Mount Washington State Forest
Mount Washington State Forest – South Egremont, MA
In my opinion Mt. Washington State Forest is a very underrated hiking area. I really enjoyed hiking this area and it had a lot to offer but with a surprisingly little amount of information available online. My first time in the area I parked up by Mt. Washington State Forest Headquarters, set up the tent at the camping spot nearby (Primitive Camping) and ventured off into the trail for a long day hike and came back to my tent spot that night. The next day I woke up and drove over to Bash Bish Falls.
The second time I visited Mount Washington State Forest I parked off of East Street to begin the hike on Mt. Frissell Trail. I decided to do a 12-mile loop so it ended up being an overnight hike camping in the same spot I did on my first trip. Day 1 started at 8am hitting Round Mountain summit around 9:30am and peaked Mt. Frissell by 11:00am. I took the White Blaze down to Alander Mountain and took Alander Mountain Trail down to the campsite. I reached the Campsite around 7:30pm and set up tent. The next morning I wasn’t feeling that great so I ended up just walking East Street back to the car instead of taking the Charcoal Pit Trail to the Ashley Hill Trail as I originally planned.
The third time I visited Mount Washington State Forest I parked on Mt. Alander Trailhead (3F8M+98 Boston Corner, Ancram, NY) and hiked up to Mt. Alander from the NY side. Mount Alander was a bit steep but no challenge to Java. We started the hike around noon and finished a little after 3pm.
Hiking Mount Washington State Forest with your pup
Overall, It was a very scenic hike and besides the first couple miles, it wasn’t that steep. We didn’t see many other people or dogs on the trail but Java had no issues with any of the climbs. This area of Massachusetts seems very dog-friendly and I have never had an issue bringing my pup around with me. Java and I even grabbed a slice of pizza after one of our hikes and the pizza owner gave Java his own slice for free!
Resources
http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dcr/parks/trails/mwashington.pdf
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-west/mt-washington-state-forest-generic.html
http://berkshirehiking.com/hikes/mt_wash_forest.html
