Greylock Route Suggestions

[Legsbenedict]

Thinking about hiking Greylock soon and wanted to know what route(s) would be good this time of year?

Also, has anyone been up recently? Trail conditions?

Many Thanks!

[masshysteria]

I'm sure the Hopper Trail from Williamstown must be packed pretty good by now. Also the Gould Trail and the Cheshire Harbor trails from Adams. Not too sure about the AT from N Adams or the Bellows pipe trail. They used to Gould Trail last weekend for the skiers to reach the top of the Thunderbolt.

[Legsbenedict]

I'm sure the Hopper Trail from Williamstown must be packed pretty good by now. Also the Gould Trail and the Cheshire Harbor trails from Adams. Not too sure about the AT from N Adams or the Bellows pipe trail. They used to Gould Trail last weekend for the skiers to reach the top of the Thunderbolt.

Thanks for the info! I've never hiked it before, but definitely looking forward to exploring.

[Jay H]

I've climbed greylock from the cardinal directions, the longer approaches are from the north and south and the shorter ones are from the east or west. I really enjoyed hiking in from Roaring Brook from the west, it allows you to wander through the Sperry Campground, check out the great view of greylock at the north end of Sperry Road which you can take the trail back to Roaring Brook from there. You can connect to the Hopper trail east of the Sperry campground and then you have options of taking the AT or the road which has some good views in amongst itself.

it's a great route that allows you to do loops and not repeat too much.


As far as the gould trail, getting to to Gould trail gives you a great view of the slide(s) on the east face of Greylock!

Jay

[Legsbenedict]

I really enjoyed hiking in from Roaring Brook from the west, it allows you to wander through the Sperry Campground, check out the great view of greylock at the north end of Sperry Road which you can take the trail back to Roaring Brook from there. You can connect to the Hopper trail east of the Sperry campground and then you have options of taking the AT or the road which has some good views in amongst itself.

it's a great route that allows you to do loops and not repeat too much.


As far as the gould trail, getting to to Gould trail gives you a great view of the slide(s) on the east face of Greylock!

Jay

Thanks Jay! I was hoping you and Masshysteria would reply as you appear to be the resident Berkshire experts! Much appreciated.

[Jay H]

Thanks for the compliment. Masshysteria is the berkshire expert, I'm just an underling. :)

Still have a bunch of places I'd like to check out, including those peaks around Northhampton.

Too many places, too little time, one little me.

Jay

[masshysteria]

Still have a bunch of places I'd like to check out, including those peaks around Northhampton.

Too many places, too little time, one little me.

Jay
Holyoke Range or Mt Tom Range?

[Jay H]

Holyoke Range or Mt Tom Range?

The Holyoke range, but I haven't hiked either. I've driven right by Mt Tom reservation though.....

Jay

[FoulHooked]

I've only hiked it from the East; the trail section between the Bellows Pipe leanto and AT is probably my favorite so far.

If you come in from thiel or gould trailheads the thunderbolt will make for a quick descent, just keep an eye over your shoulder for skiers. Or you could even hike the thunderbolt all the way up.

[Jay H]

So Legs, did you hike Greylock yet? I've gone up the mountain from each direction

1)From the north via the AT
2)From the east via the Gould Trail
3)From the west via Roaring Brook
4)Biked to the summit from the south on the road.

Each has variety and things to explore, besides the summit!

Jay

[Legsbenedict]

Hey Jay,

Last weekend (26th) I drove out from Albany to Pittsfield and met up with my brother in law. We decided to start from the Roaring Brook trail head. First car in the parking area and weather wise, a great day. Lots of cars heading up to the ski area...We didn't have a very early start and got on the trail by 9:00.

We decided to do a loop of Stony Ledge, over Sperry and then depending on how we felt and time, we'd either try to go on to the summit or head back down Roaring brook.

Well no one had been on Stony Ledge for some time and breaking trail for the 1.5 miles to the lookout took about 2 1/2 hours and it really kicked our butts! I hadn't been hiking since the fall and we both felt pretty tired.

Great views of the summit from the look out and snowmobiles had created a nice packed surface on Sperry Road. We made our way down to the campground and ate lunch in a lean to and decided the summit would have to wait for another day.

Plunged down roaring brook and back to the car by 2:45. So, I still need to get back to Greylock and maybe hike it from another direction...what a great mountain!

I'm planning on something in the ADK's on 3/19 either Whiteface or the Wolfjaws....

Have Fun!

[Jay H]

Cool, I like the Sperry lookout, but a friend and I did the reverse, went to the summit and hit the Sperry lookout on the way back, therefore we went down the steep stony ledge trail back to Roaring Brook... Roaring brook is a pretty nice area. There is basically a road that connects the Sperry lookout to the campground, and a higher chance of that being broken out. I think Roaring brook is my favorite approach so far.

If you have the time, the March Cararact falls which is like a 2-2.5mileish round trip from the Sperry Campground is supposed to be pretty.


Jay

[masshysteria]

If you have the time, the March Cararact falls which is like a 2-2.5mileish round trip from the Sperry Campground is supposed to be pretty.


Jay

http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/44452/2616246020102049035S600x600Q85.jpg
If you go to the March Cataract, check out the bottom of the Hopper Slide. It's only 100 yards north of the Falls. :tup:

http://inlinethumb43.webshots.com/45162/2560960350102049035S600x600Q85.jpg