Wahconah Falls State Park

An Idyllic Setting in Western MA

• Tucker’s Rating – 4 wags. Although he didn’t go, he would have loved it!
• Our Rating – 4 wags.
• Accessibility – It’d be tough with any wheelchair or stroller. There is a path but it’s not flat and has lots of roots, etc. various trails are also VERY steep and the day we went they were wet and slippery!
• Fees – FREE
• Pet Friendly – Yes
• Other activities –This is primarily a nature area with bbq grills and trails around the local water supply. The waterfall is gorgeous, and about 40 feet high. You can hear it from the parking lot! But signs everywhere state no swimming. I know people do it, but not on the rainy, cold day we were there!

Beth and I were out in Springfield for our annual Sweet Adeline Competition. My quartet was singing Friday evening, and then the choruses had their contest on Saturday. Since Beth and I are now associate members of the chorus, meaning we weren't singing in contest, we had the full day to ourselves while the chorus prepared. But we needed a park that was close enough to Springfield for us to return to Symphony Hall in time to see the ladies of Merrimack Valley strut their stuff. The contest schedule said 4:30, so we knew we’d have plenty of time… and after a bit of meandering to get ourselves headed in the right direction (Springfield CAN be tricky to get around), we were headed north and west…. For QUITE a while! The sky was overcast and rain came and went. It was probably below 50 degrees and we hadn’t packed heavy duty outerwear and here we were heading into the Berkshires for a hike in what appeared to be a very remote location. I've READ about people like that and always thought, "how stupid were THEY??" And now here we were doing exactly the same thing, but probably with far less adventurous plans in the making.

The park itself is 30 miles from Northampton, just off Rt. 9 and we found the EXACT place we want to live when we grow up on that drive! Haydenville, just outside of Northampton, is a gorgeous village that is actually a section of Williamsburg. I’d never even heard of EITHER of those towns and have pretty much lived in MA all my life… Northampton is actually a “city” compared to Haydenville and Williamsburg, but while they’re small, we were taken by the shops, restaurants and sculptures we found and photographed. The Brewmaster Tavern is beautiful and features their own Opa-Opa Brews. Beth picked up a six-pack while I wandered around the downtown area taking photos of some amazing sculptures made of recycled tools, car parts, axe heads, and more! As I was returning to the car I noticed all the stained glass around the top of the building (obviously a library or ex-library) and it was amazing, books, ink wells. Even a home-made bird house hanging off the local bank caught my eye.

This place may be buried in snow in the winter, and the winding river may flood every hundred years or so, but the amazingly colorful mansions and historic homes were a sight to see. We pulled up and down little streets so I could snap a few photos of the gorgeous old mansions lining the main street. Some looked like southern plantation houses, some like Victorian cottages, and a few are indeed bed and breakfasts. Especially on a dark and rainy Saturday, they brightened up our day! Definitely we’re going back here, if not to live, then certainly to visit. Our next blog plans involve breweries so it’ll definitely be on that schedule in any case!

We also discovered an incredible bakery, Bread Euphoria, where we picked up lunch (and would have stopped for dinner too if we weren’t heading back to the concert!). The place is easy to miss since it’s located behind a house, in front of a barn, and is connected to a great pottery, Andrew Quient Pottery. With these two treasures alone, and the flat out gorgeous little golf course across the street, Beaver Brook, we just wanted to stay and explore the town but we had places to go! Specifically, Wahconah Falls.

As my ears started to block from the altitude we knew we’d reached the heart of the Berkshires… Are we there yet? But we kept driving until we were near Pittfield State Forest and the MA/NY border! To think we drove all that way in my Saturn VUE which breathed it’s last breath just two weeks later, and thank GOD it hung in there for us rather than leaving us stranded in the mountains in the very cold rain!

We took the left hand turn onto Wahconah Falls Road… pretty much a hairpin turn which leads you immediately into a trailer park. But never fear! If you keep driving, the paved road disappears all together and you’re on dirt (did I say never fear???)…. And you kind of start traveling upward…. If you’ve got a low slung vehicle you may bottom out so just be prepared. Thankfully it’s not far til you see the parking lot on your right and you’re there! And when you step out of the car, you’ll hear the falls! The area is extremely overgrown with moss, and along the right hand side of the path we noticed a field of miniature bamboo! I’m not sure of the species and it had no leaves yet but we noticed the segments and the deep green color as looking very out of place here. All research I’ve done indicate that this is not a naturally occurring plant for this park, and in fact is seen as an invasive species in the area. It had definitely taken over the entire valley next to the pathway heading to the river, but it did look beautiful and I can imagine it makes a beautiful sighing sound when it's full grown and has the mountain breeze blowing through it.

But the most important feature of this park is the waterfall, and you will not be disappointed. This is a very green, overgrown park that makes you think of fairies and elves. Lots of little nooks and crannies, miniature waterfalls, mushrooms, looming pines, and the bbq grills scattered around the clearing next to the waterfall don’t detract from that notion. Rocks near the water are covered with moss and are wet so be careful. Signs mention “no lifeguards” but also “no swimming” so I think this park, in it’s isolation, sees various activity, but on the day we were there it was cold and wet and very beautiful, with not a bathing suit in sight.

It’s not a big park, but there are trails that go uphill towards what we believe is a water supply, and may actually go right around the source of the falls itself. We were cold and not dressed for hiking through slippery hills and rocks so we didn’t explore further but had the place to ourselves to take photos and just listen to the soothing sound of water traveling over and around rocks, boulders and into a large pool below. If we could build a house by this place, we probably WOULD! Especially knowing that there is so much to see and do within an hour or so’s drive from here. It was a great place to get away from stress and work and never having enough hours in the day. Here it seems there are plenty of hours to just sit and soak up the serenity. (Why do I hear George's father yelling SERENITY NOW????? Guess it takes more than an hour or two to knock the dust of society off my brain!).

Making this a destination for a day might be tough unless you live in Western MA, or at least out in the Springfield area… and once you’re there you make your own fun because there is nothing in the park as far as facilities, but it would definitely be a gorgeous place for an Indian Summer cookout, and we’ll keep it near the top of our list of favorite parks! We had just enough time to drive back to Springfield to catch the chorus in the hallway of the hotel getting ready to enter the pattern for competing at Symphony Hall. We wished them luck and many broken legs, and then ran through the raindrops to the hall to watch them put their best on stage. No medals were won that day but the feeling of having put their best on stage, and enjoying singing together with friends was unmistakable. I guess we dedicate THIS trip to Merrimack Valley Chorus. A chorus Beth and I have sung with for a number of years, won medals with, practiced with, and consider part of our family! If you check out the link to the chorus before they switch out to the new picture, you'll even be able to see Beth and I in our sparkly glory from 2009's contest!