Outdoor Fun

Berkshires is that there are outdoor activities to suit every age group and pocketbook, from traditional pursuits like hiking and horseback riding to activities that may be as new to parents as to children, such as negotiating the treetops on aerial walkways and ziplines. In the Berkshires, nature is often just a short drive out of town.

The waterfall at Bash Bish State Park (with the longest vertical drop in Massachusetts) on Mt. Washington or the caves of Bartholomew’s Cobble in Sheffield are feasts for the eyes. The Cobble itself rises a thousand feet above the local terrain and rewards those who make it to the top with exceptional views of the surrounding countryside. The property is stewarded by The Trustees of Reservations, a statewide nonprofit; their other nearby sites include Field Farm in Williamstown, Notchview in Windsor, Ashintully Gardens in Tyringham, Monument Mountain in Great Barrington, and Goose Pond Reservation in Lee. The Trustees also maintain Naumkeag in Stockbridge, where you’ll find a long list of unique outdoor summertime events. Date Night, held Fridays and Saturdays in July and August, is a chance to bring a picnic or reserve a table, enjoy an adult beverage, and take in the site’s amazing view in a socially distanced fashion. Drag story hour meets high tea at Draghatter’s Tea Party, to be held in the Chinese Garden at a date to be announced soon. In June, bring your pruners and take home your own bouquet from Naumkeag’s flower garden. Naumkeag at Night returns in

July and The Naumkeag Garden Party fundraiser is scheduled for July 24. Additional re-occurring events at Naumkeag and Bartholomew’s Cobble include mindfulness hikes and meditation, natural journaling and art workshops, and yoga with a view. The Berkshires are mountains. The Appalachian Trail traverses 90 miles of western Massachusetts, passing over Mt. Greylock in Adams, at 3,491 feet the highest peak in the state; the summit is accessible by trails and an automobile road. Camping is available at many state parks and state forests, such as Beartown State Forest in Monterey and October Mountain Forest in Lee. The Guilder Pond Loop at Mt. Everett State Park circles around a lovely mountain pond, and you can bring the family dog. The 11,000-acre Pittsfield State Forest offers camping, hiking, and swimming, and Mass Audubon’s Canoe Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary and Lake Onota also provide fun outdoor experiences close to the city. The eleven-mile long, ten-foot wide, paved Ashuwillticook Rail Trail runs over an old railroad track through the towns of Cheshire, Lanesborough and Adams, and is well suited to walking, biking, roller-blading, and pushing a stroller. Berkshire Natural Resources Council offers 56 reserves, spread across the county, that are open for public use, for free, every day. Three reserves feature trails specifically designed with universal accessibility in mind: Parsons Marsh in Lenox, Old Mill Trail in Hinsdale/Dalton, and Thomas & Palmer Brook in Great Barrington.

A new trail will make its debut on the grounds of Hancock Shaker Village this summer. It will lead through the woods to archaeological remains of several Shaker buildings; interpretive signage will tell the history of where “new believers” once lived and mention the indigenous people who lived on this land before they arrived. The Village will again offer its popular outdoor yoga classes with goats on select Saturday mornings. Not into yoga but interested in the goats? The Village remains open for visits to its buildings and barns, where you can view lambs, chickens, cows, and pigs.

Want more farms? You got it. Ioka Valley Farm in Hancock serves brunch in season, at Cricket Creek in Williamstown you can meet the calves and watch the dairy herd come in at milking time, and a trip to the cow barn at High Lawn Farm in Lee can be topped off with an ice cream cone.

Four adventure destinations in the Berkshires promise high-flying experiences. Jiminy Peak in Hancock, in winter a ski mountain, offers chairlift rides in summer, mountain biking, a mountain coaster, an alpine super slide, a self-guided aerial forest ropes course, a two-person zipline, a giant swing, a climbing wall, bounce houses, and—wait for it—a Euro bungy trampoline. Catamount Aerial Adventure Park in South Egremont features North America’s longest zipline, whitewater rafting and a 180-element aerial adventure park with self-guided treetop courses at varying levels of difficulty. Ramblewild is another top arboreal adventure destination in a beautiful hemlock grove in Lanesborough, and Bousquet Adventure Park in Pittsfield has waterslides, ziplines, miniature golf, and more. Play ball! Sports fans will enjoy rooting for the Pittsfield Suns, a collegiate summer baseball team that competes at city-owned Wahconah Park. The park, constructed in 1919 and seating 4,500, is one of the few remaining ballparks in the United States with a wooden grandstand right out of “Casey at the Bat.”

For plant lovers of any age, you can tiptoe through the tulips and through many other types of plants now that the Berkshire Botanical Garden has opened again for its 87th season.

Opposite page: Hikers on the Hoosac Range. From top left clockwise: young hikers, Hickory Horned Devil caterpillar at Berkshire Botanical Gardens, enjoying an ice cream treat.

By Julia Dixon

Top: TunnelTeller by Alicja Kwade at Art Omi. Opposite page: Knee and Elbow by Nairy Baghramian at Ground/work at The Clark. these Berkshire hills offer an incredible legacy of art in public spaces. Artists have been drawn to the landscape for centuries in search of tranquility and inspiration, but they have also exposed the community to their talents while here. Private space was made public decades ago at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket where performers danced—and continue to do so—without cost to anyone willing to sit and watch under a tree. In 1991, singer Arlo Guthrie purchased the Old Trinity Church in Great Barrington to serve as a spiritual, physical, and creative refuge for the community. Once a palatial estate, Ashintully Gardens in Tyringham was donated to The Trustees of Reservations in 1996, preserving the lands and architectural ruins for the public. And actors have performed Shakespeare’s plays on Pittsfield’s First Street Common for free for thousands of people nearly every year since 2014. Publicly accessible art has taken on new meaning now, in a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has locked many of us at home for months and kept us socially distanced. Indoor spaces, where much of the world’s art is contained, have become menacing, and navigating social space has been challenging. “We heard from The Clark that many people used the trails for respite from the stress that the pandemic precipitated,” said Molly Epstein, co-curator of Ground/work, the first outdoor exhibition mounted by the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown. “We have a huge appreciation that [the show] happened at a moment when there was a deep need for comfort, solace, and spending time outdoors.” The Clark is one of several Berkshire cultural institutions to be showcasing art on its grounds this year. Norman Rockwell Museum, Berkshire Botanical Garden, and Chesterwood in Stockbridge and The Mount in Lenox are all featuring outdoor exhibitions as part of their seasonal programming. Some are annual events that had already established important traditions for highlighting the work of regional and national sculptors. Others, like Ground/work, are embracing open-air campus assets to provide a safe space to see artworks. The six installations on view in Ground/work were completed last October and will remain on view through the fall. For Epstein and her fellow curator Abigail Ross Goodman, who began work on this project years before the coronavirus surfaced, it was a perfect opportunity to extend the museum’s reach into publicly accessible natural space.

“There’s something exciting for artists about making work in a place that isn’t as mitigated by the trappings of an indoor art experience,” she said of participating artists Kelly Akashi, Nairy Baghramian, Jennie C. Jones, Eva LeWitt, Analia Saban, and Haegue Yang. They engaged the material world, embraced the changes in landscape that four seasons bring, and pushed their own practices in new directions in order to provide something special for visitors.

Great Barrington-based sculptor Natalie Tyler, who also serves as the program director at SculptureNow, believes that their upcoming exhibition at The Mount will be especially powerful. “A lot of sculptures that may not have touched people before may [do so] now,” she said. Tyler exhibited at TurnPark Art Space in West Stockbridge this spring and witnessed people interacting with her work in new ways. Public art is having a moment, she said, not simply because it is easy and safe to view works outside, but because of the “symbiotic relationship people have with something three-dimensional.” “Sculptures have a deeper meaning now because we’ve been so isolated,” she said. “There’s a renewed interest in interacting with what’s around us, whether that’s habitat or artworks.” Temporary sculpture exhibitions aren’t the only projects that have changed the significance of public spaces. Murals and municipal artworks have long redefined community and reflected shared experience.

Vincent Ballentine’s Metal and Stone, a 100-foot-long painting of a train roaring through the Hoosac Tunnel, tells the story of North Adams’s industrial past. Transitions, a mural created in 2000 by artists William Blake, Jay Tobin, and others, commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Pittsfield Boys and Girls Club, the second in the United States. More murals will be coming to both cities this summer.

“Last year, we encouraged people of color to submit proposals that reflected what was going on in the world,” said Abby Powers of Artscape’s ongoing paintbox project. Powers, who is chair of Pittsfield’s public art committee, facilitated the installation of four new paintbox murals that tackle local and national issues including Black Lives Matter.

“Public art is breaking down barriers for viewers,” said Powers. “We want to give residents of our community a voice and a space to share.” Many artists share their inspirations by inviting visitors to their studio or work space to see the art-making process first hand. Local sculptors Robert Butler, Roy Kanwit, and Matt Thomases have gone one step further, creating publicly accessible sculpture parks on their own properties that will all be open this season.

A sculptor who works with natural stone and metals, John Van Alstine established a sculpture park on his own land—nine acres surrounding an abandoned lumberyard on the Sacandaga River in New York’s Adirondack State Park. Like many artists who manage their own parks, Van Alstine was inundated with local visitors last summer and welcomed guests by appointment only.

But the pandemic-induced isolation that lured many New Yorkers outside created a unique opportunity for the artist inside. “I have made more works this whole year in lockdown than I ever have,” he said. “I was incredibly focused, almost like I was at a forced retreat.”

Although Alstine produced nearly 80 new pieces, he will be exhibiting 11 large-scale works, made over the course of his career, at Chesterwood’s 2021 Contemporary Sculpture Show in Stockbridge. He hopes the show will be an “awakening” for people who may not seek out art. “The stone I work with is generally raw and unmanipulated—I see it as the spirit of the stone which I combine with industrial metals for a merging of cultural sensibilities,” he said. “For me, the physical quality of the work is the hook that can draw people in who might not know anything about sculpture.”

Now in its 24th year, the North Bennington Outdoor Sculpture Show— also known as NBOSS—is one of the longest-running outdoor sculpture exhibitions in southwest Vermont. The annual event draws visitors to North Bennington’s downtown where, this year, sculptures by 38 regional artists including curator Joe Chirchirillo will be on display. About 20 sculptures will also be installed across Bennington Museum’s 10-acre property. Sculptures in North Bennington are accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and the museum’s grounds are free to wander from dawn to dusk.

June 19 – November 7, 2021 Daily | FREE 48-66 Main Street, North Bennington, Vt. Bennington Museum, 75 Main Street, Bennington, Vt. nbossvt.org

As the Clark’s first-ever outdoor exhibition, Ground/work is a captivating interpretation of the 140-acre campus that many locals and visitors have utilized for decades. Six artists were invited to the museum to get to know the landscape and create site-specific installations that engage with the changing landscape. Participating artists include Kelly Akashi, Nairy Baghramian, Jennie C. Jones, Eva LeWitt, Analia Saban, and Haegue Yang. Ground/work was co-curated by Molly Epstein and Abigail Ross Goodman. The Clark’s grounds are free and accessible day or night.

Now – October 17, 2021 Daily | FREE 225 South Street, Williamstown clarkart.edu

Phoenix by Robin Tost

This special juried outdoor exhibition will be held in conjunction with Enchanted: A History of Fantasy Illustration, opening on June 12 in the museum’s galleries. The exhibiting sculptures and installations, which were selected through an open call process, represent or are inspired by fantasy: “Myths, legends, fables, romance, and epic battles involving swords and sorcery [that] occur in a world unfamiliar to us.” The museum’s grounds are free and open to the public daily.

July 10 – October 31, 2021 Daily, dawn – dusk | FREE 9 Glendale Road, Stockbridge nrm.org

SculptureNow is a Berkshire staple; the non-profit has been curating sculpture exhibitions in the region for over 20 years and has presented its annual juried outdoor exhibition at The Mount, Edith Wharton’s Home in Lenox, for eight years now. This summer, 31 artists from across the country are participating in a diverse exhibition of contemporary sculpture. Self-guided tour maps, available at The Mount or via download at sculpturenow. org, contain a scannable link to an audio guide app. Artist-guided tours are also available; contact SculptureNow for details.

June 1 – October 13, 2021 Daily, dawn – dusk (closes at 3 p.m. most Saturdays) | FREE 2 Plunkett Street, Lenox sculpturenow.org

The theme Taking Flight will dominate the indoor and outdoor exhibition spaces at the Berkshire Botanical Garden this year. Five sculptures will be displayed throughout the gardens by participating artists Concha Martinez Barreto, Peter Gerakaris, Rachel Owens, Ian Sordy, and Imml Storr. This outdoor exhibition is curated by Beth Rudin deWoody, renowned art collector, philanthropist, and museum trustee. Masks are mandatory while visiting the gardens and galleries.

June 11 – October 31, 2021 Daily, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. $7.50/FREE children under 12 5 West Stockbridge Road, Stockbridge berkshirebotanical.org

Chesterwood’s 43rd Annual Contemporary Sculpture Show will feature the work of John Van Alstine, a sculptor based in Wells, New York. Exhibition curator Caroline Welsh, director emerita of the Adirondack Museum, has chosen 11 of Van Alstine’s large-scale works for display. Chesterwood itself has a rich history in public art; the site is the former summer home of Daniel Chester French, known for creating the statue of Abraham Lincoln for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

July 10 – October 25, 2021 Thursday – Monday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. $10 adult/$5 children 13 to 18 4 Williamsville Road, Stockbridge chesterwood.org

Wind Water by Craig Anderson, SculptureNow at The Mount.

One of the most noticeable public sculptures on the Williams College campus is Louise Bourgeois’s 2001installation Eyes. Embedded into the museum’s lawn, the large sculptures come alive at night as beams of light shine from the pupils. A dozen more public artworks in the museum’s collection, by renowned artists such as George Rickey and Jenny Holzer, can be found across the college campus. A printable tour guide and interactive Google map are available online.

FREE | Williamstown artmuseum.williams.edu

This 16-acre abandoned quarryturned-sculpture park is home to an international sculpture collection as well as special events and performances. This summer, the park will feature the work of architect Alexander Konstantinov, the park’s primary architect, who passed away two years ago. The exhibition, titled Wandering Stones, will survey Konstantinov’s public art and architectural projects, including his work at TurnPark. Wandering Stones will be on view from May 15 to July 31, 2021.

Daily, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. $15/$12 suggested donation 2 Moscow Road, West Stockbridge turnpark.com

Roy Kanwit’s Taconic Sculpture Park is aptly named—his 20-foot-tall sculptural head of Gaea, or Mother Earth, is visible from the Taconic State Parkway in Columbia County. This self-taught sculptor has maintained a breathtaking outdoor display of mythological figures carved from marble and cement on his property for 36 years, and it remains a popular rest stop for visitors passing through. Call 518-392-5757 to confirm that the park is open.

Open mid-May Saturday – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. $10 per car 221 Stever Hill Road, Chatham, N.Y. taconic.net/~kanwit

Art Omi’s Sculpture & Architecture Park features more than 60 works by contemporary artists and architects, with several new pieces—or exhibitions— coming this summer. Among them are TunnelTeller, an immense yet playful concrete sculpture by Berlin-based artist Alicja Kwade, and Jean Shin’s Allée Gathering, a monumental picnic table created from maple trees salvaged from a conservation project at Storm King Art Center in Cornwall, New York, where it was displayed in 2019.

Daily, dawn – dusk $10 suggested donation 1405 County Route 22, Ghent, N.Y. artomi.org

Sculptor Matt Thomases has created a brand-new sculpture garden on 15 hilly acres of a former farm field in Hillsdale, New York. Privately owned but publicly accessible, the park contains a variety of Thomases’s artworks, from large-scale stained glass pieces to abstract bronze, fiberglass, and steel forms. Paths lead visitors past gorgeous mountain vistas to the sculptures, although at least half of the pieces can be seen from or near the parking area.

June 2 – October 31, 2021 Wednesday – Monday, 10 a.m. – 30 min before sunset | FREE 82 Route 7D, Hillsdale, N.Y. bhsculpturegarden.com

This privately owned sculpture park is the home of Robert Butler, a sculptor working primarily in stainless steel. Seven of the property’s 40 acres are outfitted with paths that are adorned with several dozen sculptures, and more are displayed in three indoor galleries—two of which are in Butler’s studio building— which will be open this summer; masks are required to enter all indoor spaces. Accessibility accommodations can be made by calling 413-229-8924.

May 20 – November 1, 2021 Daily, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. | FREE 481 Shunpike Road, Sheffield butlersculpturepark.wordpress.com

Field Farm in Williamstown is a tranquil, 300-acre sanctuary of wetlands, woods, pasture, and hiking trails owned and maintained by The Trustees of Reservations. The landscaped lawns that surround two Mid-Century Modern houses on the property are dotted with 13 contemporary sculptures. Artists include Herbert Ferber, Mario Negri, Richard McDermott Miller, and Bernard Reder.

Daily, dawn – dusk | FREE 554 Sloan Road, Williamstown thetrustees.org/place/field-farm

MASS MoCA, known for its long-term gallery exhibitions, has also installed many temporary and permanent public artworks throughout its home city of North Adams. Among them are Victoria Palermo’s The Bus Stand, a stained glass bus stop on Main Street; Klaas Hübner and Andrew Schrock’s Corrugarou, an interactive musical tower installed at TOURISTS hotel; and Big Bling, a 40-foottall sculpture by Martin Puryear that greets drivers as they enter the city. A new outdoor installation by Taryn Simon will be on view starting May 29— admission fee required to view.

FREE | North Adams massmoca.org

DownStreet Art, a program of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, has facilitated the installation of over six public murals throughout North Adams and supported the creation of a handful of others in collaboration with local 20-foot-tall sculptural head of Gaea, or Mother Earth, at Taconic Sculpture Park.

partners. Murals include the colorful Justice by Egyptian artist Alaa Awad and Muralismo Publico’s Poppy Girl behind the Mohawk Theater. Two murals, by artists Vincent Ballentine and Danielle Klebes, were added to the city’s public art inventory during the 2019 O+ Festival.

FREE | North Adams mcla.edu/mcla-in-the-community/bcrc/ downstreet-art

24 paintboxes are currently on display in Pittsfield thanks to Artscape, the city’s public art program. The paintboxes are colorful and meaningful murals painted over ubiquitous utility boxes. Artscape also places sculptures in public locations and facilitates collaborative art projects, including The Sun Will Rise, a mural installed in 2020 on North Street, and the upcoming Black Lives Matter Art Project, which will feature a mural on North Street by Frances Chloe JonesWhitman and an installation in Sottile Park by Salief Lewis. Maps can be found at firstfridaysartswalk.com.

FREE | Pittsfield facebook.com/pittsfieldartscape

Great Barrington’s new public art initiative, founded by gallerist Lauren Clark and sculptors Michael Thomas and Peter Barrett, is beginning to facilitate the installation of public sculptures at downtown sites including the Berkshire Food Co-op and the Triplex Cinema. Five more sculptures will be added to the Powerhouse Square condominium campus, and others will be installed throughout the downtown.

FREE | Great Barrington

By Andrew Blechman

First, there’s that clean water smell that invigorates me like a shot of ginseng. And then the timberline along the shore that swells into rolling hills and the peak of Mount Greylock just miles away. A view I can only imagine must be like fireworks during peak foliage.

But most importantly, there’s the fact that I’m about to board a pontoon boat. Perhaps difficult to believe, but this is actually something I’ve dreamed of doing for years (my dreams can be kind of modest, too). There’s just something so appealing about a boat built for comfort and relaxation on a freshwater lake . . . and little else. A surface optimized to be as flat (and thus as usable) as possible. Comfy seating. A shade awning to promote doing nothing or perhaps snoozing. And maybe Bluetooth speakers to maximize the chill mood.

Pontoon boats remind me of giant golf carts that glide across water instead of fairways. They’re not built for speed, but they feel fast—or at least fast enough. When I was writing my book Leisureville, about The Villages in Florida, I marveled at how much fun it was to tool around in a souped-up golf cart, especially with the windshield down. By most reasonable measures, it shouldn’t have been that much fun, but doggone it—it was.

Once aboard the boat, the helpful youngsters who manage the mini-marina at Berkshire U-Drive Boat Rentals, give my buddy Rob and me a quick tour of how to operate the boat (and show me how to hook up my iPhone to the Bluetooth speakers). Rob and I look at each other, smile, and shift the boat into gear. Within minutes, we’re gliding across the water, smiles plastered to our faces, the world’s troubles melting away like soft-serve on a summer’s day. I crack open a beer, unpack lunch, and wonder if that smile is ever going to leave my face. Rob and I swap seats and I captain the skiff, making lazy 8’s as I gauge the 19-foot boat’s 30-hp engine, which is delightfully quiet. Today it’s just me and neighbor Rob, but U-Drive’s half-

Capt’n Rob pontooning on Pontoosuc Lake.

dozen boats seat as many as ten people. The mini-marina’s owner, Andy Perenick (his boys help staff it) pretty much sums up the joy of tooling along in a pontoon boat when he tells me, “It’s about relaxing—pontoon boats are relaxation boats. Families go out for the day, eat lunch, listen to music, jump into the water. Little kids love it. And so do the parents. It’s fun to buzz around out there. It’s like having your own beach—on pontoons.”

And the best part, from a dad perspective? Rob and I discussed that on the drive over: not owning the boat. “You don’t have to clean it, fill the tank with gas, insure it, get it on the water and out of the water, maintain it,” Perenick preaches to this choir. “All you have to do is enjoy it. We’ll even deliver you pizza on waterskies if you’d like.”

You can pontoon on Pontoosuc (and say it ten times quickly for fun), or on Onota Lake, Pittsfield’s other watery gem. Actually, you can take all sorts of boats out on Onota, thanks to the the surprisingly large marina there: Onota Boat Livery. A family business as well, the Onota Boat Livery is run by Caryn Wendling and her husband Rick, with the help of their Great Dane Lucy.

Turning into the marina’s parking lot at Onota Lake, it’s hard to believe I never knew it existed. It’s the real deal, with multiple docks and slips—100 of them—filled with motor and pontoon boats, some as long as 24 feet. Nearby on land, there are stacks of kayaks and canoes, boats in dry dock, boats in a repair shop (two full-time mechanics), and a sizable tackle shop filled with bait, marine accessories, snacks, hats, and all sort of toys like

Clockwise from top: Ononta Boat Livery, kayaking Lake Ononta, owners Rick and Caryn Wendling with Great Dane Lucy.

inner tubes and rafts designed to be towed at high speeds. And next to the register and live bait tanks, there’s the obligatory wall of fame—proud fishermen holding surprisingly large catches. Some nearly as big as Lucy. No kidding. I have to keep reminding myself I’m not in Michigan or Maine, particularly when I hear that ice fishing is popular as well. “We have a huge population of fisher-people in Berkshire County,” Caryn tells me. “Guys looking for northern pike will fish this lake. That said, I’ve seen some big browns (trout) pulled out as well.” To my surprise, several of the boats even have fish-finders and depth gauges. Others, that pull waterskies, boast as much as 190 horsepower. No fishing, waterskiing, or even pontooning for me this time. Instead I paddled clear across the lake and back in a cozy kayak that was a cinch to use. The water was calm like glass, the kayak gliding across as I take in the watery surface, green hills, and blue skies, and marveled at which home I’d buy one day for fun. And, as if on cue amidst my reverie, a family of eagles soared in circles above.

If you prefer paddling to motoring, the go-to place in North County to rent canoes and kayaks is Berkshire Outfitters in Adams 413-743-5900. Steve Blazejewski and his wife Karen, both competitive whitewater canoers, opened the place 45 years ago when Steve realized he’d get a better deal on replacing their smashed-up racing canoes if they set themselves up as a retailer. They’re still at it and generally recognized as the most knowledgeable folks around when it comes to paddling North County. Due to COVID, they may not be able to shuttle you somewhere, but everyone is welcome to come by and rent and they rent roof racks, too. Steve will give you tips on where to go, from Pittsfield to Southern Vermont, including some lakes with primitive access perfect for a summer’s dip or fall foliage looky-looing.

The mavens of paddling and rentals in Mid- and South County reside unsurprisingly at the Arcadian Shop in Lenox, legendary for its outdoor gear and advice. They’ve got kayaks and paddleboards and lots of ideas for where to use them. This year, due to COVID, their equipment isn’t for rent but rather to purchase. And next year, they hope to be renting again.

The store manager, Chris Calvert, has been there nearly thirty years and knows just about all there is to know about paddling in the area, including the best spots on the Housatonic River. Among the places he recommends: the Stockbridge Bowl; Upper and Lower Goose Pond in Tyringham; Richmond Pond; Otis Reservoir; Woods Pond in Lee; Laurel Lake, Cheshire Lake, and the Housatonic River, of course. The possibilities are endless enough to occupy your summer and fall. And for the more adventurous among you looking to paddle the Housatonic, here’s a tip from Chris: https://housatonicheritage.org/ wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BerkshirePaddleGuide.pdf.