Lanesborough, Massachusetts
Mount Greylock State Reservation
Photo: Miwasiwka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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.
Written for ages 3–12.
Researched from this park's own sources. Nobody's walked it yet.
Read this bit out
There is nowhere in Massachusetts higher than the top of this mountain. On a clear day you can stand up there and see as far as ninety miles. The stone tower at the summit was built to remember people who died fighting for our country. And up near the top, the woods turn dark and pointy: spruce and fir trees, the kind that can take the cold and wind.
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
- Free parking at the Visitor Center, 30 Rockwell Road, Lanesborough, reachable all year. The auto roads to the summit run mid-May to late October (May 16 to October 30 in 2026) and are closed to vehicles over 22 feet. Summit parking is limited and charges a fee.
- Underfoot
- Trails run from casual to extremely difficult, so look at the trail map before choosing one. The summit is usually 5 to 10 degrees colder than the base, and windier, so bring jackets. Dogs on leash. Open dawn to dusk.
- Bathrooms
- There are bathrooms.
- Food
- A few picnic tables at the summit, and the lawn east of the tower is open for picnics. There are no trash cans, so carry out what you bring. Bascom Lodge at the summit is run separately and opens seasonally.
21 challenges written for this place
A game deals seven to fifteen of them, so no two visits are alike.
5 things to work out, 5 things to spot and 3 things to climb, cross or balance on.
Every game includes this one
The Top Of Massachusetts
Get as high up this mountain as your family can today. At the very top, nobody in Massachusetts is higher than you.
A few of the others
Three Thousand Four Hundred And Ninety-One
This mountain is 3,491 feet high. Work out roughly how many of you that is, stacked up.
Ninety Miles
On a clear day you can see ninety miles from up here. Pick the farthest thing you can see and decide what it is.
The Tower On Top
Find the tall stone tower at the summit and walk all the way around the bottom of it.
Trees That Like It Cold
Find the dark pointy trees that grow up here. Feel a needle — carefully — and say what it is like.
You Can Drive Up Here
There is a road all the way to the top of this mountain. Argue about whether that should be allowed.
Nobody Higher
Find the highest spot you can stand on without leaving the path, and everybody take a turn standing on it.
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.
Monument Mountain
Great Barrington
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.
Play this at Mount Greylock State Reservation
Free. Works with no signal once you're there.