Mount Holyoke Range State Park

July 12, 2020 Sunny

Holyoke Range State Park covers the eastern part of the Holyoke Range and is adjacent to the Skinner State Park where we hiked Mt. Holyoke.

For this hike, we parked at the Notch Visitor Center. From the parking lot, we took the white blazed New England trail up to the peak of Mount Norwattuck and then descended on the Horse Caves Hike, returning on the Robert Frost trail.

The sign below points out that if you hike due north for about 10 miles you’ll actually cross the Norwottuck Rail Trail (a good bike path), which we reviewed recently.

In any case, this trail ascended pretty steeply and became fairly rocky.

The peak of the mountain, at 1,106 feet, is the highest in the Holyoke Range, and affords views mainly to the northwest of the Connecticut River Valley and beyond. You can also see some of Amherst’s buildings from here.

Continuing past the peak, we found a short trail to a ledge with views to the north. The ledge actually provided a wider viewpoint than the peak.

From here, the trail descended pretty steeply via switchbacks, passing some ledges and boulders in the hillside.

Soon we reached an area called the Horse Caves. Supposedly some of the rebels who fought with Daniel Shays (from Shays’ Rebellion, a protest against taxes and other injustices during 1786-87) hid in the caves after they were defeated by the Massachusetts militia.

The approach from the top is a kind of narrow gorge that ends in a “fat man’s squeeze” that descends to the caves (really ledges).

This section reminded us of a similar squeeze within Purgatory Chasm State Reservation.

Coming out of the squeeze you find the ledges.

There are a series of overhangs in the side of the mountain, some of which have small caves. The jumble of boulders also form some hiding places.

It’s definitely an unusual formation, and ledges continue along the side of the mountain beyond the background of the photo above. Definitely seems possible that it was a hideout. While we were there, another group of hikers spotted a snake inside a crevice in the rocks. Probably a good reminder to watch your step and your grip if you or the kids scramble around here.

From here, we descended the Robert Frost trail, a lush, wide trail that was relatively flat and easy on the feet.

We enjoyed our hike here and the varied terrain, interesting ledges, and history made it memorable.

• Interesting variety in a short trail – the ledges were a real highlight.
• This trail has everything – caves, ledges, woods, views, history.
• It’s very rare that an isolated forest walk is free of insects.
• It was very hot, but at least not buggy!
• It wasn’t that buggy and it had a bunch of rocks and it was fun to climb on them and then there was a fat man’s squeeze that led to an overhang.

For more information: Mount Holyoke Range State Park official site.