At 3,491 feet (1,064 m) Mount Greylock is the tallest mountain in Massachusetts. Its peak offers a wide-ranging view of the surrounding Berkshire landscape, while the Money Brook trail that leads you there from its base offers numerous minor stream crossings within beautifully secluded woods. If hiking mountains isn’t your thing however, there’s a road right up to the top where a 1930s-era lodge waits for you to check-in and spend the night. In the record book of U.S. mountains Greylock doesn’t rank too high, but this hike, due in large part to that parking lot on the peak, is far more about the journey than the destination.
Distance: 13 miles
Estimated Hrs.: 5.5 (non-winter)
Max. Elevation Reached: 3,491 ft.
Elevation Gain: 3,300 ft. (approx.)
Peak Elevation: 3,491 ft.
Difficulty: ModerateRough History
Ground down by glaciers from near Himalayan stature to the heights they are now, the Green and Berkshire mountains are an old range, separate only by the Berkshires lower average height, and the state border cutting across them between Vermont and Massachusetts.Before Dutch and English fur traders arrived, Mount Greylock was Mahican territory. The Mahican had been in a long-time struggle with the Mohawk over control of the mountainous area between New York’s Hudson river to the west, and Massachusetts’ Connecticut river in the east. Mahican land ranged between there to as far north as southern Vermont’s Green Mountains, extending south into northwestern Connecticut. They gained allies in this inter-tribal war with the nearby Pocumtuc tribe, who lived mostly east of the Berkshires in the Connecticut River valley, with whom they shared common language and dialect.The mohawk won the war, and soon after, around 1630, a smallpox epidemic swept through New England helping further decimate the Mahican and Pocumtuc population that remained in the Berkshire mountains.English settlers first knew Mount Greylock as the Grand Hoosuc(k). It was later called Saddleback Mountain until finally, by 1830 everyone settled on Greylock. The naming was most likely in tribute to a renowned warrior chief who became known as Wawanotewat, which translates to “he who fools the others or puts someone off the track.” Known to the settlers as Gray Lock, or Greylock, because of his distinctive streak of gray hair, he resisted European settlement in the area up until about the 1720s. He died a free man around 1740.In the early years of European settlement, Mount Greylock’s slopes were cleared for farming, but by the late 1800s, it was logging that left them bare. In 1799, Timothy Dwight IV, President of Yale University climbed the mountain. Later, in 1830 a group of students from nearby Williams College, led by college president Edward Griffin cut the path known then and now as The Hopper trail, beginning at the end of Hopper Road.
By the mid-1800s, improved access brought several noted writers and artists to the mountain, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Cullen Bryant, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Herman Melville, and Henry David Thoreau. It’s snow covered saddle shape is said to have inspired Herman Melville’s tale of Moby-Dick, as it was visible from his nearby home. Thoreau spent a night on the mountain in 1844, ascending what is now known as the Bellows Pipe Trail. He wrote about the experience in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. Hawthorne climbed Greylock several times and gained inspiration to write Ethan Brand.
By the late 1800s, destructive logging practices clear cut most of Mount Greylock, leaving it greatly exposed to landslides and forest fires. It was a fire burning on the peak that prompted some local businessmen to form the Greylock Park Association (GPA) in 1885, which then purchased 400 acres at the summit. When the GPA ran into debt troubles about twelve years later, discussions amounted to the land being acquired by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to become a state reservation. It became the first public land reservation for the protection of wilderness in the state, later falling under the care of the state park system, which didn’t exist at the time.
Throughout the early 1900s several foot trails were created in the park. In 1929 eleven miles of the Appalachian Trail (AT) were cut into it as well, though years of dispute nearly allowed the forest to reclaim its land from the AT. Over the next ten years extensive work was done by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) 107th Company to improve the health of the forest and its recreational development. This is the period when Greylock’s roads were made to accommodate cars, the Bascom Lodge was built, Thunderbolt Trail was cut to attract downhill skiers, and when many of the lean-to camping shelters were installed.
A 1941 proposal to build a tram and downhill ski area on Mount Greylock’s southwest face was voted down, though never lost all its momentum. In 1964 plans were unveiled for a “tram, chair lifts, 11 miles of ski trails, an ‘international shopping center’ and an amusement park,” prompting a conservation group to file legal suit against the plans. Their win got the land reservation transferred into the care of the Massachusetts state park service. Over the subsequent 40 years, developer after developer tried to build at Greylock, and each failed. The area most eyed for building on is called Greylock Glen and plans to develop it carry on.
Crowning the peak is the Massachusetts Veterans War Memorial Tower, completed in 1932. Bascom Lodge, also on the summit of Mount Greylock was built in the 1930s sourcing local stone and timber. It was designed in a style that became a blueprint for America’s National Park lodges. The Mount Greylock state reservation, spans over 12,500 acres, offers 70 miles of trails, and has remained in continuous operation for over 78 years.
Some Sources:
http://www.dickshovel.com/pocu.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocomtuc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahican
The route I chose to ascend Mount Greylock is called the Money Brook Trail, and it’s undoubtedly a popular route to take when you’re on the northwest side of the mountain. When you reach the moderately sized parking area at the trailhead, a patch cut out of a corn field really, you might be a bit unsure about where to go. Though it looks like your only choice is heading toward a day of work on the farm, you’ll quickly realize there is only one path leading to the trailhead.
Everything starts by walking a trail cut through a glacial cirque, a ravine called The Hopper, that begins at the former Haley and Greene farms, which are still actively farmed even though the land is state owned.
For the first fraction of a mile, open fields flank the left and right of the trail, initially placing you under close scrutiny by a small herd of fenced cows. Along the way the trail splits; To the south (right) is The Hopper Trail, and continuing east (straight) is Money Brook.
[singlepic id=347 w= h= float=none]As you follow the Money Brook trail you’ll soon discover the first of many streams that keep you company throughout this hike, helping to make it truly memorable. Not far along, and just before you reach a foot bridge spanning the small stream you’ve been walking near, you’ll encounter an area for dispersed, primitive camping that includes a privy or two.
The eastern wall of the ravine is formed by both Greylock and Mount Fitch, while rising sharply on the northwest side is Prospect Mountain. Topping out at about 2,656 feet, there is a trail leading up it called the Prospect Trail, but you don’t have to worry about ascending its fairly steep face because you’ll follow the floor of the ravine to the end, before tracing the low point of a saddle between Mount Prospect and Mount Williams.
All along this trail you’ll rock hop and follow a number of small streams, whose relative ease of crossing, depending on time of year, should never pose more than a minor obstacle. I didn’t stop much on this trail, but when I did it was usually to snap some water pics.
[singlepic id=356 w= h= float=none]Along the way out of the ravine, the steepest incline of the whole day, is a short spur trail leading to Money Brook Falls. You definitely want to check out the falls, which offers a great place to take a rest.
Depending on how varied your experience is with hiking, the Money Brook Trail may expose you to some unique moments. The first of which for me, was emerging from a thick of woods and having to cross a road, Notch Road, which leads drivers to the summit of Mount Greylock.
There are two paths leading to crossings of Notch Road, but you’ll only be choosing one of them. I missed a turn in the trail that would have added a little distance, and had me follow the Appalachian Trail for a longer time, finding the Wilbur Clearing lean-to, used in-season by AT “thru” and “section” hikers, and passing over the summit of Mount Williams.
[singlepic id=359 w= h= float=none]I crossed a little further up the road and skirted just south of the Mount Williams summit for a little while before I was dumped onto the Appalachian Trail. A feature that you’ll only see on this path are the meager remains of an old building ruin. Most of what remains is the fireplace chimney.
When I reached the summit of Mt. Greylock it was cold, windy, cloudy and crawling with people. It would have been nearly impossible to take a photo that didn’t capture some random person in it. I opted only to take a short break and continue walking back down the mountain.
In all, Money Brook is a great trail. The route and side-trails I took totaled up to about a 13 mile loop putting hikers through a healthy amount of elevation change as it passes along more than one summit. There are numerous places to camp, both at designated campsites and in dispersed, wooded locales. Definitely recommended.
http://alltrails.com/trail/us/massachusetts/mt-greylock-via-money-brook-trail