Nice spot for beginners that want to hike a trail/mountain. It's a very very short journey. Also,…read moreif you want to cool down and take a dip afterwards, there are several points along the falls. Unfortunately, during the pandemic, everyone is looking to go here and it's unusually packed. And to no one's surprise, they will squeeze in and ignore social distancing. Otherwise, it's a nice dip that I'll occasionally come to because of the 2 hr drive.

This is a hike worth driving out to. It's a manicured easy trail to the falls. It's a series of 3…read morewaterfalls found across the street from the small parking area. There is also a summit and rock climbing. Pony mountain. Note: You should stop by the close by Williamsburg General Store for the scratch made fresh baked pastry.

No where to fish along the river. Shore is all overgrown with tall weeds. Cut all the weeds etc…read more Completely so casting and retrieving is possible.

The Cabot Woods entrance located at the intersection or G St and 15th St in Turners Falls is a…read moregreat place to take an early morning or evening walk. The parking lot is located near this intersection, but the walking area stretches from 11th Street to Migratory Way which provides a quaint walking route. The road travels alongside the canal and is situated next to the river. When I am getting towards the end I love to walk through the woods to the edge or the river. From this edge there is a great view of the river which makes a unique fishing spot. They also have picnic table which are a nice place to stop and have lunch. Overall, this is a great area to walk at as well as meditate or reflect. It is one of my favorite places to go to in Turners Falls.

Gorgeous place for a hike! While visiting this area, my buddy and I were looking for a place to…read morehike and I came across this place on the internet. It was close by and looked fun, so we went for a hike there the 4th of July. The sanctuary is well maintained and the trails for easy to find for the most part. Most of the trails are not too challenging, but the North Trail was very steep as it seems you climb down the mountain and then back up it! Not sure what the vertical was on that but going down there was a lot a bit of sitting on rocks and sliding down and climbing back up you needed to use your hands and knees a couple of times. Plus there are a lot of stream crossings, but none too challenging. It was raining when we were there so sometimes the stones were slippery but nobody fell in! If you go to the ledges (see map) first, you get a great view of the valley. If you want to continue on the trail, you need to go down to the stone ledges past the chimney and look north (to your right) and you should see the trail sign down in the woods. We didn't see it when we went there so we went back the other way and circled back around. It took us about two hours to hike around the entire sanctuary. We used the Dutch and Mary Barnard Trail, the Wolves Den Loop Trail and then the North Trail back to the Ledges and then back to the parking area. The main parking area is small...probably only 6-8 cars would fit there. I enjoyed visiting here a lot.

I wish I'd taken pictures! This is a really cool little trail along the canal that parallels the…read moreConnecticut River. It runs up along the reservoir as well. You are very close to the canal and you really get a sense of how fast and voluminous the water is that is rushing through the canal. The water fills the canal channel and nearly touches the bridges that pass over it. The path it wide and well maintained (at least on the portion I was on). It's great that you can have this greenway for recreational purposes.

Only 4 miles long, but beautiful. It follows the old canal path along the Connecticut River and…read morecrosses the river on the "Canalside Rail Trail Bridge" the 6th. oldest metal truss bridge in Massachusetts. it is very long and cool. 2/3 of the bridge was washed away in a flood in 1936 and subsequently replaced.

A really nice drive to a really beautiful spot. Good wheelchair accessibility. Be aware the…read morebathrooms are up a flight of stairs so you'd need to drive up, a long walk up the road, or use porta potty at the accessible level. Beach wheelchairs are available to use, but we just used our own to get to the edge of the water. Wooden ramp from parking to edge of the lake leads you to a rubber mat that goes about ten feet into the water for accessibility. Still a little to navigate but the easiest we've found so far. Good swimming!

I grew up coming to Erving State Forest and it is one of my favorite places…read more My own family has camped here many times, as well as come for single day visits and we always have the best time. The grounds are PRISTINE, including the beautiful Laurel Lake. Clean sand and crystal clear water. Bathroom facilities are clean and functional. Nicely groomed and marked hiking trails. The campground area also has a wilderness center that the ranger opens up a couple times a week to do crafts and activities with kids. Sites are clean and level and all have a fire pit with grate, charcoal grill and picnic table. For the rates, you really can't go wrong here. Beautiful and relaxing, and perfect if you're looking to disconnect from technology and reconnect with nature. I'd give more stars if I could!

Beautiful place for a wedding! My friend's son got married here overlooking the river! Gorgeous…read moreplace with to river for the wedding backdrop. The area was big enough to hold over 50 people comfortably. There is a bare bones bathroom but it is clean and not a traditional out house. There were some boats on the river but over all a quiet secluded place, perfect for a small outdoor wedding.

A quaint picnicking area a short drive off of MA-10. This place is rented out for parties and sits…read moreright next to the Connecticut River. This place is great for walks, offers a bathrooms, and seasonally has a boat dock (not for public use). Home to the base of Northfield Mountain, the basin of one of New England's biggest hydroelectric generators sits a 1 minute drive up the road.

The mountain is a very cool place with the BEST marked trails and map I've seen so far. As someone…read morewho frequently goes the wrong way when hiking it was a huge relief to know exactly where I was on the mountain. The visitor center staff was helpful and parking plentiful. There are many trail options from wide and easy to narrow and more challenging. None of it was tough. I'd say this is a great choice for those who don't hike often, or like a fun over a hard climb. We did a 6 Mile loop to the reservoir on top of the mountain and back down along the Rose Ledge trail.

Northfield Mountain is a great place to go for recreation, education, or just to relax. It is not…read moreonly a recreational/conservation area but also a pumped storage hydroelectric facility (meaning that it has a man-made pond of sorts at the top of the mountain that is used for hydroelectric power when the towns and cities in the area need it...they have free tours to check it out!). There are also a lot of outdoor activities including hiking trails, education programs, canoing, and the list goes on (check out their website). The scenery is incredible, its a very quiet place to go and take in some nature. I was there recently for an environment education program which was a lot of fun and very well organized. I've actually been going to place since I was a kid.

I love this park, and so does/did my dog. As she got older (between 1.5 and 2 years) she became…read moretoo aggressive for the park. It took me a month or so to come to this realization, but the other users suggested I do so without being nasty and small-minded, and I appreciate the caring community that has grown around this space. I am having my dog trained to be less aggressive (and learning to play my own part more effectively). Eventually the trainer (Julie from Working K-9, an amazing boarding and daycare place) will come to the park with us and once she approves my dog's behavior, we'll be back. Almost all of the people who bring dogs to this park are careful and respectful. The nice thing about having two separate areas is that if you run into one of the few owners who permit bad behavior, you don't have to confront him or her ... you can move to the other side. Yelp is about the park (as a "business") -- not about the dogs and owners (the "customers"). X.X's review is a violation of Yelp's Terms of Service. I note that nobody has voted for it, but I think we should do more as a community to support each other. We should not support attacks on an individual in public forums, particularly one of our model citizens: he started the chat group, bring gallons of water every day in winter, picks up everyone else's poop; can describe in detail every interaction his dog has with other dogs, and works constantly to reinforce good behavior in his dog. I have reported X.X.'s report to Yelp as a Terms of Service Violation and hope you will as well. If you know X.X., please ask him or her to edit the personal attacks out of the review, and let me edit those references off this one. Thank you!

There R 2 adjacent sections, 1 pea gravel & 1 grass. Both have a 5' fence, double gates & water…read morefountains for the dogs. Outside the gates R fountains for the humans. The grass side is bigger, ~ 1/2 acre. The feet of some of the larger dogs (30+ lb) seem to be irritated by the gravel. Usually people won't stay after dusk but both R lit, the gravel side w/ more. There R poop bags & trash can in each side but I always bring & use my own bags (they used to run out occasionally). U can drive or walk across the foot bridge from Deerfield St by Sirum Automotive. There's always plenty of parking, unless there's more than one softball game. [There R sometimes 2 at once :( The city needs arrange their timing better] Everyone always gets a spot even if they have to park on the entry road. If It has rained, usually everyone is in the gravel side bk they're worried their dog will get in a mud puddle (not me). There's usually several tennis balls & a pull toy laying around. When dogs come is kind of random. There's usually 3-5 dogs, but I've seen as many as 9 total. My dog & I have been there for up to an hr by ourselves & he doesn't want do anything but wait for others or sniff outside :( As long as it's not SUPER cold (below 30°) or currently raining, there's usually at least a couple there at the more common times (3 pm - dusk).

Now that the season is getting warmer, it's almost time to grab some beach chairs, a few hotdogs,…read moreand head over to Lake Wyola for a relaxing afternoon. This State Park is a great place to swim during the summer as well as spend time barbecuing with friends. Whenever we go we make it a point to show up early in the morning, set up shop, and do nothing for the rest of the day. They have a ton of different picnic areas and a centralized beach area with bathrooms and a food trailer. They also have space to play soccer and a few different horseshoe pits. The park also has some walking trails that provide a great space to connect with nature. A few things do need to be said about the park. The first is that you should plan to show up early on busy days such as holidays because at times there can be limited parking. The other interesting fact is that you should plan to have little to no cell service while at the park. This is great because it ensures that you won't be bothered, but good luck checking in.

It was beautiful! We got there around 3 or so on the 4th of July. People who had gotten there super…read moreearly were heading out, so we got lucky and found parking up the block. A guy let us park in his yard for $10. It was pretty filled up, but, it was still comfortable. Great sandcastle sand, clean bathrooms, and GORGEOUS scenery. We stayed until the lifeguards left at 6. The beach was open until 7:30 though. We will definitely be going again! We were so glad to have come across this gem.

We went to Ruggles Pond at Wendell State Forest in Wendell, MA. It's a great, VERY small beach…read more There are lots of hiking trails all around. It has a sandy beach and a grassy area - the beach is sunny, the grassy areas are both sunny & shaded. You can swim and kayak/canoe here. The swimming portion is very small, but our kids loved it nonetheless. NOTE: There isn't really any cell service. Very limited. I could send slightly delayed texts and it took a while to send a photo, but no wifi and I could barely make a call. I have Verizon. There is a fee to enter, but we didn't see where to pay. We used a free pass from our library, anyway. For MA residents, a pass to all the state parks for 2018 is $60, so we might invest in that. There are not real bathrooms, from what we saw. We saw a port-a-potty at the end of the parking lot (in direct sunlight). Better than nothing, though! There aren't any shaded parking spots, but there is lots of parking. The parking and the beach are on the same level, i.e.: no having to walk down to the beach from the car. You can use inflatable devices, life vests, pool noodles, etc. It is non-smoking. I am not sure if animals are allowed or not; I forgot to check. The one negative: We saw both leeches AND snakes. I'll attach a photo of the snake. We saw 4 of the same kind. They never bothered us; they slithered away in the water. However, after another person there got a leech attached to him, we noticed there were actually quite a few leeches, so we pulled the kids out and decided to leave. We figure that maybe with more active use, there will be less leeches & snakes, but who knows!

Beautiful spot. Great for hiking, picnicking and a dip in the pond. The pond was like a hidden gem…read morewith nearby lakes packed with people. The park was huge--we didn't get to explore most of it unfortunately but would love to go back.