Route Climbed: Cheshire Harbor Trail Date Climbed: January 10th, 2005
This summit would be easier if getting around the town where this place is located would be a little more obvious. I spend hours circling until I finally found this remote access point. The trail itself was manageable, I had to help a few hikers on the summit who got stranded and wound up miles away from their car. All in all, a great summit bid but visibility on the summit was limited to a few feet.
Route Climbed: Drove up the road from the visitor's center Date Climbed: September 22, 2005
Norman Rockwell, Herman Melville, James Taylor, Stockbridge, Tanglewood ... Massachusetts's Berkshire Mountains have long been a cradle of American culture; there are some wild areas, too, albeit rather smaller than in previous centuries.
Mt. Greylock sits at the northern end of the Berkshires along the Appalachian Trail just 10 miles or so south of Vermont. It is the centerpiece of Mt. Greylock State Reservation, a lovely area comprising some 12,000 acres surrounding four peaks which are forested in some parts by original growth timber.
Be sure to stop at the Visitor's Center at the bottom of the hill just off Route 7. It's very nicely done, containing among other things a marvelous scale relief map of the area, and the people are exceptionally helpful. If you can, make a reservation to stay at the Bascom Lodge, which is a rustic but accommodating hiker's refuge at the summit (on a Thursday after Labor Day, I was the only guest, but the staff were expecting a full house come Friday).
Built in 1937 by the CCC, this log and stone building sleeps 37 in bunk beds and has room in the dining room to feed many more (lots and lots of Appalachian Trail hikers stop every season): everyday for breakfast and dinner at 8AM and 6PM sharp; family style, come hungry.
Lit from dawn to dusk (and bright), the Veterans War Memorial Tower is a displaced lighthouse that was intended for Boston but now sits at the Greylock summit; obviously out of place, it grows on you as the sun sets. A steep but short climb up a circular metal stairway takes you to a lookout just below the light that gives you a view in one direction of New York's Catskills and Adirondacks, and of various ranges of Massachusetts, Vermont and (perhaps) New Hampshire in another.
Bide a wee and hike the well-marked and well-maintained trails around the mountain (being conscious of deer ticks and Lyme Disease ... long pants are probably preferable whatever the weather).
A beautiful spot when the weather's fair, with a sweet piney smell at the top and deciduous forest a bit lower. I listened to Chickadees and Blue Jays as I hiked along, and surprised a Turkey as I turned a corner, on the first day of Autumn 2005. The next day was foul and cold at the top, so I was lucky to have had the good weather when I did.
Directions to Mt. Greylock from the Mass Pike, I-90
Take I-90 to Exit 2
Take Rt 20 to Lee, MA
Pause in Lee. It's a great example of a little New England town.
Continue on to Rt 7 North
In Pittsfield, be careful: the town square is at the intersection of a number of roads and if you're not careful, you'll leave town on something other than Rt 7, which would be an error (although not a fatal one, the countryside is nice, but you could go a long way out of your way)
Past Pittsfield, in the town of Lanesboro, on the right you will see a brown sign for Mt. Greylock. Take this road to the Visitor's Center.
Route Climbed: Hopper Trail Date Climbed: September 04, 2005
Talked my dad into doing this one with me, since it is the high point of his state of birth. Beautiful forest on the trail and excellent summit views as far as Monadnock. The motorcycles, school buses, and crowds made this one not much of a wilderness experience, but still fun. My mom and sister took the road up and we all went to Friendly's for fribbles afterwards. Glad to get this one done, since I was once a Massachusetts resident, and had only done it by car before.
Part of a 4-peak day that included Round Mountain, Mt Frissell, Bear Mtn and Greylock. Ran out of time to do any hiking, but I wanted to hit the highpoint while I was in the area. My 9th state highpoint. What beautiful vistas!
Route Climbed: Road Date Climbed: June-September 1971
Visited summit at least 4 times while working in the Berkshires during college and grad school days. Always rewarded with wonderful birds-eye views of NW Mass.
Route Climbed: Appalachian Trail from North Adams Date Climbed: September 1988, July 1989, October 14, 2004
First climbed the Appalachian Trail from North Adams. Second summit was a portion of that same trail from the Mount Greylock Road. Third summit was from the Mount Greylock Road via the Hopper Trail.
Nice hike, a bit much pavement near the top. Visability was bad near the summit, but it was fun anyhow. Looks like a good place to work up winter camping skills when its really cold cause its not that hard.
Route Climbed: Roaring Brook/Hopper Trail Date Climbed: October 9, 2004
Climbed with Flanders on our annual trip. Great trail and hike on Roaring Brook but was a bit congested with tourons from the campsite on up. Glad to tick this one off as we'd been talking about it for a couple years now. Interesting to note that nothing has changed in the route description or conditions of the trail and roads from a 1975 hiking book we used on this one. Was bummed I had forgotten my camera for this one.
Route Climbed: Hopper trail both times Date Climbed: July 1999 and January 2001
Hot and muggy in the summer, freezing and snowy in the winter...nice trail up and down, few people on this trail, great views both summer and winter--expect high winds in winter and bring snowshoes!!
Route Climbed: Cheshire Harbor Trail Date Climbed: 5/29/04
If you are a 48 or 50 completer with highpoints, you should be required to hike this. If you can climb Denali, you can climb Greylock! Nice views, though the summit was way to big and the lookout tower sucks.
Route Climbed: Haley Farm Trail Date Climbed: January 2, 2004
My first state highpoint. Snowshoed part of the way even though it was mostly ice covered by a miniscule amount of fresh snow. Once on the road we slipped around quite a bit and used the snowshoes to act as crampons. We probably looked ridiculous. Nice to be here in the winter cause we didn't see one other person on the peak, but the famed views of 5 states wasn't much more than a lot of gray fog.
koz - Jan 2, 2006 11:10 pm
Route Climbed: Hopper & others Date Climbed: June 8, 1996 (1st time)Made my home state my second highpoint; climbed with my wife. Have since returned several times, by several routes.
Livelife4Summits - Nov 8, 2005 2:51 am
Route Climbed: Cheshire Harbor Trail Date Climbed: January 10th, 2005This summit would be easier if getting around the town where this place is located would be a little more obvious. I spend hours circling until I finally found this remote access point. The trail itself was manageable, I had to help a few hikers on the summit who got stranded and wound up miles away from their car. All in all, a great summit bid but visibility on the summit was limited to a few feet.
grfiv - Sep 24, 2005 9:45 pm
Route Climbed: Drove up the road from the visitor's center Date Climbed: September 22, 2005Norman Rockwell, Herman Melville, James Taylor, Stockbridge, Tanglewood ... Massachusetts's Berkshire Mountains have long been a cradle of American culture; there are some wild areas, too, albeit rather smaller than in previous centuries.
Mt. Greylock sits at the northern end of the Berkshires along the Appalachian Trail just 10 miles or so south of Vermont. It is the centerpiece of Mt. Greylock State Reservation, a lovely area comprising some 12,000 acres surrounding four peaks which are forested in some parts by original growth timber.
Be sure to stop at the Visitor's Center at the bottom of the hill just off Route 7. It's very nicely done, containing among other things a marvelous scale relief map of the area, and the people are exceptionally helpful. If you can, make a reservation to stay at the Bascom Lodge, which is a rustic but accommodating hiker's refuge at the summit (on a Thursday after Labor Day, I was the only guest, but the staff were expecting a full house come Friday).
Built in 1937 by the CCC, this log and stone building sleeps 37 in bunk beds and has room in the dining room to feed many more (lots and lots of Appalachian Trail hikers stop every season): everyday for breakfast and dinner at 8AM and 6PM sharp; family style, come hungry.
Lit from dawn to dusk (and bright), the Veterans War Memorial Tower is a displaced lighthouse that was intended for Boston but now sits at the Greylock summit; obviously out of place, it grows on you as the sun sets. A steep but short climb up a circular metal stairway takes you to a lookout just below the light that gives you a view in one direction of New York's Catskills and Adirondacks, and of various ranges of Massachusetts, Vermont and (perhaps) New Hampshire in another.
Bide a wee and hike the well-marked and well-maintained trails around the mountain (being conscious of deer ticks and Lyme Disease ... long pants are probably preferable whatever the weather).
A beautiful spot when the weather's fair, with a sweet piney smell at the top and deciduous forest a bit lower. I listened to Chickadees and Blue Jays as I hiked along, and surprised a Turkey as I turned a corner, on the first day of Autumn 2005. The next day was foul and cold at the top, so I was lucky to have had the good weather when I did.
Directions to Mt. Greylock from the Mass Pike, I-90
Take I-90 to Exit 2
Take Rt 20 to Lee, MA
Pause in Lee. It's a great example of a little New England town.
Continue on to Rt 7 North
In Pittsfield, be careful: the town square is at the intersection of a number of roads and if you're not careful, you'll leave town on something other than Rt 7, which would be an error (although not a fatal one, the countryside is nice, but you could go a long way out of your way)
Past Pittsfield, in the town of Lanesboro, on the right you will see a brown sign for Mt. Greylock. Take this road to the Visitor's Center.
George Fisher
TLP - Sep 8, 2005 3:51 pm
Route Climbed: Cheshire Harbor Trail Date Climbed: September 4, 2005Fun hike. Great views on a clear day!
cmc56789 - Sep 4, 2005 6:39 pm
Route Climbed: Hopper Trail Date Climbed: September 04, 2005Talked my dad into doing this one with me, since it is the high point of his state of birth. Beautiful forest on the trail and excellent summit views as far as Monadnock. The motorcycles, school buses, and crowds made this one not much of a wilderness experience, but still fun. My mom and sister took the road up and we all went to Friendly's for fribbles afterwards. Glad to get this one done, since I was once a Massachusetts resident, and had only done it by car before.
Alpinist - Jun 19, 2005 9:11 pm
Route Climbed: Road Date Climbed: June 19, 2005Part of a 4-peak day that included Round Mountain, Mt Frissell, Bear Mtn and Greylock. Ran out of time to do any hiking, but I wanted to hit the highpoint while I was in the area. My 9th state highpoint. What beautiful vistas!
moneal - Jun 3, 2005 11:54 am
Route Climbed: Drive Up Date Climbed: May 29, 2005http://statehighpoint.home.comcast.net/ma.html
We summitted Massachusetts over Memorial Day weekend. I'm never overly found of these popular drive up highpoints but it was OK.
jdavies212 - Apr 27, 2005 5:24 am
Route Climbed: Road Date Climbed: June-September 1971Visited summit at least 4 times while working in the Berkshires during college and grad school days. Always rewarded with wonderful birds-eye views of NW Mass.
Steve Gruhn - Jan 26, 2005 10:34 pm
Route Climbed: Appalachian Trail from North Adams Date Climbed: September 1988, July 1989, October 14, 2004First climbed the Appalachian Trail from North Adams. Second summit was a portion of that same trail from the Mount Greylock Road. Third summit was from the Mount Greylock Road via the Hopper Trail.
nartreb - Jan 25, 2005 11:33 am
Route Climbed: AT from North Adams and Cheshire Harbor Trail Date Climbed: 2000 and 2004An easy & pleasant hike, great for beginners.
My 2000 trip was memorable for a severe thunderstorm.
See the journal from my 2000 trip
squompois - Apr 7, 2009 7:05 pm
Re: Date Climbed: August, 1967Suck my cock.
syzygy - Nov 21, 2004 11:05 pm
Route Climbed: Hopper Date Climbed: Nov 21, 2004Nice hike, a bit much pavement near the top. Visability was bad near the summit, but it was fun anyhow. Looks like a good place to work up winter camping skills when its really cold cause its not that hard.
Brian Jenkins - Oct 13, 2004 3:18 pm
Route Climbed: Roaring Brook/Hopper Trail Date Climbed: October 9, 2004Climbed with Flanders on our annual trip. Great trail and hike on Roaring Brook but was a bit congested with tourons from the campsite on up. Glad to tick this one off as we'd been talking about it for a couple years now. Interesting to note that nothing has changed in the route description or conditions of the trail and roads from a 1975 hiking book we used on this one. Was bummed I had forgotten my camera for this one.
Flanders - Oct 9, 2004 8:03 pm
Route Climbed: Roaring Brook - Hopper Trail Date Climbed: October 9 2004Ended a 7 peaks in 8 days trip
woodstrider - Sep 9, 2004 2:46 pm
Route Climbed: AT Date Climbed: 9-20-98Knocking off State High Points and sections of the AT in a single swoop! Can't get better then that.
dspal - Jul 31, 2004 3:40 pm
Route Climbed: Hopper trail both times Date Climbed: July 1999 and January 2001Hot and muggy in the summer, freezing and snowy in the winter...nice trail up and down, few people on this trail, great views both summer and winter--expect high winds in winter and bring snowshoes!!
hgrapid - May 31, 2004 3:30 pm
Route Climbed: Cheshire Harbor Trail Date Climbed: 5/29/04If you are a 48 or 50 completer with highpoints, you should be required to hike this. If you can climb Denali, you can climb Greylock! Nice views, though the summit was way to big and the lookout tower sucks.
WhereAmI - Apr 23, 2004 3:37 am
Route Climbed: Haley Farm Trail Date Climbed: January 2, 2004My first state highpoint. Snowshoed part of the way even though it was mostly ice covered by a miniscule amount of fresh snow. Once on the road we slipped around quite a bit and used the snowshoes to act as crampons. We probably looked ridiculous. Nice to be here in the winter cause we didn't see one other person on the peak, but the famed views of 5 states wasn't much more than a lot of gray fog.
Tweezer - Nov 26, 2003 10:52 am
Route Climbed: west side Date Climbed: 07/03/97Lots of people! I hate mountains with roads to top!!!!!!!!!!
hillman - Sep 27, 2003 10:49 am
Route Climbed: thunderbolt! Date Climbed: september 21 20000Lots of cars and people on the summit.