Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Monument Mountain
Photo: Tom Walsh, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A pale quartzite peak sacred to the Mohican people, three trails under three miles, and views to Mount Greylock and the Catskills from the 1,642-foot top.
Written for ages 6–12.
Researched from this park's own sources. Nobody's walked it yet.
Read this bit out
This mountain has been sacred to the Mohican people since long before anybody wrote anything down. People climbed it and left stones here, each one carrying a prayer, and the pile of stones they built is the monument the mountain is named after. After the Mohicans were forced off this land the original monument was destroyed by white settlers. A new one has since been built near the trail that carries their name. Two writers once spent an afternoon up here too, and one of them went home and wrote Moby-Dick. All of that happened on this one hill.
One of your three free places, or the Explorer Pass. What that costs
Before you go
- Time there
- Plan on about 2.5 hours at the park.
- Parking
- Parking for 56 cars at the entrance on Route 7. $10 to park for nonmembers; free for Trustees members. Open sunrise to sunset. The lot is not maintained in winter. A free trail map is on the bulletin board, while supplies last. Dogs on leash. Hunting is allowed in season except Sundays, so wear orange.
- Underfoot
- Three trails, all under three miles. The 0.83-mile Hickey Trail leaves north from the lot and is the most direct and most strenuous; the 1.5-mile Mohican Monument Trail is the other way up. The 0.62-mile Peeskawso Peak Trail links both to the 1,642-foot summit. Take care on the summit ledges.
- Stroller
- No good for a stroller — carry the little ones.
- Food
- There are picnic tables. Bring your own food; fires are not allowed.
22 challenges written for this place
A game deals seven to fifteen of them, so no two visits are alike.
4 things to spot, 3 photographs to take and 3 things to work out.
Every game includes this one
Peeskawso Peak
Get to the top — 1,642 feet — and stand where you can see the whole valley.
A few of the others
Find Greylock
From the top you can see the highest point in Massachusetts. Work out which one it is.
Made It
One photo of everybody at the top, with the view behind you. Stay well back from the edge.
The Pale Rock
This mountain is made of pale quartzite. Photograph somebody against the whitest rock you can find.
Their Turn
Hand the phone to the youngest. They take one picture of whatever they want.
Twenty Thousand A Year
More than twenty thousand people climb this every year. Work out roughly how many that is each day.
Two Writers, One Afternoon
Two famous writers spent an afternoon up here, and one went home and wrote Moby-Dick. Decide what about this place might do that to a person.
The rest are a surprise — that's the whole point.
Also around The Berkshires
Bartholomew's Cobble
Sheffield
Two rocky knolls above the Housatonic with one of North America's greatest diversities of ferns, two small caves and a hilltop field. No pets.
Mount Greylock State Reservation
Lanesborough
The highest point in Massachusetts, 3,491 feet up, with a road to the top from mid-May to late October, a war memorial tower and 90-mile views.
Play this at Monument Mountain
Free. Works with no signal once you're there.