Today’s guest post is part of the “Favorite Places to Explore Nature” series and comes from fellow outdoor lover Eric of familycampman.com. I especially enjoy Eric’s blog because he’s just a regular guy trying to get his not-so-outdoorsy family outdoors.
I’d like to thank Debi for letting me participate in this cool series and share some of my favorite places in the often attention-deprived region of Western Massachusetts.
My family and I just moved here five years ago and started truly exploring about two years after, when we felt comfortable enough to venture out with our little ones.
That’s enough about me. Here are some of the coolest family-safe places to hit in the western half of the Bay State:
Magic Wings Conservatory and Gardens: Indoorsy, but outdoorsy
Since moving to this section of the state, my family has made several trips to Magic Wings, a little slice of nature heaven.
Once you enter the 8,000-square foot conservatory, you’ll be immediately consumed by the tropical paradise home of almost 4,000 butterflies. All colors and varieties will flit around your head and if you’re lucky enough you’ll have one land on your hand. My oldest son is consistently a virtual butterfly landing strip, while I on the other hand am always left with butterfly envy. Be sure to bring your camera – you won’t often find photo opps like you will here.
Peaked Mountain: Mountain hiking, yet great for newbies
Located in Monson, Massachusetts, Peaked Mountain was my family’s first true hike. The trip to the summit is .75 miles and fairly steep at times, especially for my not-so-experienced family.
We made it to the top nonetheless, where the panoramic views are outstanding. Our pace resembled those of snails, but still the entire roundtrip took us just over an hour and a half.
Quabbin Reservoir: A whole lot of water
Have you heard of the Quabbin Reservoir? It is the largest body of water in Massachusetts and is the primary water supply for Boston. This man-made beauty was built in the 1930s by actually flooding towns, and sections of the houses still exist at the bottom of its vast depths.
Whether we’re simply enjoying the view during a random afternoon drive or scaling to the observation tower, we love the time we spend here. We also enjoy fishing from its shore as well from the rental boats they have available. The numerous hiking trails have yet to truly be explored by our feet, but that adventure is very high on our to-do list.
Rock House Reservation: Just plain cool
This glacier-built jewel is nestled in the town of West Brookfield and is perfect for an afternoon jaunt. While the reservation is more than 196 acres and has 3 miles of easy to moderate hiking trails, the 20- to 30-foot rock formation is what makes it really fun. Its unusual structure provides for fun climbing, even for our 3 year old.
Our family has really enjoyed finding new and fun places to explore and cannot wait to find some more. Do you know of any other great places in the Western Massachusetts area? If so, send them my way at eric@familycampman.com.
Eric is a Massachusetts-based husband and dad of two young boys. His blog, familycampman.com, is dedicated to his return to camping and introducing his family and others to the great outdoors.
Where is Peaked Mountain? I'm a Quabbin guy myself, but that mountain is definitely something that my kids and wife and I would enjoy in warmer temperatures. If your readers want more on the Quabbin, they can go here:<br /><br />http://quabbinvalley.wordpress.com/<br /><br />In the meantime, I'll search for that mountain and if you have time, please send me a link with more info on it.
Oh man, wish I'd seen this before our trip up to the Pitsfield area a few weeks ago! That butterfly place would have been a big hit with the kids! We ended up going to October Mountain State Park for a short hike though (see my post http://leavemore.blogspot.com/2010/10/october-mountain-plugging-ourselves-in.html), and it was beautiful. The Berkshires in fall are a can't miss if you live
The Quabbin Reservoir is a place that I've been wanting to explore for quite some time now, but we've yet to make it out that way. I'm thinking that I'll need to plan a road trip sometime this fall!
Hi Roy – No, they don't allow camping. Folks can only be there from one hour before sunrise and one hour after sunset. They're fairly strict because of all the water it provides the state
I have been to one of those indoor conservatories – I think it was in B.C. It looks like you have a lot of great places, around there – can you camp at the reservoir?