Mount Sugarloaf State Reservation | |
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![]() East southeast view from South Sugarloaf observation tower | |
Location | Deerfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, United States |
Coordinates | 42°28′12″N72°35′32″W / 42.47000°N 72.59222°W Coordinates: 42°28′12″N72°35′32″W / 42.47000°N 72.59222°W [1] |
Area | 533 acres (216 ha) [2] |
Elevation | 643 ft (196 m) [1] |
Established | Unspecified |
Operator | Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation |
Website | Mount Sugarloaf State Reservation |
Mount Sugarloaf State Reservation is a state-owned, public recreation area managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation located in South Deerfield, just west of the Connecticut River. The state park includes the summits of North Sugarloaf Mountain and South Sugarloaf Mountain, as well as 1.75 miles of frontage on the Connecticut River and two river islands. The park is part of a larger park designation called the Connecticut River Greenway State Park. Portions of the park property along the river are used by the University of Massachusetts Amherst for agricultural research. [3]
The state maintains an automobile road and an observation tower on South Sugarloaf, [4] open from late spring through the fall foliage season. The reservation is accessible via Route 116. Parking for a fee is available at the base of the mountain and at the summit of the auto road. The reservation is open for hiking, picnicking, and scenic viewing. [5] Hiking trails include a section of the 20-mile Pocumtuck Ridge Trail. [6] Canoe and kayak camping is allowed on the islands.
Mount Holyoke, a traprock mountain, elevation 935 feet (285 m), is the westernmost peak of the Holyoke Range and part of the 100-mile (160 km) Metacomet Ridge. The mountain is located in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachusetts, and is the namesake of nearby Mount Holyoke College. The mountain is located in the towns of Hadley and South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is known for its historic summit house, auto road, scenic vistas, and biodiversity. The mountain is crossed by the 110-mile (180 km) Metacomet-Monadnock Trail and numerous shorter trails. Mount Holyoke is the home of J.A. Skinner State Park which is accessible from Route 47 in Hadley, Massachusetts.
Mount Monadnock, or Grand Monadnock, is a mountain in the towns of Jaffrey and Dublin, New Hampshire. It is the most prominent mountain peak in southern New Hampshire and is the highest point in Cheshire County. It lies 38 miles (61 km) southwest of Concord and 62 miles (100 km) northwest of Boston. At 3,165 feet (965 m), Mount Monadnock is nearly 1,000 feet (305 m) higher than any other mountain peak within 30 miles (48 km) and rises 2,000 feet (610 m) above the surrounding landscape. Monadnock's bare, isolated, and rocky summit provides expansive views. It is known for being featured in the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.
Mount Greylock is a 3,489-foot (1,063-meter) mountain located in the northwest corner of Massachusetts and is the highest point in the state. Its summit is in the western part of the town of Adams in Berkshire County. Technically, Mount Greylock is geologically part of the Taconic Mountains, which are not associated with the abutting Berkshire Mountains to the east. The mountain is known for its expansive views encompassing five states and the only taiga-boreal forest in the state. A seasonal automobile road climbs to the summit, topped by a 93-foot-high (28 m) lighthouse-like Massachusetts Veterans War Memorial Tower. A network of hiking trails traverses the mountain, including the Appalachian Trail. Mount Greylock State Reservation was created in 1898 as Massachusetts' first public land for the purpose of forest preservation.
Mount Tom, 1,202 feet (366 m), is a steep, rugged traprock mountain peak on the west bank of the Connecticut River 4.5 miles (7 km) northwest of downtown Holyoke, Massachusetts. The mountain is the southernmost and highest peak of the Mount Tom Range and the highest traprock peak of the 100-mile (160 km) long Metacomet Ridge. A popular outdoor recreation resource, the mountain is known for its continuous line of cliffs and talus slopes visible from the south and west, its dramatic 1,100-foot (340 m) rise over the surrounding Connecticut River Valley, and its rare plant communities and microclimate ecosystems.
Mount Greylock State Reservation is public recreation and nature preservation area on and around Mount Greylock, the highest point in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The park covers some 12,000 acres (4,900 ha) in the towns of Lanesborough, North Adams, Adams, Cheshire, Williamstown and New Ashford, Massachusetts. It was created in 1898 as Massachusetts' first public land for the purpose of forest preservation.
Mount Watatic is a 1,832-foot (558 m) monadnock located just south of the Massachusetts–New Hampshire border, in the United States, at the southern end of the Wapack Range. It lies in Ashburnham, Massachusetts and Ashby, Massachusetts. The 22-mile (35 km) Wapack Trail and the 92-mile (148 km) Midstate Trail both cross the mountain.
The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail is a 114-mile-long (183 km) hiking trail that traverses the Metacomet Ridge of the Pioneer Valley region of Massachusetts and the central uplands of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Although less than 70 miles (110 km) from Boston and other large population centers, the trail is considered remarkably rural and scenic and includes many areas of unique ecologic, historic, and geologic interest. Notable features include waterfalls, dramatic cliff faces, exposed mountain summits, woodlands, swamps, lakes, river floodplain, farmland, significant historic sites, and the summits of Mount Monadnock, Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke. The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail is maintained largely through the efforts of the Berkshire Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC). Much of the trail is a portion of the New England National Scenic Trail.
Mount Toby, 1,269 feet (387 m), is the highest summit of a sprawling collection of mostly wooded hills and knolls that rise from a distinct plateau-like upland in the towns of Sunderland and Leverett, Massachusetts, just east of the Connecticut River. This mountain mass, part of the Metacomet Ridge geology, is oval shaped and roughly three miles by two miles wide. Although three of the subordinate peaks have names of their own, none of them are noteworthy on their own, and the designation “Mount Toby” is most often used to describe the entire geologic mass. This article, therefore, describes the entire Mount Toby upland.
Massaemett Mountain is a mountain in Shelburne, Franklin County, Massachusetts, USA. It is located east of the village of Shelburne Falls. Part of the Berkshire Mountains, Massaemett lies 7 miles (11 km) west of the county seat of Greenfield, Massachusetts, and 87 miles (140 km) west of Boston. The summit features a historic stone fire tower constructed in 1909. The top cab is not open to the public, however the stairway is kept open and offers views from multiple windows facing the four directions of the compass. From the tower, views include the Berkshires and Taconic Mountains to the west, the Green Mountains of Vermont to the north, Mount Wachusett to the east, and the Holyoke Range to the south.
Mount Nonotuck, 827 feet (252 m), is the northernmost peak of the Mount Tom Range of traprock mountains located in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts and part of the larger Metacomet Ridge which stretches from Long Island Sound to nearly the Vermont border. Rugged and considered scenic, the peak rises steeply from the river valley 700 feet (210 m) below. It is located within the town of Holyoke.
The Mount Tom Range is a traprock mountain range located in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts. It is part of the Metacomet Ridge that extends from Long Island Sound near New Haven, Connecticut, north through the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts to nearly the Vermont border. A popular outdoor recreation resource, the range is known for its continuous west facing cliffs and its rugged, scenic character. It is also notable for its unique microclimate ecosystems and rare plant communities, as well as significant historic sites, such as the ruins of the 18th century Eyrie House located on Mount Nonotuck.
The Metacomet Ridge, Metacomet Ridge Mountains, or Metacomet Range of southern New England is a narrow and steep fault-block mountain ridge known for its extensive cliff faces, scenic vistas, microclimate ecosystems, and rare or endangered plants. The ridge is an important recreation resource located within 10 miles (16 km) of more than 1.5 million people, offering four long-distance hiking trails and over a dozen parks and recreation areas, including several historic sites. It has been the focus of ongoing conservation efforts because of its natural, historic, and recreational value, involving municipal, state, and national agencies and nearly two dozen non-profit organizations.
The Holyoke Range or Mount Holyoke Range is a traprock mountain range located in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts. It is a sub-range of the narrow, linear Metacomet Ridge that extends from Long Island Sound near New Haven, Connecticut north through the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts to the Vermont border. A popular hiking destination, the range is known for its anomalous east–west orientation, high ledges and its scenic character. It is also notable for its unique microclimate ecosystems and rare plant communities, as well as significant historic sites, such as the Mount Holyoke Summit House and the Horse Caves.
Mount Norwottuck or Mount Norwottock, 1,106 feet (337 m) above sea level, is the highest peak of the Holyoke Range of traprock mountains located in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts and part of the greater Metacomet Ridge which stretches from Long Island Sound to nearly the Vermont border. The peak rises steeply from the valley 1,000 feet (300 m) below and offers sweeping views of the surrounding countryside. It is located within the towns of Amherst and Granby, Massachusetts.
Sugarloaf Mountain or Mount Sugarloaf, is a butte-like mountain located in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, United States, with two summits, North Sugarloaf Mountain 791 ft (241 m) and its more popular knee, South Sugarloaf Mountain 652 ft (199 m). Its cliffs, made of arkose sandstone, are a very prominent landscape feature visible for miles. Despite low elevations relative to the Berkshire Mountains to the west, dramatic cliff faces and a rise of 500 feet (150 m) to 600 feet (180 m) from the nearby Connecticut River make the mountain a popular tourist and hiking destination. Sugarloaf Mountain is the southern terminus of the Pocumtuck Range.
The Robert Frost Trail is a 47-mile (76 km) long footpath that passes through the eastern Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts. The trail runs from the Connecticut River in South Hadley, Massachusetts to Ruggles Pond in Wendell State Forest, through both Hampshire and Franklin County and includes a number of scenic features such as the Holyoke Range, Mount Orient, Puffer's Pond, and Mount Toby. The trail is named after the poet Robert Frost, who lived and taught in the area from 1916 to 1938.
Totoket Mountain, with a high point of (est.) 720 feet (220 m) above sea level, is a traprock massif with several distinct summits, located 7 miles (11 km) northeast of New Haven, Connecticut. It is part of the Metacomet Ridge that extends from the Long Island Sound near New Haven, north through the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts to the Vermont border. Totoket Mountain is known for its 500-foot-high (150 m) scenic cliffs, unique microclimate ecosystems, rare plant communities, and for Lake Gaillard, a 2.5-mile-wide (4.0 km) public reservoir nearly enclosed by the mountain. The north ridge of Totoket Mountain is traversed by the 50-mile (80 km) Mattabesett Trail and a significant network of shorter trails. The name "Totoket Mountain" applies to both the entire mountain and to a subordinate northwestern peak.
The Pocumtuck Range, also referred to as the Pocumtuck Ridge, is the northernmost subrange of the Metacomet Ridge mountain range of southern New England. Located in Franklin County, Massachusetts, between the Connecticut River and the Deerfield River valleys, the Pocumtuck Range is a popular hiking destination known for its continuous high cliffs, scenic vistas, and microclimate ecosystems.
The Pocumtuck Ridge Trail is a 20-mile (32 km) footpath that traverses the Pocumtuck Range of Deerfield and Greenfield, Massachusetts.
Wachusett Mountain State Reservation is a protected area encompassing 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) around the summit of Mount Wachusett in Massachusetts.