We wanted to hike Mt. Greylock but due to my injured knee we settled for driving the scenic byway and hiking a few short trails.
After heading west on the Mohawk Trail in our previous day, we start heading south through Mt Greylock, the tallest mountain in Massachusetts. Full of hiking trails and crossed by another beautiful scenic byway, we took this road to explore some of the top trails and locations on the mountain in the most efficient way possible. Note that the visitors center is located on the south end of the park and so that was our final stop!
The first location on our trip was the Cascade Trail. A very generic name for a positively lovely little hike. The parking situation is a little odd, being located at the YMCA. You then follow signs through a small neighborhood to find the actual trailhead at the end of a dead end road. Some comments on alltrails mentioned having a hard time following these signs and finding the entrance of the hike but we thought it was well marked and very easy to find. Worst case scenario use your GPS to aid you.
The trail itself is a gentle uphill affair with a single brook side boulder hop... boulders, more like small stones. At the end is a slippery area with larger boulders you can climb around on to get the ideal view of the cascade. With the low water levels when we visited we were able to casually stroll all the way up to the base of the falls with ease. It really was a cool little spot even with dry conditions.
Sadly the dry conditions were much worse at Moneybrook Falls, our second hike. We followed the scenic road up along the mountain and pulled over at the very easy to find trail sign. Due note that there is only space for roughly 4 cars here. The hike itself is a very easy to follow trail, straight down the side of the valley. About half a mile down and I mean DOWN. It took us about 12 minutes to reach the bottom but over 20 to get back up. The steep climb in 90 degree weather was unpleasant!
This waterfall is located near the top of the mountain line so I'm amazed it had any water flow at all, but somehow it manages. During peak spring run off this thing is mighty impressive and well worth the visit. During the late summer, maybe not so much!
After this we began a ride to the summit, but discovered a view point looking up to the veterans tower:
The tower itself adorns the top of the summit and it's already stunning views. Inside is a solemn memorial to the veterans of Massachusetts and a 90 step spiral staircase to a view platform. From the top of the tower you can see in every direction vast distances. In front of each window are plaques with details of what you can see through each. It is a very confined an tight space though, and probably not ideal for claustrophobic individuals.
There is also an Appalachian Trail lodge at the summit that has small food and refreshments, bathrooms and other services for hikers. There were tons of people lounging here and the mood is very relaxed. This would be a wonderful spot for your mid day picnic.
The real highlight here though is the main view of the town of Adams. While it's not as expansive as the tower view there are no windows to obscure the view:
While we would love to hike the entire mountain one day, the drive makes this a super enjoyable day trip for those of us nursing a bad knee! We also checked out the visitors center and wanted to see the Stony Ledge trail but didn't have time. Mt Greylock is likely one of the best "high points" of any state.
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