Berkshire Cycling: Around Beartown State Forest

31 miles Paved and dirt roads
Towns: Lee, Tyringham, Otis, Monterey, Great Barrington, Stockbridge,

Parking: Rt. 102 and Tyringham Rd., Lee

The wide Tyringham Valley

There were two reasons I chose to ride this route: to see what Tyringham Road offers after it passes my usual turn to Monterey, and predictably, to ride down Blue Hill Road, one of the most enjoyable descents in this part of the Berkshires. The route is mostly a pretty ride, provided some nice climbing and a gorgeous descent, with a few sections of highway and enough traffic to prove that it is summer in the Berkshires and Tanglewood has opened. There are many reasons to visit here, cultural as well as the beautiful natural world, but Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home, drives the number of visitors.

Which direction are those horses going?

From Lee, I rode out Tyringham Road, a long, pretty valley, with open fields, surrounding ridges, some remaining old farm houses, and a number of horses. The signs on the road reminded me of my friend Larry. “Horse back riding on road.” Guess they don’t know which direction the people on horseback will be going. See his blog birds and words for more great signs.  

Appalachian Trail hiker

Close to the village of Tyringham I met a hiker who began in May at the south end of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, and is hiking through to Maine. We were just below Tyringham Cobble, first protected in the 1930s, and in the 1960s donated to the Trustees of Reservations. Its two miles of trail link with the AT, and provide stunningly beautiful views of the valley. I’ve found wild asparagus growing in the field on the top, left I think, from the Shakers who once lived here. A great walk.

 

The road climbs up into Otis, with some typical Berkshires high swamps, then continues bearing south until it ends at Rt. 23 in Monterey.  Once there, I turned west, towards Monterey, and passed the sign for Bob’s Way, another Berkshire Natural Resources Council property. I’ve heard it’s about 2-1/2 miles of nice looped walking, but haven’t yet hiked it. 

High swampland on the Otis border

Turning right onto Hupi Road, the surface is dirt, the road is  quiet and provides a few views of Lake Garfield from above. At the intersection with Monterey Road, I turned left  went back to Rt. 23 in the village of Monterey, but you could continue straight on Hupi and avoid more of busy Rt. 23.

Lake Garfield from Hupi Road

Before too long a right again took me onto Blue Hill Road, the second main reason I’m here today. This was a fine ride, up for a bit, then down to intersect with Monument Valley Road and Route 7.  Its curving downhills were sometimes fast and reminded me of riding in France. It was fun. I guess it was such fun that I didn’t stop to take photos. The quiet sections of the trip made it well worth the traffic on the two ends, Rts. 23 and Rt. 7.

 

Monument Mountain

At Rt. 7 I turned north, just under Monument Mountain, another Trustees of Reservation property.  Trustees are a big, effective player in land preservation in our area. I have hiked up that mountain many times and it is either a steep rocky climb up with a gentle, wide path descent … or vice versa.

Follow Rt. 7 through busy Stockbridge to Rt. 102 and back to South Lee.

Roads: From Rt. 102 in Lee, Tyringham Road to Rt. 23, to Blue Hill Road, which intersects with Monument Valley Rd to Rt. 7 north. Follow it to Rt. 102 back to Lee. Click here for Map My Ride link to this route, it will have cue sheets, map and climb info.

BERKSHIRE COUNTY RIDES LIST

Berkshire Cycling: South Lee Loop 1 (part 2)

The road starts an easy climb up at and I quickly reach Fernside, on the side of Mt. Horeb. This was once a Shaker colony, dating I think from 1792.  The views down to the Tyringham valley are beautiful. The valley below is wide, long, straight and home to several beautiful farms many quite old. Its road is a good ride in its own right. It is always difficult for me to decide which route to take, the high road or the low road. If you’re looking for a shorter ride, take both: go one direction to Monterey Road and then return the other direction.

Where Jerusalem Road bears left and McCarty Road goes off almost straight, I could follow Jerusalem down to Tyringham Cobble, a Trustees of Reservations property that offers some of the best walking, and most beautiful views, in this part of the county. But my map shows that I can continue straight on McCarty to reach Monterey Road. It is a pleasant ride, past pastures between areas of woods, with no traffic. When I reach Monterey Road I turn right, heading south, and the road climbs up, its surface wider and smoother until reaching Monterey. The descent is fun, with protected land to my right. It is fast and chilly enough that I zip up my jacket and put my headband back on. And I remember about last Thursday, which I spent indoors at work, with sunny blue skies, only the mildest of breezes and 70 degree temperatures outside. Why is it always like that? How often do you hear someone say: “All week I worked inside while it was grey, cold and rainy outside only to get to my time off and have the weather blue, gorgeous and wonderful?” It doesn’t happen.

Before reaching Lake Garfield I noticed a sign to the Bidwell House Museum, but didn’t follow it today. I had thought it was located elsewhere in Monterey, and am intrigued, but rain threatens, and I don’t take the time. There is a flock of Canada geese on Lake Garfield, and some gulls. On the beach, I read a sign telling me that “Water rights purchased and given to the town of Monterey by the summer and town’s people 1913.”  I am sure that everyone in town has been eternally grateful for this clear, long-sighted thinking. It is a beautiful resource and always crowded when I ride by in warmer weather. Shortly past the lake, I reach Rt. 23 and turn right, west, and ride past the Monterey General Store, town hall and United Church of Christ. Rt. 23 is a decent road, but there is no shoulder at all to speak of. This time of the year there is not much traffic, but it could be quite busy in July or August.

 

 At about 12 miles, I turn back north (right) on Blue Hill Road towards Beartown State Forest. It goes uphill, providing good riding. Soon I turn right again on Beartown Rd. This state forest protects about 11,000 acres, and is the third largest in Massachusetts, with a campground and hiking trails. The road surface on this side of the park is good, there is no traffic and I stop for a few minutes at Benedict Pond. The pond is pretty, about 40 acres in size, with the hills beyond it showing off the colors of the oaks. There are a few people around, hiking on the roads and trails. I’ve heard many chickadees, seen crows, juncos, bluejays, cardinals, those geese and gulls on the lake, and unnamed sparrows. It is late fall here, and the chipmunks are busy storing food for the winter before they dig deep into the earth to hibernate. Most every rustling noise that I hear is made by a chipmunk.

The road surface on the descent into Lee is very broken up. I am a cautious rider, and wouldn’t want to hit that section of road fast. But, like most descents, it is fun. The ride remains pretty, following a beautiful, bigger stream down into the valley. I am quickly back in South Lee, and just as it starts raining I am back in my car headed north.  

Click here to see the route, with map, cue sheet and climbing details, on Map My Ride.

Berkshire Rides List

Berkshire Cycling: South Lee Loop 1 (part 1)

24 miles                Paved and Dirt
Towns: South Lee, Tyringham, Monterey, Great Barrington

Parking: Post Office or Park, South Lee

Housatonic River

This is a pretty ride, probably would be at any time of the year, with little traffic. It starts at Meadow Street and Rt. 102, where Meadow Street turns off to the east, crossing the Housatonic River. The bridge was built in 1954 and  offers good views downriver. When my friend Larry visits, he knows that he can announce with confidence virtually every river he sees in our part of the Berkshires, no matter how geographically improbable it seems, as the Housatonic. It doesn’t matter whether the water is flowing north, south, east or west. The river starts at Muddy Pond, in my town of Washington, flows north to Dalton; then west to Pittsfield: then south, and meanders its way to Connecticut. It’s frequently pretty, especially where General Electric and its PCBs haven’t been near.  

Past Oak and Spruce Resort (don’t look left or right, just ride through it) Meadow Street is quiet, sometimes in the woods, sometimes between open fields. At about 1-1/2 miles I turned right onto Fernside. After a bit the surface becomes hard gravel. The oaks in the forest are holding their color, a rich, reddish- or orangish-brown, depending on the variety. Their color, leaf shape and bark announce several varieties. I think they may be red oak, black oak, white oak and perhaps chestnut oak. There are a lot more oaks here than in my home woods, only about 10 miles northeast as the crow flies. Some people say the oaks never flourished there, that the glacier, higher altitudes and subsequent colder temperatures made a dividing line. Other people say that the oaks were all cut for ties when the Boston – Chicago rail line was built through town, and that they never regrew. In any case, I have never seen a mature oak in the woods near home; it is a beech-birch-maple forest with hemlock stands in cold areas.

After the droughty summer, the recent rains have filled the streams coming down the side of the hill to my right, and they are moving quickly now.  On the forest floor the Christmas ferns are evident, growing in healthy stands. Named Christmas fern because their leathery fronds are evergreen, they grow in rocky, shaded, moist, woods and are fun to watch until winter snows bury them. Less happily, there are large stands of coltsfoot at the edge of the road, a plant brought to this country as a medicinal herb by English colonists. It may be a good medicinal, but it drives out native plants, dominating the area where it grows. Soon I cross the Appalachian Trail, which comes from Maine, entering the county in Clarksburg, just east of Williamstown, and continuing south until it exits Massachusetts in Mount Washington, on its way to Georgia.

I pass a wooden trough that offers water to the passing public. There is no sign, but I imagine that it is potable water, something that in our litigious society no one would ever say, must less write. In the photo you can (barely) see the springhouse at the top, and if you look carefully you’ll see the beer can discarded next to the bucket. What kind of person throws away cans, bottles, other garbage? And why is it so frequent in our culture? I could guess: someone in a car, drinking, who knows it’s dangerous and illegal, so gets rid of the evidence. And, why then, do I see Vitamin Water bottles littered on the side of the road? I don’t imagine cyclists or hikers throwing them away; perhaps I am wrong, but even my cynical self hopes not.  And why do I see cigarette packages? And fast food packaging? How stupidly unnecessary is this? Why don’t we as a culture respect and take care of our surroundings? In any case, it’s a sad juxtaposition, the fresh, clear water and the discarded, empty aluminum can.

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