Mount Greylock Road to be closed in 2007

FYI...

According to Cosmo from the AMC and the following Berkshire Eagle report, the roads to the summit on Mount Greylock will be closed to use for major repair work starting in April 2007. They are predicting that this should take two years...

Note, trails, shelters, camping still allowed though, just no Bascom Lodge and vehicles....

Berkshire Eagle article

I rode my road bike up Greylock South side and down the North side this Summer and the road is in pretty bad shape - but I don't see how they'd need all that time to fix it up. I guess it's just a huge project and during winter you can't really do much anyway.
Well, it'll be a long wait but I can't wait to see what they do to it, it's an excellent ride up there.

Seems like a worthy project. I am dubious about 23.1 million though. Seems like what they have planned would cost a lot more than that. Sounds like it may be a great time to visit the mountain since there will be a lot less people there. I am disappointed that snowmobiles are still being allowed. I had hoped they would go too... Would have been a nice break.

-percious

Sorely needed, but ohhhh noooo! I'm losing my favorite bike route! Gonna be a long wait... wonder why they're closing both at the same time? Seems like they could close the summit while they work on the last mile where both roads coincide, then work on one and then the other. Oh well, guess they weren't asking my advice anyway!

I agree. Why aren't they doing Rockwell Road first and then Notch Road second. Rockwell Road is in horrible condition. At least the mountain would still be open on the north side this way. I'm gonna miss going up there.
Oh well, what can you do?

the road ride up and over greylock is notorious amongst bikers as one one of the worst desents in the northeast because of the frost heaved riddled pavement. thank god they're repaving. that'll be a blast to fly down.

likeitsteep said:

that'll be a blast to fly down.

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yeah, heading extra fast into the hairpins Should be fun!

I vote for off-camber curves on the hairpins

It's been a couple of years since I hiked up Greylock but traditionally when it's closed to car traffic, I'll walk the road up top instead of taking the AT since it has better views. I imagine on weekends in the winter you'll still be able to do that.

Up top I'd guess in spots the road is in danger of washing out & falling

Prediction:

About a decade ago, they shut down a public-housing project in Trenton NJ for "repairs." Long after it should have been re-opened, it was discovered local government workers were using the apartments and lounges, the pool, rec room, etc., for romantic rendezvous (what's the plural?).
Imagine the temptation that a closed Bascom Lodge will present. They'll work one road at a time and keep the other open (to themselves) for access.
Hopefully, the media will keep an eye on this.

I'm planning another east coast high pointing trip and Mass is one of them. Along with Deleware, Conn, RI, NJ, VT, and NH. My question is however, which trail would everyone recommend for Greylock?

Peak bgr,
Its up to you. Their are many choices. The AT can be used from the north or the south. The Hopper trail climbs up from the west, and the most difficult but shortest routes are from the east due to the shape of the mountain.
I have done the Bellows Pipe trail a couple of times. This one starts at the base of the auto road on the north side and ascends slowly at first, then quite steeply as you climb the east side.
The AT from the north is good. Hiking south you will come to a beautiful lookout point facing west towards the Taconics, and then descend to the auto road and then the trail climbs Mts. Williams and Fitch before reaching the top of Greylock. Their are some views looking eastwards from the two smaller peaks.
The AT from the south is a bit longer. You can park at the Rte. 8 crossing of the AT in Cheshire and follow it up Saddle Ball Mtn. and then another two miles to Greylock. I have done Saddle Ball a couple of times. Last week I did this and had to share the AT with a beautiful buck for a while who was also on the trail ahead of me.
One time I did the AT from the north and walked the road back down just to get in the most diversity of views.
Lots of choices. have fun, Eric

Cantdog, yes, people do X-C the auto road & people also snowmobile it too.

I prefer the Cheshire Harbor climb up. Have done the AT from the south & it's longer but okay too. My first time was via the AT from teh north back when you could park on the road going up at the AT crossing,

I personally prefer the trails in the Money Brook and Hopper area. You can also go over Prospect Mt. first and then swing over to Williams, Fitch and Greylock. The Hopper is a very cool forested ravine on the Western flank of the mountain.

Hard to imagine someone wanting to walk up the road, especially from the south. It's 8 miles I think. Biking is another story, that is great fun. One thing about fixing the road will be at least when it was all rutted up, you really had to slow down on the bike if you wanted to stay upright. Once it's smooth it could be a bit easier to get out of control speedwise.

If you like short gruelingly steep trails, give thunderbolt trail a shot. Its a real nightmare but rewarding when you reach the top. 2.1 miles and 2200 vertical, but most of the vertical is in a 1.5 mile stretch. I just did the whole ridge in a traverse today over the AT and found the long flat stretches on both the N and S flank to be pretty drab unfortunately Lots of flat and repetetive terrain.

jjmcgo said:

About a decade ago, they shut down a public-housing project in Trenton NJ for "repairs." Long after it should have been re-opened, it was discovered local government workers were using the apartments and lounges, the pool, rec room, etc., for romantic rendezvous (what's the plural?).
Imagine the temptation that a closed Bascom Lodge will present. They'll work one road at a time and keep the other open (to themselves) for access.
Hopefully, the media will keep an eye on this.

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Why bother with the Lodge when you can just use the always-open old ski shelter at the end of parking lot? It's used as an overflow shelter but I was allowed to stay there once when I got there too late to make dinner reservations at the lodge and they wouldn't let me use my stove inside or outside to cook my food. They gave me permission to stay in the old ski shelter (which was very cool) and use my stove.

If they're tempted I hope they're using condoms, cleaning after themselves, and still finish [the road] quickly so I can ride up there again.

I saw this on the Mt Greylock State Reserveration website today -

"The park road system is closed to auto traffic for the 2007-2008 seasons and currently under repair for safety and access improvements. This affects public access to certain facilities: Bascom Lodge and the Veterans War Memorial Tower are closed, the campground (primitive overnight area) and Stony Ledge are accessible by hiking only. During this period trails and the Visitors Center remain open. Full operation and access to all these facilities is scheduled to resume in spring 2009, upon completion of the Historic Parkway road repairs."

It says closed to auto traffic, not all traffic. Does this mean we can walk/run/bike on the roads to the extent that construction allows, or am I reading too much into this? If anybody has any info/insight, I'd appreciate it. This is one of my favorite bike routes, and if I could at least ride one side of it while the other is being worked on, I'd like to.

teleskier said:

I saw this on the Mt Greylock State Reserveration website today -

"The park road system is closed to auto traffic for the 2007-2008 seasons and currently under repair for safety and access improvements. This affects public access to certain facilities: Bascom Lodge and the Veterans War Memorial Tower are closed, the campground (primitive overnight area) and Stony Ledge are accessible by hiking only. During this period trails and the Visitors Center remain open. Full operation and access to all these facilities is scheduled to resume in spring 2009, upon completion of the Historic Parkway road repairs."

It says closed to auto traffic, not all traffic. Does this mean we can walk/run/bike on the roads to the extent that construction allows, or am I reading too much into this? If anybody has any info/insight, I'd appreciate it. This is one of my favorite bike routes, and if I could at least ride one side of it while the other is being worked on, I'd like to.

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My alltime Fav biking destination also......Just my .02 ....It's a pretty safe bet that bike traffic will also be prohibited along with foot travel?.. with all the beautiful trails on Mt Greylock ,no loss there.Wonder why they couldn't close one section at a time either the North Side or South Side ?If there is any consolation, it should be nice and quiet on fall weekends,nothing but hikers

When I was a Massachusetts resident and taxpayer, I wasn't too happy about this project! I wish they'd keep one side open, so they could keep some revenue coming in...either that, or work on weekdays and open on weekends (Rockwell Road from the summit isn't *that bad*, my guess is they'll be doing a lot of section work prior to paving). Apparently they're going to spend a bunch of money in adding cobblestone gutters, etc. Massachusetts loves to spend money they don't have!

I also think it sucks that both sides will be closed at the same time... but I'm glad they're fixing the roads if I'm planning on biking there again. It is a beautiful ride but on a road bike, that road was c**p for descending, on either road, IMO.

Mass?

Mount Greylock is in Massachusetts, eh?