Exploring Western Massachusetts

This article was from our trip between 20 and 22 October 2019. I was NOT hearing about peak anywhere in New England after bad weather tore through last week. On this trip in 2019, I don’t think I really found “peak fall colors” anywhere during the trip.

But! How about some NICE fall colors? Oh! if you don’t have a Gazetteer for Massachusetts, then click here, and maybe one for New Hampshire or Vermont as well.

Arthur A. Smith covered bridge in Colrain Massachusetts. I liked the 1100ft unnamed hill behind the covered bridge. There is no traffic anymore on this bridge and I took artistic license and removed the metal barriers at each opening. They also have installed a fire alarm pull switch in case of fire… that is smart.

So are NICE colors ok for you?

I want to be clear when I refer to nice or good fall colors. I’m not saying I saw bright colors like I saw last week in New Hampshire. I’m saying in many cases like around Stockbridge or Great Barrington MA, I saw the potential for some hillsides to still turn brightly if we could get the cool temps needed. But we ran into nice color, and that’s fine with me.

Just like anywhere else in New England, we breathlessly wait for just the right weather conditions to occur that will signal to the trees that they need to put on their fall color finery. But if we don’t get perfect temps, (bright sunny days and cold nights) and rain (or lack thereof), can we still be happy?

During this trip, the majority of the fall colors I saw were softer autumnal colors like rust reds of the oaks, ochre yellow of ash, or hickory, as seen in today’s images. Many of you will be disheartened, but this is the game we play. We go in search of the prettiest fall colors, and if we go with the correct mindset, one that states we will enjoy what we do find, our trip will be successful.

Trap Falls in Ashby, Massachusetts

Lisa and I saw nice fall colors in places like Trap Falls on Route 119 in Ashby MA and after we stopped there we continued to drive through Townsend. I usually stop around the town common, but the colors were less than I had hoped for.

Lee Massachusetts

We eventually arrived in Lee Massachusetts on the western border and settled in at the Chambrey Inn. (click the link to read about the Inn) We took a drive through Stockbridge and Great Barrington, sometimes spotting really good colors. We stopped when Lisa saw a couple of barns next to big yellow maple trees. There were other trees that were tinged red but still mostly green…

Monument Mountain Hike

Lisa had many things planned for our mini-vacation. One “short” trip assumed that taking a hike (3.8 miles) up and over and back on Monument Mountain, the trailhead parking lot is just off Route 7, would only take an hour.

Let’s just say it took 2+ hours and the “moderate” hike turned our legs to jelly by the time we got back down. (Did I mention we don’t hike much?)

But the view from Squaw Peak (1,620′) gave us some nice views, and as you can see, there was still a lot of green and not a lot of fall color (yet).

Chester Double Arch Rail Bridge

The Keystone Arches have recently been designated as a Historical Landmark. We also found one of the railroad bridges along the Keystone Arch Bridges Trail. The trail is 5 miles round trip and our legs were not up to that right now, so we only went as far as the Double Arch Bridge. These marvels of building ingenuity were put together without mortar or steel. They rely on the friction of stone against the stone to stand up. They were built in the 1830s and one of them still carries trains daily. As you can see, there are still some nice fall colors to frame the bridge.

Like these stone bridges? There are some wonderful stone bridges in Hillsboro New Hampshire you should read about.

We had a long day getting across all of Massachusetts. Listen, folks, you will hear me say this ALL DAY LONG… New England is not that big. Salem MA to Lee MA is only 121 miles That is 2 hours. But it took over 8 hours, I’ll let that sink in… We left around 9 AM and arrived in Petersham MA around 2 PM (that’s only halfway and 5 hours). Then we arrived in Lee around 4 PM to get checked in at the Chambery Inn. We stopped many times along the journey, and we weren’t done yet.

Lisa tells me we are going to a pumpkin lighting, Well, I’m all for that, I grab my tripod and we’re off for the Naumkeag Estate.

Naumkeag Estate, Stockbridge Massachusetts

This lovely estate is located at 5 Prospect Hill Road, Stockbridge, Massachusetts. This property is a part of the Trustees of Reservations. Lisa and I drove through downtown Stockbridge (a wonderful visit year-round) and arriving at the estate, we followed the signs to park. We took the bus up to the house and paid the entry fee.

The sun was going down fast, and they had “mood” lighting along all the paths to take you through the estate.

The real reason I’m telling you about this location is that you can consider this a wonderful “plan B” to explore. Did I find some fall colors during the day? Sure, but if you want, your exploring can be continued into the evening.

The Naumkeag Estate is the former country estate of noted New York City lawyer Joseph Hodges Choate. Lisa and I visited for the Halloween pumpkin show. The Trustees of Reservations take care of this property and once we paid our entry, we just followed the lights and pumpkins.

The Trustees of Reservations have many properties across Massachusetts, and you can explore them during your summer or fall foliage travels. Visit their website here.

Mohawk Trail, Route 2, fall color

If you watch the video you will see a reason to travel on the Mohawk Trail. At minute marker 5:00 min, there is some very bright yellow trees, and at 5:20 a car came around the curve ahead of us and almost hit the guardrail. Leaf-peeping will get you if you don’t pay attention, but I think even the most jaded leaf-peeper will agree this is very nice fall color.