October Mountain State Forest

July 15, 2020 Sunny

October Mountain is the largest state forest in Massachusetts, and has parcels in the towns of Washington, Becket, Lee, and Lenox.

We had originally planned to go to the Washington Mountain Marsh trail, but could not find a route there as the Washington Mountain Road on our route was blocked off.

We ended up at the Lee Campground on the south side of the forest instead, where we asked for directions, and were told by the ranger that some bridges were broken in that area. They suggested several trails that started from the campground such as the Ledge Trail (a 2 mile loop) as well as the Gorge Trail.

For this hike, we decided on the Ledge Trail, which was fairly rough and rocky. The forest was quite dense and dark from the start, with some pesky mosquitoes. Thankfully we had our Deep Woods OFF.

The trail climbs gently at first and crosses a bridge. After this it turns and ascends the side of a ridge. There were many downed trees just to the side of the path all along the way.

But we did come upon a whimsical tree with an interesting fairy.

Continuing up the ridge, we hoped to find a waterfall at Flat Rock Falls, but the falls were dried up and moss covered, as you can see below. I guess we’ve been in a drought this summer.

After hiking along the ridge for a short time, we searched for but didn’t encounter any views of surrounding mountains, which was disappointing. The trail then turned left and descended pretty steeply off the ridge and back toward the campground.

The campground itself was a mix of standard campsites and yurts, and was nearly empty. We peeked inside one of these, and it had a cozy interior with 2 bunk beds (sleeps 4 max) and a picnic table. I’m not sure they would permit a family of 5 there, since you’d need an extra sleeping bag or mattress, but it looked fun.

After the hike, we decided to drive the forest roads, heading around the western side of the park and then into the interior. A flat gravel road soon led to a pond (Woods Pond) covered with algae and surrounded by mountains. We saw geese on the pond.

Continuing around the far side of the pond on Lower Tower Road into the park was an adventure. The gravel roads were rutted and rocky at points, and definitely more suited to a pickup truck than a lightweight SUV driven by city slickers. It was slow going and we had to watch the road carefully to avoid hitting rocks too fast.

In any case, we climbed for a few miles and eventually reached a really scenic pullout, with no signs of humans or road noise. It also had great views to distant mountains to the west.

We didn’t go to any other trails in the park as every side trail is reached by driving on even poorer unpaved roads. After many more miles we found our way on back to the paved county roads.

October Mountain is a really rugged park and great for finding solitude. Just make sure you are prepared with good outdoor gear and enough fuel.

The ledge trail was pretty buggy and lacked any views. Great place for solitude.
This park is very rugged and wild.
There were a lot of bugs, and it was pretty steep.
There was a lot of bugs, but the trail was okay. The view was good.
There was a bunch of bugs, it was steep, and we had to go on a bumpy road and it was weird.