When those of us from the west here the name "Massachusetts" we automatically think of the great east coast megalopolis that stretches from Boston to Washington, D.C., but the western part of the state is dramatically different, full of small mountain towns and rushing brooks. The whole area reminds me of a sort of moist Colorado with a strange accent, and today’s trip completed that picture for me.
This being said, lets have a look around Chesterfield Gorge ...
I was Googling stuff in New Hampshire when I found a reference to a Chesterfield Gorge there, then in digging a bit further I found there was another with the same name just west of Northampton, the somewhat Bohemian looking home of Smith College and one of our favorite hangouts. That was all it took to get us moving ...
The gorge itself is like the rest of western Massachusetts – Colorado like, but dramatically scaled down. Even so, it’s a perfect little jewel of a gorge and accessible in a way that the monsters of the west are not. The beginning of the experience is parking in The Trustees of the Reservations lot, paying the entry fee, and stepping up to the guard railing that keeps one back from the edge. This bridge abutment dates from 1760 and is on the east bank; its twin on the west bank was poorly placed and abandoned after being swept away twice in the late 18th and early 19th century.
The roughest, steepest part of the gorge is a mere few hundred yards in length and protected along its whole length with a three strand wire rope fence.
This deadfall marks the first place where one might scramble down but its still behind the wire fence.
Go just a few yards further, the fence runs out, and a steep, well trodden path to the water comes into view.
The climb down is worth it with the rapids of the upper gorge giving way to mill pond smooth reflecting water.
If you’ve got some mountain goat in you and shoes suitable for water you can work your way back up the gorge, but the terrain is very rough and you’d better be ready for episodes of two handed scrambling.
If you’re not so inclined to adventure there are still things to do and see in the lower gorge.
This one is ridiculously easy to get to – highway 143 in Chesterfield, just west of the town center you turn south on Ireland Road, and the clearly marked location is about two miles south. You can take lunch in one of the many little restaurants on Northampton’s busy streets and make a perfect day trip of the visit.