The Berkshires

Kennedy Park is a town-owned and maintained hardwood forest with old carriage roads and nearly 15 miles of groomed trails. It’s Ideal for hiking, picnics, and cross-country skiing. Trail maps are available at The Arcadian Shop and on the Town of Lenox website. Kennedy Park hiking map Directions from 33 Main

Mass Audubon protects 38,000 acres of land throughout Massachusetts, saving birds and other wildlife, and making nature accessible to all. As Massachusetts’ largest nature conservation nonprofit, they welcome more than a half million visitors a year to our wildlife sanctuaries and 20 nature centers.

• Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary 472 West Mountain Road, Lenox, MA | 413 637 0320
  

  Set amidst more than 1,000 lush acres in the Berkshires, Pleasant Valley’s varied trails wind through forests, meadows, wetlands, and along the slopes of Lenox Mountain, making this site an excellent location for easy-to-strenuous hiking. While exploring, there’s a good chance you will see evidence of the sanctuary’s most visible wildlife resident, the beaver, via dams, dens, or lodges. Directions from 33 Main

• Lime Kiln Farm Wildlife Sanctuary Silver Street, Sheffield, MA | 413 637 0320
  

  Lime Kiln Farm has been known to host more than 500 species of plants including many rare varieties. A key tract of land within the 14,000-acre Schenob Brook Area of Critical Environmental Concern, the rolling hayfields, limestone ridge, conifer forest, and former pastures attract more than 50 species of butterflies as well as pileated woodpeckers, alder flycatchers, and red foxes. Directions from 33 Main

• Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary Holmes Road, Pittsfield, MA | 413 637 0320
  

  Located just one mile from the center of Pittsfield, Canoe Meadows brings wilderness to Berkshire County’s largest city, attracting warblers, turtles, ospreys, otters, and the occasional bear at different times of year. Gentle, flat trails wind through the sanctuary’s scenic woods, fields, and wetlands, and along the edge of the Housatonic River. Directions from 33 Main

At the center of the 734-acre Yokun Ridge Reserve is Olivia’s Overlook.  This popular overlook is also the trailhead for the 6 miles of trail that BNRC maintains on Yokun Ridge.  Trails range from the easy access Walsh Trail (a gradual climb to stunning views all the way to Great Barrington) to the long inter-locking loops of the Burbank and Brothers Trail. Directions from 33 Main

Open to the public and owned by the Stockbridge Bowl Association is accessible from Lenox, MA located near Tanglewood at the conjunction of Hawthorne Rd and Hawthorne St. It is an ideal place for an early fall hike affording views of ancient trees, black bears, and afternoon sun reflecting on Stockbridge Bowl. Directions from 33 Main

The Gould Meadows conservation property is open to the public, and is owned by the Town of Stockbridge. It is 95 acres, and has 0.6 miles of public trails. Directions from 33 Main