The Mohawk Trail in Massachusetts is a national Scenic byway. We set out to explore all the top attractions in a single day!
The Mohawk trail is a national scenic byway that runs through the north western section of Massachusetts. While it extends a bit east of where we started the point which we jumped on is a normal starting area for most. Additionally when heading north the Yankee Candle Village makes an excellent pit stop south of the entrance.
The first major attraction is the drive itself, it's scenic beauty full of rolling farm land and forested gorges worthy of the moniker. Our first stop along the way was Shelburn falls. A beautiful little New England village. I was expecting a bigger water fall then what we found but it was still interesting.
Bridge of Flowers, Shelburn Falls 2022
The main attraction here isn't the water fall that the town is named after but, rather, the "bridge of flowers". This historic old bridge has been converted into a pedestrian bridge and covered in flowers of all types. We visited on a saturday and this spot was full of people so don't expect an escape from the crowds here.
There are other things of interest here as well, although we were on a tight schedule so we didn't get to full enjoy the town. There are a number of cafe's and restaurants in the center of town, Nina grabbed a coffee at "Baked", one of the cute local cafe's. A live muscian was preparing to play later that evening at another restaurant, which we were able to watch. There is also the historic downtown with it's classic architecture and the steel motorbridge. You get to cross the bridge to leave town while crossing the river. This bridge provides a good opportunity to film the flower bridge from the side.
Located a short distance further and off a small side road is the Bissell covered Bridge. New England is well known for it's plethora of covered bridges and this one actually has a viewing area to enjoy it! The full history of the bridge and its repairs/replacements is also listed on boards prominently displayed here. Just don't make the mistake of driving all the way up to the fairgrounds like we did!
There are a number of other things to stop on the road and see. There is no real parking next to the "Hail to the sun Park" and its amazing native statue, but there is plenty of parking for the "Golden Elk" near the end of the road. Try to check both out and more!
Another major activity for the road is water activities. Since most of the Mohawk Trail follows a river this only makes sense. The upper part of the river includes tubing which took up a large chunk of our day, but you can also white water raft further down stream. We rented tubes and caught a ride to the launch spot with Hyytinen Hollow Tubes. $60 for two tubes and two shuttle passes, $10 for additional trips.
Heading off just off the road to see the local attractions is something we planned to do, and you should too. There are so many cool things located near by. Mohawk state forest takes up a large portion of the western half of this road. While it provides a campground, we were here to find a waterfall. We headed south in Florida, Massachusetts... what a name! And took a bit of a long detour on some back roads that turned to gravel. We felt totally alone on the trip out but the parking lot was full of locals when we arrived.
Tannery Falls is a popular local swimming hole so be prepared if the weather is nice. The hike itself is extremely steep but is well designed with many stairs. My opinion of stairs aside, they are the only thing that makes the hike down to the falls reasonable. I can't imagine getting down this ravine without them. Towards the bottom you will find the first waterfall cutting through a narrow gorge.
The real attraction, the real Tannery Falls is located a minute further down trail from the first fall. This one is not only larger and more open, it has more of a pool at the base for recreation. The spot was gorgeous and wasn't overly infested with bugs either.
The difficulty with a descending hike is, of course, that you need to hike back UP on your way out. Luckily it isn't a long hike but even with the stairs it is steep. The gravel road in and out is barely wider than one car as well so you'll need to be careful.
The drive to and from the Mohawk trail is a solid ten minutes each way. When we returned to the road we found a deer had gotten stuck on the road as it created a narrow gorge through the mountains. Luckily all traffic stopped long enough for it to escape. Shortly after the gorge you will arrive at the summit of the eastern mountain, denoted by the Golden Elk.
The greatest highlight of the Mohawk trail, in my opinion, is the awe inspiring sweeping view you get of North Adams and Mt Greylock. Some genius placed a store on the cliff here and has provided a balcony for the view. This is not to be missed. Just a second further down the hill past the first turn is the Golden Eagle Restaurant which provides an equal view but with a side of food.
Speaking of food, check out our video above for shots of all the incredible things we ate at Grazie in North Adams. A top notch Italian joint that impressed us with everything.
Our next adventure will be climbing up Mt Greylock but if you want to include it in the same day as the Mohawk trail you can, just skip the tubing. See you next week!