Hilltown Land Trust
Dedicated to preserving active farmland and other working properties,
saving native plant and wildlife habitats, protecting watersheds,
and preserving the scenic and rural character of the
Hilltowns of Western Massachusetts
Stevens Hiking Trail, Huntington, MA
The Hilltown Land Trust is delighted to announce the opening of a new 1.2-mile walking trail on part of the 379-acre property donated to the HLT by Frank Stevens on Pisgah Road in Huntington. This beautiful trail winds through a wooded landscape studded with hundreds of large boulders covered in mosses, ferns and lichens. It passes a very early cellar hole and maple sugarhouse ruin, climbs up and down steep slopes, and crosses a moist stream valley in three places. Expect lots of early spring wildflowers and a great variety of ferns, and look for signs of moose, deer, bear, coyote, porcupine, and many other mammals.
Newly cleared in the fall of 2007, much of the trail is not yet "worn in," and fallen leaves may hide small obstacles underfoot. Watch your step. The trail is marked with survey flagging, to be replaced ASAP with paint blazes.
Starflower - photo © Shirley Winer
In winter, the trail is snowshoeable in deep soft snow, but hazardous when conditions are slippery; avoid it then. The trail is not suitable for X-C skiing or biking at any time, and all motorized vehicles are prohibited.
Directions: At the highest point on Route 66, 0.4 mile West of the Westhampton-Huntington town line, turn North off Route 66 onto Allen Coit Road. Go 0.4 mile to the intersection with Pisgah Road and bear right onto Pisgah. Go 2.4 mile North from that intersection to HLT's unmarked parking pullout and small clearing at break in stone wall on the right. Trail leaves the North side of the clearing, heading first slightly downhill and soon turning right and uphill.