Beartown State Forest

Issue #137 - Autumn in the Berkshires, Massachusetts

Two miles south of Lee, Massachusetts, Beartown State Forest covers 12,000 acres with a large choice of trails. The Appalachian Trail passes through the eastern side of Beartown. One paved road runs down the middle of the forest to the thirty-five acre Benedict Pond (camping and boating). The loop trail around this pond offers many viewpoints of fall color reflecting in the clear waters. The Benedict Pond loop trail 42,12.0852N  73,17.006W shares the route with the Appalachian Trail for a half-mile as it loops around the south end of the pond. Morning is best to light up the red and yellow trees reflecting in calm coves. Several wooden planks cross muddy streams at the south end of the pond. For a short distance, the Loop Trail follows the Old Beartown Road (unpaved) and then hugs the pond’s shoreline again before circling the north end of the pond. This trail takes less than an hour to walk. It took me a half-day to photograph my way around, through the autumn color.