What to Do at Mount Greylock State Reservation
Mount Greylock State Reservation is home to the tallest mountain in Massachusetts, Mount Greylock. Mount Greylock stands at 3,489ft located in the Taconic Mountains (commonly mistaken for the Berkshire Mountains) of the state of Massachusetts. Located in Adams, Massachusetts, Mount Greylock is in the southwestern part of the state, which is about 2 and a half hours away from Boston.
Mount Greylock is a great, moderate hike. There are a couple different hikes you can do to get to the summit of Mount Greylock, as well, as many different hikes within the park. So, there is a lot to do within the park. The park does open at 9am and closes at 4pm.
In this post you will learn about Mount Greylock hike, Mount Greylock directions, campsites, overlook trail, and other hikes within Massachusetts.
This post is all about Mount Greylock.
Mount Greylock:
Mount Greylock Directions from Albany, NY
To get to Mount Greylock and Greylock State Reservation, coming from Albany, NY, you will get on I-787 North towards Troy, then in take exit 5 to I-90 towards Boston. Then merge onto I-90 East towards Boston and take exit 8 to Defreestivlle. In 9.7 miles take a slight right onto Eastern Union Turnpike, then in 2.2 miles turn right onto NY-43. For 12 miles continue straight onto Hancock Road, then in 2.6 miles turn right onto Brodie Mountain Road.
In another 2.6 miles turn right onto Bailey Road, then in 2.5 miles turn right onto Williamstown Road. In 1.5 miles turn left onto Prospect Street, in .7 of a mile turn left onto Old Cheshire Road. Then, in 4 miles turn left onto South Street, then in 2.1 miles turn left onto Fred Mason Road. Then in 3 miles take another left onto Gould Road, in .3 of a mile another left onto Gould Road, in about .6 of a mile you will arrive at your destination.
The state reservation has many different hikes and specifically, a couple different hiking routes to get to the summit of Mount Greylock. The directions above will take you to the Bellows Pipe and Gould trailhead.
Mount Greylock Directions From Boston, MA
And coming from Boston, MA you get on the Mass Turnpike West towards Worcester. You will stay on here for 94 miles and get off on exit 41 toward Westfield then in half a mile keep right onto US-202 South towards Westfield. In .6 of a mile turn right onto Notre Dame Street, in another half a mile take a right onto Montgomery Street.In 3.8 miles keep left onto Montgomery Road, in 7.1 miles take a slight right turn onto Worthington Road, and continue on here for 13 miles and onto Old North Road.
In 2.6 miles keep right onto East Windsor Road, then in 3.6 miles turn left onto Berkshire Trail. Then in 4.3 miles turn right onto Savoy Road, then in 4.4 miles turn left onto Main Road. Continue straight for 6.8 miles, then in .2 of a mile turn left onto Maple Street. In .4 of a mile turn left onto West Road, in another .4 of a mile turn right onto Gould Road. In .3 of a mile turn left onto Gould Road, then in about .6 of a mile you will arrive. Again, these are directions to the Bellow Pipe and Goulds trailhead.
Mount Greylock Hike
The most popular hike to climb is to the summit of Mount Greylock. There are a couple different hiking routes that you can take to get to the summit of Greylock. The most popular one is the Bellow Pipes Trail which is around 6 miles long with a little over 2,000 feet of elevation gain. You could also follow the Bellow Pipes trail then the Gould Trail down (a little longer with a little more elevation gain). Another easier way is via Sperry Road and Hopper Trail, which is just under 5 miles with a little over 1,000 feet of elevation gain.
If you just want to drive to the top of Greylock then go for a little hike at the top, Overlook Trail is a great trail to do so. It’s about 3 miles long with little elevation gain. However, this trail gets very wet, so I would wait to hike this trail after a couple days of no or little rain.
Some mountains that you can add along with Mount Greylock are Saddle Ball and Ragged Mountains. Greylock and Saddle Ball together are about 8 miles with almost a 2,000 foot elevation gain. Greylock and Ragged together are a little over 7 miles with about 2,500 foot elevation gain.
More Hiking Within the Reservation
Okay, along with hiking the most famous, Greylock Mountain, there are a ton of other trails and peaks to hike within the park. Here are some great other trails to hike.
- Rounds Rock
- Bradley Farm Trail (beginner, very easy trail)
- Roaring Brook & Stony Ledge
- Thoreau’s Footsteps
- Rounds Rock & Jones Nose Loop (again, beginner, to moderate hike)
- You can find all these hikes, listed here, and more information about them, along with more hikes.
Mount Greylock Camping
Okay, there are a couple different campsites within the preservation. Some popular sites are the Sperry Road Campground, Rockwell Road, and Hopper Road. Once you are in the reservation, you will see signs of where to park for campgrounds. However, once you park, you will have to hike in to the different campgrounds, and distance will vary depending on the campground. You will need to make a reservation to stay at these campgrounds.
There are also a couple different backpacking shelters within the park, as well as the Bascom Lodge, which is at the summit of Greylock. There are limited rooms at the lodge and you will need to make reservations, but they also provide meals.
Other Mountains to Hike in Massachusetts
Here are some other popular, great hikes to climb within the state of Massachusetts.
- The Berkshires
- Mount Everett
- Taconic Mountains
- Monument Mountain
- Alander Mountain Trail
- Appalachian Mountains
- Mount Fitch
- Mount Tom
- Mount Williams
- Mount Grace
- Mount Race
- Mount Toby
- Mount Norwottuck
And that wraps up our article about everything you can do at Mount Greylock State Reservation. You can find more things to do here. Otherwise, thank you so much for reading and I hope this article was informative and you learned a lot of new information about Mount Greylock. Take care and thank you so much for reading!
