Mt Greylock/AT/Taconic Crest Trail Loop Hike?

[1azarus]

anybody ever try to put together a loop hike using the Taconic Crest Trail, side trails in Mt Greylock State Reservation and the AT, with some road walking? looks possible on an AMC map.

[goody5534]

I havent but would love to join you if we could make our schedules jive...

[WingedMonkey]

I have. But, it was about 20 years ago.

:sun

[1azarus]

planning for an early march two night/three day weekend trip if there isn't much snow -- and an early may trip is there is!

[Cosmo]

This is doable. Shortest road walk might be to continue north on the AT off of Greylock, across Rt 2 up towards VT. Then down the Pine Cobble Trail into Williamstown. Cross through town, probably about 4 miles, to Hopkins Forest to catch a side trail up to the TCT.

Cosmo

[1azarus]

This is doable. Shortest road walk might be to continue north on the AT off of Greylock, across Rt 2 up towards VT. Then down the Pine Cobble Trail into Williamstown. Cross through town, probably about 4 miles, to Hopkins Forest to catch a side trail up to the TCT.

Cosmo
any suggestion for connecting at the southern end... and any idea of overall mileage? thanks so much!!!

[hikerboy57]

anybody ever try to put together a loop hike using the Taconic Crest Trail, side trails in Mt Greylock State Reservation and the AT, with some road walking? looks possible on an AMC map.
now would this be the march hike or the may hike?

[burger]

Never did the hike you mentioned, but a bit further south you can make a very scenic 40-mile loop using the AT, South Taconic Trail, and the trail over Mt. Frissell with a road walk or off-trail hike at the northern end. If you search, you can find a thread or two about that hike on WB.

[Another Kevin]

Scheduling gets impossible for me lately, but keep me posted! I'd love to join you guys at least for a day if not for the whole trip. If you can put up with having a snail in the party. (OK, maybe I can kick it up to 'tortoise'.)

[hikerboy57]

Scheduling gets impossible for me lately, but keep me posted! I'd love to join you guys at least for a day if not for the whole trip. If you can put up with having a snail in the party. (OK, maybe I can kick it up to 'tortoise'.)we could always park a 3rd car at a point where we can go into town for breakfast while lazarus keeps on hiking.worked great last time

[1azarus]

we could always park a 3rd car at a point where we can go into town for breakfast while lazarus keeps on hiking.worked great last time

was thinking March if snow allows, otherwise May... but maybe the Mt Frissell hike makes more sense for March since its a bit farther south... gonna check that out, thanks!!!

[Monkeywrench]

any suggestion for connecting at the southern end... and any idea of overall mileage? thanks so much!!!

The southern end is easy. You can either head west along the old road just north of Bear Mountain in Connecticut, which takes you out past the AMC Northwest Cabin to Mount Washington Road. From here you walk up the road a tiny bit and head west across Round Mt and Mt Frissell (I forget the trail name right now; guess I'm getting old) and pick up the South Taconic.

Alternatively you can continue over Bear Mountain and head west along the Bear Mountain Road where it intersects the AT south of Bear Mountain. This will take you to the Mount Washington Road just south of Northwest Cabin where you would again head north up the road just across the state line into Massachusetts, where you pick up the trail west over Round and Frissell.

[tdoczi]

The southern end is easy. You can either head west along the old road just north of Bear Mountain in Connecticut, which takes you out past the AMC Northwest Cabin to Mount Washington Road. From here you walk up the road a tiny bit and head west across Round Mt and Mt Frissell (I forget the trail name right now; guess I'm getting old) and pick up the South Taconic.

Alternatively you can continue over Bear Mountain and head west along the Bear Mountain Road where it intersects the AT south of Bear Mountain. This will take you to the Mount Washington Road just south of Northwest Cabin where you would again head north up the road just across the state line into Massachusetts, where you pick up the trail west over Round and Frissell.


i do believe youre talking about a different hike

[WingedMonkey]

I have. But, it was about 20 years ago.

:sun

OK, I never throw nothing away, it just takes be forever to find anything.

I did find the booklet (about the size of a merit badge book) that first made me think I could find a route and hike this loop.

When I'm not outside during this glorious weather, I'll try and find the maps and notes from back then (no telling which box of "important" papers that is).

I seriously doubt the booklet is still out there but it is titled "Guide To The Taconic Trail System" In Berkshire County Massachusetts 1st Edition 1989. Copyright Christopher J. Ryan

[Monkeywrench]

i do believe youre talking about a different hike

Oy! You're right. I was thinking of the South Taconic Trail.

[tdoczi]

Oy! You're right. I was thinking of the South Taconic Trail.

i thought they were the same for a brief period of time also.

[Snowleopard]

Yes, I've seriously considered this hike. I think in the past there was a much more extensive hike possible and you could link the South Taconic Trail with the Taconic Skyline/Crest trails so that a loop from Bear Mt. CT to Mt. Graylock and back was possible with just the road walk from the Mt. Graylock trails to Petersburg Pass.

I did long ago do a hike along one of the Taconic Trails from Pittsfield State Forest to beyond Brodie Mountain. My recollection is that this trail continued north from where we ended to Petersburg Pass and continued south to past Alander Mountain. I think we've lost some trails in this area. All of this info and maps would be in older AT books for the Mass/Conn section of the AT, probably AT books from the 60s and 70s.

A not quite loop trail that would be pretty nice would be the South Taconic Trail SOBO, follow Monkeywrench's directions to the AT at Bear Mt, or take the dirt road (Mt. Washington Rd, Salisbury, CT) from the Mt. Frissel trail towards the AT south of bear mt and Lions Head, then the AT north to Graylock to the Taconic Skyline trail.

I'm not sure what the legality of camping on a lot of the taconic part of the hike would be. There's camping in Pittsfield State Forest and Mt. Washington State Forest.

I would definitely be interested in doing this, but I am old, slow and not sure what mileage I can do.

[1azarus]

I just saw a special on photographing snow leopards. Don't try to trick us into thinking you're slow!

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

[BillyGr]

Yes, I've seriously considered this hike. I think in the past there was a much more extensive hike possible and you could link the South Taconic Trail with the Taconic Skyline/Crest trails so that a loop from Bear Mt. CT to Mt. Graylock and back was possible with just the road walk from the Mt. Graylock trails to Petersburg Pass.


I also believe that these trails were longer at one point in the past. But for some current information for everyone:

The Taconic Crest Trail's Northern Terminus is on NY Route 346 in North Petersburgh (NY) - just slightly west of the NY/VT border at a small parking lot. I'd say within 500-1000 feet from the border.
The Taconic Crest Trail's Southern Terminus is on US Route 20 in Hancock (MA), just east of the NY/MA border at a roadside pull-off (if you have a road map of MA, you'll see a sharp bend in Rt 20 just over the border - the lot is just east of that)

The South Taconic Trail's Northern Terminus is on MA Route 23, just to the east of the NY/MA border (a sort of pull off, overlooking part of the Catamount Ski Area).
The South Taconic Trail's Southern Terminus is the hardest one to describe. If I remember correctly, it is technically in Dutchess County, but if you look at a map it's an odd "finger" of the county sandwiched between parts of Columbia County NY, Litchfield County CT and Berkshire County MA.
Anyhow - from Route 22 South of Hillsdale, north of Millerton - look for White House Crossing Rd to Dutchess Cty 63. Make a left, then a quick right on Deer Run Road. Follow this in (it looks like you're going into a housing development - which you are). Follow the road around and you'll find a spot to park and a trail!

The connections listed in previous posts (for the northern end of TCT to AT and the Southern end of STT to AT) sound good. The problem comes in the middle connections.

If you were to do the whole thing as a big loop (say STT to AT to TCT) you'd need to find some way of connecting from the TCT to STT - you could use part of Route 20 to Route 41 to Route 23 (or the reverse) - that would probably be 25+ miles of roads. 23 and 20 are major roads, but you'd only be on them for a short(ish) distance, and part of 23 is going thru Great Barrington.

To connect each loop individually, suggestions:

TCT Southern end to AT - No good one here, but since you'd come off the TCT on Route 20, you might be able to get a ride into Pittsfield then over to Dalton to pick up the AT (or call for a transport of some sort).

STT Northern end to AT - This is much easier - simply head east on Route 23 and look for Jug End Road on your right. Take this and the AT crosses it.

If you do either, both or all as one of these loops, you might want to check out a map company by the name of Jimapco. They are local to the Albany (NY) area and have great county road maps of all the counties, which show even quite small streets.
For the northern loop - Berkshire MA and Rensselaer NY
For the southern Loop - Berkshire MAand Columbia NY (this shows the small finger of Dutchess mentioned).

Hopefully this will be of some help to all!

[Another Kevin]

If you were to do the whole thing as a big loop (say STT to AT to TCT) you'd need to find some way of connecting from the TCT to STT - you could use part of Route 20 to Route 41 to Route 23 (or the reverse) - that would probably be 25+ miles of roads. 23 and 20 are major roads, but you'd only be on them for a short(ish) distance, and part of 23 is going thru Great Barrington.

I think you could do a little better than that on a summer weekend. If you struck east on Route 20 past the Shaker village, and across 41, you'd come to Cloverdale Street. Walk that and Tamarack Road to the Bousquet ski area. Pay $6 for a lift ticket (they run the lift on summer weekends) and get off at the top. There is a trail from there over Lenox Mountain, partly on old roads, that comes out on Reservoir Road. Across that, BNRC's Burbank trail will get you to the hairpin turn on Lenox Road, and the Walsh trail will get back on the ridge heading south.

At that point, I come to nearly a dead end. As near as I can tell, the continuation of the Walsh trail is hikable until you hit the property of the Stockbridge Sportsmen's Club. At that point, there is a shooting range (yikes!) to one side, and a fairly ugly set of ledges to the other. If a bushwhacker could hold the ridge a little ways down, it looks as if a couple of old woods roads go east and south across Stockbridge town water supply lands and come out on Averic Road near 102. That gets to Stockbridge village, which is half way to Great Barrington.

Given the difficulty of getting out at the south there, it might be better to walk Lenox Street out to West Stockbridge. Cross the turnpike on 102, then bear west on W. Center Road, Red Rock Road (which turns into Middle Road at the state line) and turn left on Fog Hill Road. This comes to the Harvey Mountain state forest. But again I come to a dead end. There's a trail network and a couple of lean-tos in the state forest, but everything stops right at its south end. The Google aerial view shows quite a network of paved private roads and lush estates in there, so it would not be hiker friendly.

So there doesn't seem to be a good bridge for the south half of that stretch. Probably just start from West Stockbridge and follow the secondary roads through Alford and North Egremont.

[1azarus]

I think i'm looking for a sherpa...ummm, i mean guide. i'll even carry my own pack. actually, those offers to make a backcountry map sound really really good...

[hikerboy57]

I think i'm looking for a sherpa...ummm, i mean guide. i'll even carry my own pack. actually, those offers to make a backcountry map sound really really good...
if we do it with a couple of cars we could skip the road walks

[Another Kevin]

if we do it with a couple of cars we could skip the road walks

Sure. But I'm really curious whether that Lenox Mountain route can be made to connect, or what landowners would have to be approached for permission. I know BNRC has that ridge as one of their projects, although they're mostly satisfied with conservation easements, without public access necessarily being a specific goal.

Informal thinking about how to connect partly-developed trails and old roads on public and private [with permission] land is the start of how long trails happen. That's one reason that I read topos carefully, look at land ownership maps, and occasionally do some creative trespassing and bushwhacking.

[hikerboy57]

Sure. But I'm really curious whether that Lenox Mountain route can be made to connect, or what landowners would have to be approached for permission. I know BNRC has that ridge as one of their projects, although they're mostly satisfied with conservation easements, without public access necessarily being a specific goal.

Informal thinking about how to connect partly-developed trails and old roads on public and private [with permission] land is the start of how long trails happen. That's one reason that I read topos carefully, look at land ownership maps, and occasionally do some creative trespassing and bushwhacking.yeah but i was thinking of breakfast

[Another Kevin]

Know any good places in Stockbridge?

[hikerboy57]

Know any good places in Stockbridge?
not yet...........

[Another Kevin]

Me neither. The Red Lion is terrific, but expensive and dressy.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Know any good places in Stockbridge?

Just keep driving and head to Great Barrington.



Within 500 feet of each other on the center of town:

"Fuel" Trendy Coffee shop with ridiculously good (expensive) coffee drinks
"Baba Louie's" Honestly the best pizza I've ever had. Sourdough crust and an emphasis on sparing amounts of fresh mozzarella cheese.
"The diner across the breezeway from Baba Louie's". I forget the place, but good food.
"Gypsie Joint". Across the street and down a little from the previous three shops listed. Good food, kind of a well heeled hippie vibe.
"SoCo Creamery" Ice cream place just a little down the side street across from Gypsie Joint, excellent excellent quality.

I've purposely planned a lot of my section hikes to end in Great Barrington so that I can get a meal in town. When I'm trying to go get my girlfriend to let me ditch her for a few days to go hiking, the offer to bring back a "Ricardo's pizza famosa" from Baba Louie's often seals the deal. :sun

[WingedMonkey]

I'm going to go ahead and post the route I took back in the '90's. It's probably a moot point since so much has changed over the years. You would do better to take the route suggested by Cosmo. But I love old maps and old trails and maybe someone is willing to bushwhack it.

I started (if it makes any difference) from where I stay when I'm up there near where the trail crosses Washington Mountain/Pittsfield Road. Hiked to Greylock and then took the Roaring Brook Trail to Roaring Brook Road and US 7.

Traveled down US 7 a short distance north crossed over US 7 and then bushwhacked my way up to the top of Brodie Mountain. I then followed the ridge south to meet up with the old Taconic Skyline Trail.

The Skyline used to be a hiking trail built by the CCC in the 1930s and went all the way from Brodie Mountain to Route 41. Even when I did it back then, most of the northern 1/3 had been abandoned and now the northern 2/3 are abandoned and the section from Route 20 to Route 41 is also closed. What is left of Taconic Skyline Trail is now an ATV trail and even too rough for me to bike.

Hiking has been designated to the parallel Taconic Crest Trail.

So if I haven't confused you enough, here are the maps in north to south order.

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