Hikes in Mass.?

Greetings from the Ocean State,

Can anyone recommend some good day hikes in Mass.? I imagine the western portion of the state is best for this. I realize I could do a Google search for this info but this board is normally the first place I go for hiking info since I respect the experience that is on this board.

Thanks in advance.

South Taconic Range in southwest MA. Click on the lower right to expand.
This map covers the AT and other trails in NW CT, eastern NY & SW MA. The AT in MA is very nice.
Please do not print this map as it is copyrighted.
It does give you a great planning tool on-line, though.

Quick Hits from the Ocean State

Hey,

A quicker drive than the Berkshires (which are awesome) are Wachusett and Monadnock, both less than 90 minutes from the Rhode Island border.

Use the longer trails on Wachusett and Pumpelly on Monadnock and you'll have a full day of woodsy walking. Good stuff!

NW Mass has Mt. Graylock, and a couple of subordinate peaks around it. Also, straddling the border with NY is Berlin Mt., which has a nice open summit.

Watatic is bit closer than Monadnock and if you can spot a car, it is an interesting hike via the Wapack Trail from Windblown xc ski area (rts. 123/124 in NH)to Watatic and the parking area (rt. 119 in mA).

blue hills, wachusett, mt tom, - if you look at the state website, many towns have state forests - which have good hiking. not much ele, but good hiking nontheless.

upton, franklin, douglas, foxboro, etc.. you can make it as long or short as you want.

Can't you climb the stairs at the John Hancock building in Boston?

I remember a high school trip to Boston and one of the events was dinner at some restaurant there..

If you just like to hike and perhaps not necessary bag peaks, there are nice sections in the Berkshires not by Greylock. Look towards Monument Mtn, October and the Beartown State Forest areas as well.

Stockbridge is a nice town if you have time, check out the Norman Rockwell Musuem there, it's pretty neat.

Jay

Jay H said:

Can't you climb the stairs at the John Hancock building in Boston?

Jay

Click to expand...

Nope - I called there, the pru and gillette stadium - to ask if I could run the stairs to train a couple of years ago . all 3 said - nope - due to legal issues.....

The Tully Trail might be an interesting adventure. There are a couple of beautiful waterfalls and there is good canoeing on the Tully Reservoir. There was a coyote incident on this trail last winter that you might want to read about (search for it right here on VFTT). It is a really beautiful area.

Friends of mine have recommended Mt. Grace but I have not yet visited it.

There are lots of hiking opportunities in the Quabbin area (where Bog Orchis found the moose skull).

Pat T

Mt. Tom - one of the best ledges hikes in the state:

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/mtom.htm
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Holyoke Range - Nice ridgeline hiking

http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/hksp.htm
http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/skin.htm

If you decide to do any of these, drop me a line, they are both practically in my back yard.

Here's a previous post with links to other posts on SW Mass hikes.

Sw Mass. Hikes

There is some great hiking in Massachusetts!

The Midstate trail runs from the New Hampshire border just north of Mount Watatic in Ashburnham to the Rhode Island border in Douglas. Here is the web page http://www.midstatetrail.org/

Just last week I hiked the Midstate from the parking area at Mount Wachusett ski area to the Barre Dam. There was some road walking involved but it was still a nice hike and I didn't have to drive for three hours (or six for the round trip)!

The Metacomet Monadnock trail http://amcberkshire.org/trails/mmtrail also has some great hiking. I have hiked this trail from the summit of Mount Monadnock in NH to the summit of Mount Holyoke near the Connecticut River.

Of course the AT in the Berkshires is also a great hike.

I just did Stony Ledge just west of Mt Greylock last week. What a terrific hike this was. Not all that far and the views toward Greylock across the Hopper are awesome. Park on Roaring Brook road off of rte 7 in New Ashford and go up the Stony Ledge trail. You can make a nice loop hike by returning down the Roaring Brook trail from Sperry campground too. You'll have a one mile walk to the campground from Stony Ledge which will be a dirt road with a couple of cars possibly driving up to the Ledges from the campground. Round trip maybe about 6 miles.
take care, Eric

Already suggested but I second it...this time of year the trails and old roads in in/around the Quabbin are spectacular and not too far from RI. We have decent map given to us by a friend but I can't find it tonight to tell you the publisher. I'll keep looking.

Here's another link with lots of good ideas about Western Mass, Western CT hikes.

slowandsteady said:

Already suggested but I second it...this time of year the trails and old roads in in/around the Quabbin are spectacular and not too far from RI. We have decent map given to us by a friend but I can't find it tonight to tell you the publisher. I'll keep looking.

Click to expand...

There's a visitor center at he Quabbin dam where I once picked up a good map. Check MWRA website too, maybe there is something there. The Mass. Department of Conservation and Recreation publishes maps of state parks and forests and they are available on-line.

Thanks for all the replies. All the times I've shot through Mass. on my way to to N.H. I never realized that I was speeding by some good hiking trails. Now I've got reason to slow down once I get to the Mass. border.

Looking forward to doing some hiking in Mass. Thanks again.