Things to do

The Bridge of Flowers, Shelburne Falls, MA

The Bridge of Flowers, Shelburne Falls, MA

 
 

Here we go…

Things To Do Near The Worthington Inn

With ample hiking and biking trails, X-Country skiing, fishing, golf and tennis, Worthington and surrounding towns offer a variety of convenient, fun outdoor activities.  Nearby Pioneer Valley and Berkshire County are brimming with cultural and fine dining experiences.

For other recreational, cultural and dining opportunities in the area please see our list of Chamber Of Commerce websites.


Hiking

There are numerous parks in the region with miles and miles of trails. Many reward the hiker with spectacular views.  In the Pioneer Valley, nearby Mt. Tom State Reservation, and Mt. Sugarloaf and Skinner State Parks offer spectacular views of the Connecticut River and the Pioneer Valley.  To the northwest, Mt. Greylock State Reservation – the highest peak in Massachusetts at about 3600 feet – has numerous trails, including the Appalachian Trail, and views into five surrounding states on a good day.  It’s not necessary to travel far to find hiking opportunities.  See some of the other headings, such as Waterfalls and Beautiful Places for other nearby walks.

Biking

The hills of western Massachusetts offer wonderful opportunities for cycling – both on and off-road.  The roads surrounding the Worthington Inn are mostly quiet and bicycle-friendly.  They abound with beautiful scenery, exhilarating downhills and challenging climbs.  For those who are looking for a more sedate cycling experience, the nearby Norwottuck (Northampton-Amherst) and Ashwillticook Trails (Lanesboro-North Adams) provide miles of Rails-to-Trails bike paths.  For those who like a little dirt in their cycling, there are many trails in the area that will surely sate your appetite.  For suggestions or directions, please ask your hosts.

Cross-Country Skiing

Notchview Reservation – a property of the Trustees of Reservations - offers 40 kilometers of cross-country ski trails through 3,100 acres of scenic forest and open meadows.  A place of great natural beauty in its own right, breathtaking views abound in any season from this stunningly diverse property.

The roughly 2000 foot elevation of Notchview means more reliable snowfall providing for a longer season than other nearby areas.  Notchview offers instructions and rental equipment, and they have a small lodge where food and hot drinks are available for purchase.  Snowshoers are welcome and there is a separate trail for those with dogs.

For more information on events and daily ski conditions please call 413-684-0148 or visit www.thetrustees.org

Backcountry X-C skiing is also widely available in the area.  See the Hiking and Biking sections for suggestions.

Downhill Skiing

There are three downhill ski areas within an easy drive of the Worthington Inn: Berkshire East in Charlemont, Jiminy Peak in Hancock, and Bousquet in Pittsfield.

Fishing

Just about every rill, dale or valley on the slopes of the western Massachusetts hills is home to brook, stream or river.  Any of them can be a productive native Brook trout stream.  The larger sections of the Westfield River are stocked with trout and harbor native Small-mouth bass.  The Chesterfield Gorge is a catch-and-release fly-fishing area.  There are numerous lakes in the area that can be fished from boat, canoe or bank.

Golf

The Worthington Golf Club, just around the corner from the Worthington Inn, is a charming 9-hole hillside golf course that is open to the public.  If you prefer an 18-hole course, there are several in the area, either in the Northampton or Pittsfield area.

Waterfalls

Windsor Jambs

After a short, lovely drive north along River Rd. out of West Cummington, you’ll find the side road to Windsor Jambs in the center of the Windsor State Forest.  Windsor Jambs is a series of falls and cascades that drops through a narrow chasm.  Part of the Westfield River system, the falls are accessible by way of a trail and boardwalk along the rim of the chasm.

Glendale Falls

Glendale Falls, just over the line into Middlefield along River Rd. (west along Rt. 143 towards Peru), is one of the tallest waterfalls in Massachusetts.  Turn up Clark Wright Rd. to find a parking lot at the top of the falls.  There you’ll find a beautiful path, complete with interpretive signs, has recently been built as a project of the Committee of the Wild & Scenic Westfield River giving access to the falls.

Other falls

Driving around the roads surrounding the Worthington Inn, you’re likely to find cascades and waterfalls around just about any corner.  If there has been rain or snow melt-off, beautiful seasonal falls appear and water features that are insignificant during drier periods can become spectacular.  Paired with spring or summer wildflowers, or brilliant autumn foliage, these casual falls can make any drive a beautiful adventure.  The same streams and falls can be equally spectacular frozen in winter.

Beautiful Places

Chesterfield Gorge

The Chesterfield Gorge is a beautiful geologic formation on the East Branch of the Westfield River.  The river has cut a chasm through the native rock.  The gorge is a Trustees of Reservations property and is accessible from Ireland Street.  Follow Rt. 143 east to a right turn immediately before the bridge over the Westfield River (about 5 miles from the Inn).  Take that road – Ireland Street – about 1½ miles to a left turn on River Rd.  The parking lot will be just down the road on the left.

Mt. Greylock

The highest peak in Massachusetts at about 3600 feet above sea level, Mt. Greylock is accessible from either Lanesboro (just north of Pittsfield) or North Adams.  The closest access is Lanesboro.  From the intersection of Rt. 7 and Rockwell Rd., it’s roughly 10 miles to the summit.  At about 2 miles, you’ll find a visitors center with lots of information.

Wild & Scenic Westfield River

The Worthington Inn is situated between two branches of the Nationally Designated Wild & Scenic Westfield River – the East and Middle Branches.  The East Branch can be found both to the north, where it flows from its headwaters in Savoy and along River Road through Windsor.  It follows Rt. 9 through Cummington before turning south in the village of Lithia.  You can also find it to the east by following Rt. 143 to the very bottom of the hill in West Chesterfield.  The Middle Branch can be found by following Rt. 143 west towards Peru.  Watch for River Road (a different one) on the left.  The Middle branch flows alongside River Road for some 10 miles to the north end of Littleville Lake in Chester (an impoundment of the river).  For more information about the Wild & Scenic Westfield River, please see their website.


Shelburne Falls Bridge of Flowers

Shelburne Falls, located about 30 minutes north of the Worthington Inn near the junction of Rts. 112 and 2, is a quaint artsy community on the Deerfield River.  The village is actually located both in Buckland to the west and Shelburne to the east.  Connecting the two sides is a concrete double arch bridge that for fifty years or so has been a community garden.  Replaced many years ago by a steel truss bridge, it was given to the town as a pedestrian bridge/flower garden.  Lovingly maintained by the active local gardening club, it has been the model for numerous similar bridges around the country.


History

William Cullen Bryant homestead

Another Trustees of Reservations property, this beautiful house and farm located at the intersection of Rt. 112 with West Cummington and Bryant Roads was the boyhood home of poet and long-time New York Post editor  William Cullen Bryant.  The hills and streams around the house shaped much of Bryant’s poetry.  For more information, see the Trustees’ website.


The Calvin Coolidge Room at Forbes Library

Before Calvin Coolidge became US president, he served as president of the Massachusetts state senate and mayor of Northampton.  His time in office was before extravagant presidential libraries became the norm.  In the Forbes Library on West Street (Rt. 66) in Northampton is a room dedicated to him that houses memorabilia from his political career.  In keeping with the personality of “Silent Cal,” the modest room serves as his presidential library.


Historic Deerfield Village

During the Colonial era, the village of Deerfield Massachusetts was on the wild frontier of English settlement.  The village was the scene of a massacre during the First French & Indian War when settlers were set upon by natives.  Bloody Brook, which runs through the village, was named for the color it ran immediately after the massacre.  Most of the houses in the village were faithfully restored to their 18th century state by William Gass - the same architect who in 1945 restored the Worthington Inn.  The village includes a museum in Heritage Hall which contains artifacts from the massacre as well as an extensive library of local historical documents.  The village is located between exits 24 and 26 of I-91, about 16 miles north of Northampton.


Hancock Shaker Village

Located on Rt. 20, west of Pittsfield, the Hancock Shaker Village is a preserved Shaker community, complete with a picturesque round stone barn.  The village is run as a living museum, carrying on the traditions of simplicity and hard work that characterized the Shakers.  They host regular classes and demonstrations of Shaker crafts and farming methods at which the public is welcome (for a fee), or you can simply visit and walk the grounds.  For more information, please see their website.

Music

Tanglewood

The world famous summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tanglewood also hosts concerts by such notables as James Taylor and Garrison Keillor.  Tanglewood is located about 45 minutes from the Worthington Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts.  For information, please see their website.


Iron Horse

Since around 1980, the Iron Horse on Center Street in Northampton has brought some of the best names in music to a small, intimate club setting.  Please see their website for upcoming shows.


Sevenars

Located in the sleepy village of South Worthington, the Sevenars Music Festival has been hosting fine musical performances since 1968.  Developed around the Schrade family of classical musicians, they continue to bring fine solo and small group performances to their hall near the intersection of Rt. 112 and Ireland Street.  Please see their website for more information.

Theater

Chester Theatre

Founded by Vincent Dowling, the Chester Theatre (formerly the Miniature Theatre of Chester) has been producing high quality theatrical productions in the Chester Massachusetts town hall for about thirty years.  The town hall is located on Middlefield Street in Chester, just off Rt. 20.  Please see their website for the current schedule.


North Hall

Housed in a historic one-room schoolhouse, this quaint performance space is home to theatrical and music performances from late May through September.  Please see their website for upcoming performances.

Museums

Mass MoCA

The centerpiece of a brawny milltown turned art community, Mass MoCA hosts exhibitions of cutting-edge art in a sprawling former mill complex.  Please see their website for more information.


Sterling and Francine Clark Art Museum

Located in Williamstown Massachusetts, in the shadow of Mt. Greylock, the Clark Art Museum not only has a world-class permanent collection, but hosts traveling shows you’d expect to see in New York City and other metropolitan cultural centers.  Instead, you’ll be treated to a pastoral setting, easy parking and congestion-free driving along with your art.  Please see their website for more information.


Chesterwood

The country home of sculptor Daniel Chester French, the artist responsible for some of the most iconic works in America, Chesterwood is located on Rt. 183 in Stockbridge Massachusetts.  French carved the statue in the Lincoln memorial among many others.  The grounds of Chesterwood are punctuated with models and studies of many well-known works – miniatures of their more famous full-size counterparts.


Norman Rockwell Museum

Many of Norman Rockwell’s most famous paintings include as subjects residents of his hometown of Stockbridge.  From his studio overlooking the main street through town, Rockwell drank in the essence of small-town America, pouring it distilled and filtered into his work.  It’s therefore fitting that the museum that houses much of his life’s body of work should also reside in Stockbridge, albeit a little out of the center on Rt. 183.


Berkshire Museum

A gem in the heart of Pittsfield, the Berkshire Museum is home to fine art, cultural and natural history displays.  It’s located just south of the common on Rt. 7.  Please see their website for more information.


Heritage Park, North Adams

This Massachusetts state park is themed around the railroad and specifically the Hoosac Tunnel.  It’s located just off Rt. 8, south of Rt. 2 near the center of town.  Please see their website for more information.


Heritage Park, Holyoke

This state park focuses on the paper industry, once a cornerstone of most western Massachusetts towns, and other industries that once thrived in this planned industrial city.  As Holyoke was the birthplace of the game, it also houses the Volleyball Hall of Fame.  Please see this website for more information.


Springfield Museums

This complex that, along with a church and the Andrew Carnegy financed main branch of the Springfield Library, surrounds the Quadrangle includes two art museums, a natural history museum and an museum dedicated to the history of the Pioneer Valley.  Springfield was the hometown of Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss.  In his honor, the Quadrangle has in recent years been transformed into a sculpture garden with life-size bronze castings of some of Dr. Seuss’ most famous characters.  The Springfield Museums are located at the intersection of State and Chestnut Streets.  Please see their website for more information.


Eric Carle Museum

This refreshing museum dedicated to picture book art is located on Bay Road in Amherst, between Hampshire College and Atkins Farm.   Please see their website for more information.


National Yiddish Book Center

This is a relatively new facility built to help insure the survival of the Yiddish culture.  Like the Eric Carle Museum, it’s located very near Hampshire College in Amherst.  Please see their website for more information.

Eat, Drink, Dine and More

The Worthington Inn is just a short drive to Northampton, where you’ll find some of the best restaurants in the Pioneer Valley.  Northampton offers a restaurant or cafe for every budget and taste.  A very progressive community, many restaurants actively support the community by taking advantage of local produce, thereby reducing their carbon footprint while making available the freshest possible foods for their patrons.  The Northampton/Amherst area boasts a rich blend of locally-produced wines and microbrews, as well as numerous organic farms.  It’s easy to shop and park in Northampton.  Many of the city’s most interesting stores are located in its pedestrian friendly downtown.

Five of the nation’s most prestigious liberal art schools are within minutes of each other and just a short drive from the Worthington Inn. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst College, Hampshire College, Smith College and Mount Holyoke College, known collectively as New England's "Knowledge Corridor" are located in Amherst, Northampton and South Hadley respectively.


Snow Farm

Located in Williamsburg, Snow Farm is a complex centered around a 1700's era farmhouse that offers workshops and hands-on instruction in a variety of crafts such as woodturning, ceramics and stained glass. See their website for more information.


List of area Chambers of Commerce