Mount Greylock. Borden Mountain tops out at 2,500 feet - your dog won’t get much of a view here but if the tower is open you can get above the treetops. For water-loving dogs the plunges, cascades and slides that adorn Ross Brook and Parker Brook are highlights in the central area of the forest. The star of these drops is Tannery Falls, a 75-foot series of large plunges and major cascades where the upper 35-feet is a constant whirl of whitewater, even in times of low flow. Savoy Mountain State is liberally latticed with old fire roads - you can park and hike with your dog for distance or drive up close to the major attractions.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Mix of dirt trails and dirt roads
Workout For Your Dog – Full days of canine hiking await
Swimming - In addition to the lively streams there are several major ponds in the forest for the swimming dog in your family to enjoy
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are allowed throughout Savoy Mountain Forest and in the campground (but not the cabins)
Something Extra
The stone walls found throughout Massachusetts are some of the most beautiful walls ever built.The fact that so many can be found in Berkshire woods like Savoy Mountain attests to the skill used in construction. You could not just pile up rocks found around your property and call it a wall. When a stone wall was finished it needed to be inspected by a fence viewer. If a wall was deemed sound the owner could not be liable for damage done to his crops by other farmer’s animals.
Sheep Hill
Phone - (413) 458-2494
Website - www.wrlf.org/sheephilltrail.html
Admission Fee - None
Directions – Sheep Hill is located on Cold Spring Road (Routes 7 & 2), just one mile south of the Williamstown Rotary. The entrance to Sheep Hill is on the west side of the road. A small parking lot is at the bottom of the hill, another is up the drive behind the large, red garage.
The Park
This property, historically used as a dairy farm, was purchased by the Bullock family of Cincinnati in the 1850s and called Sunnybrook Farm. In the 1930s Williams College operated its first ski area here. Sheep Hill was considered one of the best ski slopes in the Berkshires with a mechanized tow length of 1200 feet and a jump of over 100 feet.The school stopped using the hill in the 1950s. The Rosenburg family purchased the farm in the 1930s and continued raising cows. The Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation purchased the 50-acre property in 2000 and the organization, that has preserved over 3,000 acres, now makes its headquarters here.
The Walks
The larger of the two paw-friendly grass trails at Sheep Hill is the Rosenburg Ramble, a trip around the perimeter of the open meadows. This canine hike is capped by viewing areas that have been cleared at the top of the hill, serving up views of the Greylock range to the east. The complete tour of Sheep Hill covers about 1.5 miles. Your dog will likely not object to taking off on the Meadow Walk that loops around the lower slopes of the hillside. Both canine hikes leave from the collection of farm buildings that still stand from the beginning of Sunnybrook Farm. Sheep Hill is also a popular location for full moon hikes.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Dirt and grass
Workout For Your Dog – About an hour of hiking on tap at Sheep Hill
Swimming - None
Restrictions On Dogs - None
Something Extra
Sheep Hill is one of only two places in Massachusetts to find the rare and endangered Hairy Honeysuckle, a twining and high climbing shrub. The leaf blades, that are rounded, are usually hairy on both sides. The shrub flowers with attractive yellow or orange blooms in June and July. Look for the Hairy Honeysuckle on the dry, open outcrops of Bullock’s Ledge. The Berkshires are the easternmost range for the shrub that is found as far west as Saskatchewan.
Stevens Glen
Phone - (413) 499-0596
Website - www.bnrc.net/TrailMaps/StevensGlenGuide.pdf
Admission Fee - None
Directions - From the center of Lenox, take Route 183 South for 1.5 miles. When Route 183 bears left, go right on Richmond-Lenox Road. After 1.6 miles turn left onto Lenox Branch Road. After about 1/2 mile start looking for a small sign for the Glen and a pull-off on the side of the road. Overflow parking is available further down the road.
The Park
It can be hard to picture but this remote spot, as wild as any place in the Berkshires, was once one of the busiest tourist destinations in the the county. The Stevens family owned the Glen since 1760 and in 1884 Romanza Stevens built bridges and staircases to the Glen and waterfall. He charged 25 cents for tourists to view the magic of Lenox Mountain Brook. Later a dance pavilion was added and hundreds of people would come to Stevens Glen to party. In 1919 heavy snows collapsed the roof of the dance hall and after that the property reverted to obscurity for 70 years as trolley lines bypassed the Glen. In 1995, brothers Millard and Frederic Pryor donated the Glen and 128 surrounding acres to the Berkshire Natural Resources Council. BNRC built footbridges and a new trail that was dedicated in 1998.
The Walks
A short flight of steps leads to this delightful canine hike, a loop of some 1.2 miles with a spur leading to the Glen itself. The trail is a topsy-turvy affair with sweeping ups and downs across energetic streams and through an airy hemlock and mixed hardwood forest There is enough elevation change as the route twists through the trees to provide any dog with a worthy workout. The spur trail drops down and climbs back up, building a sense of mystery as it climbs to the dark, hidden Glen. A platform hanging over the 100-foot sluice of water crashing through a narrow gorge is reached by a set of metal steps that may cause your dog to think twice before descending.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Soft dirt trails
Workout For Your Dog – Switchbacks an dlong descents tame the slopes on this hike
Swimming - The streams are deep enough only for a refreshing splash
Restrictions On Dogs - None
Something Extra
Without question, the greatest tree in America prior to 1900 was the chestnut. Rot resistant with fine-grained wood, the chestnut tree supported both vibrant wildlife populations and entire rural economies. It was estimated that one in every four trees in the eastern forests was a chestnut tree - some as old as 600 years. But in 1904 an Asian fungus was discovered in the Bronx Zoo and the blight soon decimated the chestnut population. Here in Stevens Glen every chestnut tree was cut down in 1924 in an attempt to stem the blight, dramatically transforming the landscape. The chestnut blight remains 100% fatal - you may find a chesnut sapling and young chestnuts may reach 20 or 30 feet but all are doomed to succumb to the disease.
Stockbridge Trails
Phone - None
Website – None
Admission Fee – None
Directions - From the center of Stockbridge at Routes 102 and 7, turn left onto Route 7 and go two blocks. Before the bridge, turn left onto Park Road and follow two blocks to the end.
The Park
Nathaniel Hawthorne called the Ice Glen, a cleft in the rocks between Bear and Little mountains, “the most curious fissure in all Berkshire.” It is a ravine without a stream - all the water around Ice Glen flows on a south-north axis while the gorge is aligned east to west. In fact, the dry Glen, stuffed with stacked boulders and draped with hemlocks, was once a glacial lake. Tucked away from the sun’s rays, the season’s last snow clings here, hence its name. The Laurel Hill Association, America’s first village improvement society, was started by Mary G. Hopkins in Stckbridge in 1853. The organization maintains the trails, including the 1936 stone suspension bridge over the Housatonic River that replaced the original 1895 span.
The Walks
The canine hiking begins across that bridge with a set of three completely different trails. An easy warm-up for your dog is the Mary Flynn Trail, a wide, flat packed-gravel path along the Housatonic River built mostly on the bed of the old Berkshire Street Railway trolley line - America’s first trolley car was built in Stockbridge in 1880. The trail was constructed in 2003 as part of the Laurel Hill Association’s 150th Anniversary celebration. Across the railroad tracks the trail chugs uphill into the woods, heading for a split. To the left will be a short, switch-backing climb of 600 feet steep enough to get your dog panting. The destination, a bit less than one mile away, is Laura’s Rest, where a 35-step tower in a clearing provides views of three states. Laura was the daughter-in-law of David Field, the donor of the land back in 1891. After losing her husband and children the young woman often came up here for solace. The trail does continue over the mountain for three miles to Beartown State Forest if you so choose. The marquee trail in Stockbridge bears right from that junction, into the Ice Glen. The elevation gain is minimal but the boulders that litter the floor of the ravine may inhibit some dogs from going through the narrow fissure - only one-quarter-mile long. If your dog can’t complete the entire trail she can still enjoy some of New England’s largest pine and hemlock trees.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Foot traffic only
Workout For Your Dog – Up to Laura's Rest will tire out most dogs
Swimming - The Housatonic River can serve a doggie swimming pool for a determined dog-paddler
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are never allowed on a lifeguarded beach or in Robert Moses State Park; dogs can stay in the Watch Hill campground
Something Extra
The Laurel Hill Association has been conducting a Halloween procession through Ice Glen for more than a century. With its primordial feel there is no more appropriate location for a spooky, candlelit parade.
Stone Hill
Phone - None
Website - None
Admission Fee - None
Directions - At the intersection of Routes 7 and 2 in town proceed all the way around a small rotary past the Williams Inn and the public library. Turn right onto South Street and proceed to the Clark Art Institute on the right. Go through the underpass and park at the back of the visitor lot behind the museum.
The Park
Sterling Clark, an heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune, was an Army engineer decorated for his service in China supressing the Boxer Rebellion in 1905. Later, he returned to the remote expanses of northern China, leading a zoological expedition. He began collecting art in 1912 and amassed a formidable private collection with his wife Francine, a former French actress. In 1950 the couple purchased property in Williamstown to house their art. The museum opened in 1955, bringing the impressive collection to the public for the first time. To celebrate its 30th anniversary the trails were cut around the 140-acre grounds in 1985.
The Walks
The foot paths around the Clark Institute offer a pleasing mix of forest and open fields for your dog to enjoy. Heading up from the parking lot the route climbs steadily - but not arduously -until you reach the wide Stone Hill road that was once the main north-south passage through Berkshire County before Route 7 came to pass. The trail reaches its apex at an intersection marked by a carved stone seat. Your return to the right brings your dog down through a hillside pasture with panoramic views of the town and mountains as you descend. This is some of the best open-field canine hiking in the Berkshires.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Natural trails
Workout For Your Dog – If you run the hill
Swimming - This is a completely dry canine hike
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are welcome on the Clark Institute grounds
Something Extra
At the trailhead are two small gravestones for the dogs that belonged to the one-time owner of the property, Dr. Vanderpool Adriance.
Tyringham Cobble
Phone - (413) 298-3239
Website - www.thetrustees.org/pages/370_tyringham_cobble.cfm
Admission Fee - None
Directions – From Route 20 turn onto Route 102 West (towards Stockbridge) and then immediately turn left onto Tyringham Road. Follow into Tyringham and turn right onto Jerusalem Road. Entrance and parking are on the right.
The Park
A cobble, the term is thought to derive from the German word kobel meaning rocks - is a rounded, rocky hill formed of bedrock, not glacial debris. In the case of Tyringham Cobble, geologist Daniel Clark discovered in 1895 that the rocks on the top of the knoll were older than those strewn around the bottom. He concluded that the cobble had broken off a nearby mountain and flipped over during a great geological cataclysm 500 million years ago. Pioneer farmers cleared most of the Cobble by the 1760s. Members of the Shakers owned an extensive 2,000-acre farm in Tyringham by 1840 where they pastured cattle and sheep. The last of the frustrated Shakers, tired of trying to grind money out of the rocky soil, had sold out and moved to other communities by the end of the century. In the 1930s a conservation group calling themselves “The Cobblers” purchased much of this land to thwart a proposed ski run. In 1961, their leader Olivia Cutting James died and left her part of the Cobble to the Trustees of Reservations with an expressed wish that the surviving tenants do the same. And so they did in 1963.
The Walks
Hiking the two-mile loop trail, with its blend of open-fields and mixed hardwoods, on Tryringham Cobble is one of the best hours you can spend with your dog in the Berkshires. Your exploration begins in an open field where cattle graze as they have for 200 years. Then comes a fairly rigorous climb to summit where you’ll enjoy sweeping views of a quintessential New England valleyscape. Rather than race back down the slopes the trail juts back into the hill to join the Appalachian Trail for a spell and views in the opposite direction. As you drop down the Cobble along a fenced pasture don’t let the distracting views take all your attention off of the slippery cowpies that mine the path.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: The dirt trails can be rock-studded I places
Workout For Your Dog – a sporty hour up the slope
Swimming - None
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are welcome to hike at Tyringham Cobble
Something Extra
Does your dog have any herding instincts? You’ll find out at Tyringham Cobble where you may find yourself hiking with a free-ranging herd of Hereford cattle. Your dogs may find themselves sharing the trail at Tyringham Cobble with herds of grazing cattle.
Windsor State Forest
Phone - (413) 684-0948
Website - www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/wnds.htm
Admission Fee - Parking fee in season
Directions - The forest day-use area is on River Road between Route 9 and Route 116. From Route 8 in Dalton take Route 9 east for 11.3 miles to West Cummington. Turn left onto West Main Street; continue for 0.1 mile then take an immediate left onto River Road and follow for 2.9 miles to the day-use area entrance on the left. From the village of Savoy on Route 116 turn south onto River Road (unmarked). Follow River Road for 2.9 miles to the day-use area entrance on the right, or campground on the left.
The Park
Windsor State Forest protects woodlands along the Westfield River that rushes energetically from the Berkshires to the Connecticut River. The upper Westfield River is one of the few successful spawning areas in the state for the Atlantic salmon. Much of the river has been designated Wild and Scenic waters by the federal government. The watershed hosts the oldest continuously run white water canoe race in the United States, the Westfield River Whitewater Race, which is held every spring. park is most popular for its swimming area that sports a 100-foot sandy beach.
The Walks
The backbone of the Long Pond Greenbelt is the Old Railway Spur that hauled passengers and freight between Bridgehampton Train Station and Long Wharf in Sag Harbor between 1870 and 1939. One of the most prized cargoes was ice from Round Pond destined to New York City. The railway was pulled up for steel in World War II and the predictably flat route now makes an ideal trotting surface for dogs. There are more than nine miles of trails here, including little detours to the old water works and the dam. For a long, leisurely loop point your dog south on the Old Railway Spur, turn left on the Crooked Pond Path and head back on the Sprig Tree Path. For shorter outings, there are many combinations open. Under paw your dog will find a sandy, pebbly mix often obscured by oak leaves.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Most people come to Windsor for the swimming, not the trails. If you get tired of sharing the dirt roads with vehicles you can confine your explorations to the foot trails.
Workout For Your Dog – Yes
Swimming - In the off-season your dog can enjoy the Westfield River
Restrictions On Dogs - Dogs are allowed on all Windsor trails but not allowed on the beach or swimming area in season
Something Extra
The forest floor around the Jambs is carpeted in mosses and liverworts. Liverworts can be distinguished from the apparently similar mosses by their single-celled rhizoids. Other differences are not universal for all mosses and all liverworts, but the occurrence of leaves arranged in three ranks, the presence of deep lobes or segmented leaves, or a lack of clearly differentiated stem and leaves all point to the plant being a liverwort. In ancient times, it was believed that liverworts cured diseases of the liver, hence the name. In Old English, the word liverwort literally means “liver plant.”