Exploring Mount Greylock in Massachusetts

Well folks, Mount Greylock in Massachusetts is definitely the most epic view we have seen in the state thus far. Going up 3941 ft in elevation gives you a pretty good perspective of your surroundings.

So much so that at the top of Mt. Greylock you can actually see a total of 5 states. Vermont, New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire (barely), and of course the state it is located in (Massachusetts).

Whether driving to the top, hiking to the top, or parachuting in (not sure if that is actually allowed), you are guaranteed a great view of the different landscapes that are around you while exploring Mount Greylock in Massachusetts.

DRIVING ON UP!

While driving up the south side of Mt. Greylock we saw many majestic views along the way. It starts up as a gradual climb but picks up elevation quickly. Oh, forgot to mention, I was still recovering from a surgery I had a few weeks prior so we decided to take the easy route on this one.  It was still a very memorable experience seeing so many cool views for the first time.

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LOTS OF RAIN EQUALS WATERFALLS!

A couple days before we made it to Mount Greylock the area had received a couple inches of rain so as we were driving up the mountain there were plenty of places where small waterfalls had formed.

Nothing spectacular, but I love the sound of the gently flowing water as we drove past them. We recorded a few seconds of these caught in our video linked at the top of this post.

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RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING VIEWS

We didn’t get pictures of EVERY single overlook on the way up to the top of the mountain, but we got most of them in our video. It is amazing how far you can see since Mt. Greylock is so much higher than the surrounding mountain tops.

Apparently (according to our 13 minute preview video we watched at the visitor center) this mountain used to actually be quite a bit higher.

In fact they say that the Appalachian mountains in this area could have been as high as the Andes are today. Due to weathering of much of the limestone/marble base, the schist is really what makes up the bulk of the mountain today.

WAR MEMORIAL

Once making it to the top of the mountain we were greeted with this epic war memorial/lighthouse that was built in the early 1930s. It is standing at 93 ft tall and I believe in some warmer months you can actually go inside.

Unfortunately since we waited until literally the last day of the year heading up to the summit, we were not able to go inside the memorial. That is ok though, with all the breathtaking views and practically having the preserve to ourselves… made up for the lack of memorial access. 🙂

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SEE FOR MILES

Depending where you look from the top of Mount Greylock you can see farmlands, neighboring mountains, or even some lakes off in the distance. As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, you can see 5 different states from the peak for the mountain.

Just in case you don’t believe me, there is a diagram at the top of the mountain showing you where the different peaks of mountains are in the nearby states. One of the diagrams even shows where the city of Boston is off in the distance…although it is not really visible to the naked eye.

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ON THE WAY BACK DOWN

After enjoying our view at the top of Mount Greylock, we decided to head down the north side of the mountain on Notch Rd. If you watched the video you can tell that it was quite windy and the cool temperatures that day persuaded us to see what else the mountain had to offer. 🙂

In the images above you can see the war memorial tower from off in a distance as well as the view of the western portion of the mountain. There is a nice mountain range along the Massachusetts/New York border that we will be visiting in a future video.

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LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY

Although I didn’t explain it very well in the video, luckily Deanna took a picture explaining some of the geology of the local area. As you are driving up Mount Greylock you can actually some sides of the mountain further down where mining occurred.

I’m guessing, although not certain, that they were probably mining some of the marble that was created from the limestone. I’m not a huge fan of mining mountain tops, but marble is definitely found readily throughout this area of Massachusetts.

OTHER NEARBY HIKES

Balance Rock State Park

Wahconah Falls State Park

Natural Bridge State Park

Bash Bish Falls State Park

Clarksburg State Park

NOTE FROM WRITER

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Adventure On!