10 Things to Do in Massachusetts Berkshires, Pioneer Mohawk Valley

Berkshire East Mountain Resort

66 Thunder Mountain Road Charlemont, MA, 01339 Phone: 413-339-6617

Featured by USA Today as one of the Top Ten Zip Lines of the United States!

Berkshire East is New England's largest zip destination with three tours to choose from. The Base Tour is our introductory course… give zipping a try! Then move on to fabulous views of the valley on the Mountain Top Tour. Mountain Top zipping is a great family experience and summer memory.

Ready for tour number three? The Valley Jump is fun to the extreme. You will love it. Two 1/2 long mile zips, approaching 200' off the ground. This tour has been featured in the Washington Post.

Come, fly above the tree tops!

Red Lion Inn

30 Main Street Stockbridge, MA, 01262 Phone: 413-298-5545

Make the Red Lion Inn your headquarters for Berkshire memories

There is everything to like about a visit to Stockbridge, MA. There’s two plus centuries of America’s history. Here’s the adopted home of Norman Rockwell not far from his celebrated museum. The studios and creations of famed artists, musicians, and authors are within easy reach. The outdoors offers hiking, biking, skiing, water sports and more. In short, there is something for everyone. The Red Lion Inn has it too. Rooms with complimentary WIFI, air conditioning, cable television, and cozy plush bathrobes. There’s great food rooted in the region’s traditions. Enjoy the fitness room, the partners spa, a heated outdoor pool, a porch with rocking chairs, a gift shop, nightly entertainment at the Lion’s Den, and a very curious lobby cat.

Porches Inn at MASS MoCA

231 River Street North Adams, MA, 01247 Phone: 413-664-0400

MassMoCA and more in quaint and quirky North Adams

Visit the world renowned Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and stay across the street at this lodging in restored Victorian row houses. You’ll enjoy the relaxed, cozy atmosphere and quirky and colorful spirit within. Architectural framings and angles vary. Individual decors give a distinct personality to every space. No two rooms are alike and the comforts are everywhere from lofts and/or spiral staircases, separate living rooms, working fireplaces, to private slate floored baths with Jacuzzi, claw foot tubs, and separate shower stalls. There’s complimentary continental breakfast, a heated outdoor pool, fitness center and lobby bar. The museum highlights the northern Berkshire’s arts and crafts scene while quaint, walkable North Adams offers great shopping, restaurants, galleries and more.

Zoar Outdoor

Route 2 (Mohawk Trail) Charlemont, MA, 01339 Phone: 800-532-7483

So many amazing activities at this adventure center for all skill levels

If you have ever wanted to try zip lining, or whitewater rafting or stand-up paddle-boarding, the place to launch your adventure is Zoar Outdoor in the Berkshires. It’s also the place for experienced folks, with whitewater rapids up to level IV and a three-hour zip lining canopy tour that reaches heights of 50 feet. Zoar also offers stand-up paddle-boarding, kayaking, canoeing, rock climbing, easy river floats and, at its center in Wilmington, Vt., snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and mountain biking. Experienced instructors and guides are ready to assist or teach people at every skill level, and the equipment they use is first-rate. Kayaks and paddleboards, for example, are stable enough for first-time users. Lodging options include Hawk Mountain Lodge, 11 cabin tents, five tent sites – and a yurt.

Ponds at Foxhollow

Route 7 Lenox, MA, 01240 Phone: 413-637-1469

Endless adventure and recreation in a Berkshires vacation

The Berkshire Hills has it all. And you can have it too at this magnificent and secluded resort set on a picturesque 223 acre estate. Your home away from home can be a one or two bedroom condominium with master bathroom and Jacuzzi, a fully equipped kitchen, fireplace, living and dining areas, sleeper sofa, television, stereo, DVD player and a deck overlooking the pond. Right outside your door are gas barbecue grills, tennis, shuffleboard, bocce courts, a playground, indoor and outdoor pools, exercise room with hot tub and sauna, rowboats and canoes, trails for walking and cross country skiing. Within a short drive, enjoy Berkshire’s history, art, music, old inns and taverns, great food and shopping. Breathtaking mountain scenery included.

Monument Mountain Motel

247 Stockbridge Road (Route 7) Great Barrington, MA, 01230 Phone: 413-528-3272 Toll-Free: 888-592-7314

Make this heart-of-the-Berkshires hotel your base camp for endless adventure

Oh, the places you’ll go in the Berkshires – and all from your comfy, affordable room at the Monument Mountain Motel in Great Barrington. Hike up the hotel’s namesake and gaze in awe at the unending colors of autumn; in winter, ski with the kids at the Butternut Ski Area; take a summer tour or watch an open rehearsal at Tanglewood; stroll along the Housatonic River boardwalk. Don’t miss the concerts at the Guthrie Center and Foundation, inspiration for “Alice’s Restaurant,” or the latest installations at the prestigious Clarke Art Institute. Get in the holiday spirit in picture-postcard Stockbridge, go antiquing in the area’s numerous quintessential New England towns (or celebrate the spirit of those towns at the Norman Rockwell Museum).

Berkshire Days Inn

372 Main Street Great Barrington, MA, 01230 Phone: 413-528-3150

No boring moments during your comfortable stay in the Berkshires

Think of the Berkshire Days Inn, a comfortable hotel that is but a brief walk from historic downtown Great Barrington, as Point A. Points B through Z are all the nearby activities you can choose from. Go antiquing through quaint Berkshire towns, ski at Catamount, stroll through the Berkshire Botanical Garden, the Hancock Shaker Village or along the fascinating Housatonic River Walk. Marvel at MASSMoca or the Gilded Age Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, admire the offerings at the Norman Rockwell Museum or Clarke Art Institute or take in some exceptional theater at Shakespeare & Co. or the Barrington Stage Company. Catch a concert at Tanglewood. With hundreds of restaurants and shops to choose from, there will be no boring moments during your time in the Berkshires.

Family at Tanglewood 500x250 - Berkshires Visitors Bureau - Photo Credit Ogden Gigli

The Berkshires of Western MA

Come play in the sweet mountain air this summer

Less than three hours from New York City and Boston, the Berkshires offer culture and adventure year round. The allure of the Berkshires in summer is a savory blend of sweet mountain air, migratory birdsong; rare wildflowers found in forests and open fields, and the return of locally grown foods to our tables. Nature, like us, sheds its early spring coat and greets the season with a warm welcome. Journey here as a couple or pack up the entire family, get out & about in the Berkshires. Whether you choose to spend your time indoors or out, the Berkshire region comes alive in summer. Come discover all the possibilities the Berkshires has in store during the most-welcomed seasons of all. To learn more visit us at berkshires.org or find us on Facebook at Visit the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.

Bubbles in the Berkshires

Blantyre , a Relais & Châteaux property nestled near Lenox in the scenic Berkshires, is now hosting a year-round Champagne salon inspired by Dom Pérignon. The salon will offer select Dom Pérignon varietals in indoor and outdoor spaces. Guests can enjoy inventive drinks and fresh fare throughout the year in the Cloister, a secluded garden patio that features a clever tin-to-table menu with an upscale twist on caviar. Inside, guests can seek refuge at La Cave, a sleek underground hideaway next to Blantyre’s acclaimed wine cellar, adorned with original brick and marble stone walls. Elegant! The new Champagne Salon is open Fridays to Sundays, 3 to 11 p.m. 844-881-0104.

Bridge of Flowers Is Like Nothing You’ve Ever Seen

The Bridge of Flowers was once a decrepit railroad bridge, before it fell into the hands to local gardeners. They draped the bridge in living gardens of flowers, shrubs, and trees that delight people from spring to fall. It’s a walk through a gorgeous garden above a rushing river with a lovely town on the side. The bridge is in Shelburne Falls, off Route 2 (the Mohawk Trail). It spans the Deerfield River and connects the towns of Shelburne and Buckland.

bish bash fall in mount washington state prk in ma

You Gotta Love the Name

Visit the most-photographed waterfall in Massachusetts at Bash Bish Falls. Located next to the Mount Washington State Forest, Bash Bish Falls tumbles through gorges and a hemlock ravine forest, and then drops about 60 feet into a sparkling pool. The park is open from sunrise to one-half hour after sunset and access is free. The falls is located next to the 4,169-acre Mount Washington State Forest, adjoining New York's 5,000 acre Taconic State Park.

Morgan’s Mansion Hosts Lots of Fun Seasonal Events

Call him a robber baron, but at least J. P. Morgan took care of his kid sister; the mansion built for her in 1893 is a testament to that. Ventfort Hall in Lenox is an imposing Jacobean Revival-style mansion with a history dating back to the grandeur and opulence of the Gilded Age. Despite its brush with demolition in the 1980s, today the mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and declared an official project of “Save America’s Treasures.” Visitors can tour the grand estate, peruse the art gallery, or simply enjoy the architecture. Open daily year round. Phone: 413-637-3206.

natural bridge state park in north adams ma

Marble Luxury at the Hands of Nature

Discover a geologic wonder and a peaceful place to walk and view the artistry of nature at Natural Bridge State Park on McCauley Road, off Route 8, in North Adams. Examine the only naturally formed white marble arch and man-made white marble dam in North America, and tour an abandoned marble quarry. The natural bridge, according to geologists, is 550 million year old bedrock marble, carved into an arch by the force of glacial melt water over 13,000 years ago; one of the best places in New England to demonstrate the effects of glaciers. The bridge spans rushing Hudson Brook as it tumbles through a 60-foot gorge. Phone: 413-663-6392

dinosaur museums in western Massachusetts

Fossils Fuel Curiosity at Dino Museums

Dinosaur history and folklore are alive and roaring in the Pioneer Valley region. A day or more of exploration awaits dino fans of all persuasions. The Nash Dinosaur Track Site and Rock Shop in South Hadley displays the largest number of dinosaur tracks in the region. Nearby, the Beneski Museum of Natural History at Amherst College in Amherst has impressive exhibits that include vertebrate and invertebrate paleontology, minerals, and other geologic specimens. Visitors to Dinosaur Hall in the the Springfield Science Museum in Springfield are riveted by the life-size replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Interactive exhibits at Dinosaur Hall include actual fossils of dinosaur tracks which can be touched and a cast of a huge sauropod footprint for children to climb into. Information: 413-755-1346.

kripalu center of yoga and health in stockbridge ma

Namaste

It might seem like all your trendy friends are heading off to yoga class these days, but the folks at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge have been doing it and relatged health treatments for more than 30 years. Tucked away in the beautiful Berkshires of western Massachusetts, Kripalu offers a multitude of classes, workshops, and weekend retreats. Different yogic programs focus on writing, creativity, relationships, body detoxification, cooking, dancing, and even snow-shoeing. So whether you’re a long-time yoga practitioner or a dedicated couch-potato, it’s a safe bet that a stop at Kripalu will make you feel peaceful and rejuvenated. Phone: 866-200-5203.

paintings of James Champney at the Deerfield Inn Deerfield MA

See Deerfield Through 19th Century Artist’s Eyes

In a place with such natural beauty as Massachusetts’s Pioneer Valley region, it is reasonable that painters have worked there to re-create the countryside on canvas. A painter from the 19th century named James Well Champney worked in Deerfield and much of his work now graces the walls of the Deerfield Inn and its bright, airy Champney’s Restaurant & Tavern. Deerfield Inn is among the several New England lodgings lucky to show original art, often by local artists. A visit to his historic town and inn, or a meal of fresh-cooked New England dishes at Champney’s puts you in the middle of a 19th-century vision of this unique place.

Tarzan Never Had It So Good

As a kid, watching the movies, you always wanted to be Tarzan, right? Right?? A zipline canopy tour is the next best thing to living the life of the man of the jungle, but without the rope burns. Starting June 1, 2009, Zoar Outdoor on Main Street in Charlemont is offering three-hour canopy tours in the woods and forests nearby. The Deerfield Valley Canopy Zipline Tours leads adventurers on an aerial trek through the woods by means of zip lines and sky bridges suspended in the trees and connected through platforms that sit high above the forest floor. Zip line canopy tours originated 20 years ago in Central and South America as an exciting and unusual way to experience the forest canopy. Open April 1 through November 30. Phone: 800 532-7483.

Sculptor Who Helped Immortalize Abe

Chesterwood , on Williamsville Road in Stockbridge, is the country home, studio, and gardens of Daniel Chester French, sculptor of the statue of Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C., and the Minute Man in Concord. The buildings are furnished with American and European decorative arts and paintings. Woodland walks feature mountain vistas and perennial gardens. The house and gardens are daily open for self-guided tours from May 1 to October 31. Phone: 413-298-3579.

berkshire scenic railway museum in adams ma

All Aboard for a Fresh View of the Berkshires

Experience a side of the Berkshires that you won’t see from your car. The Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum is offering it Hoosac Valley Service, a 10-mile, hour-long, round-trip train excursion between North Adams and Adams. The train ride offers beautiful views of Mount Greylock (the highest point in Massachusetts) and the surrounding Hoosac Mountain Range. On-board narration is provided to offer educational, historical and cultural information. Trains depart from 5 Hoosac Street, Adams. Trains operate weekends, Memorial Day to Columbus Day, and there is a Christmas-themed Tinseliner at the holiday period in November and December. 413-637-2210

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Interesting things to do fill your trip to the Berkshires, Pioneer & Mohawk valleys