I was just in New England driving 2,000 miles around its six states while photographing white churches, ponds, waterfalls, and country stores for the third edition of my book Scenic Driving New England. One afternoon I carved out enough time to climb Mount Greylock, the highest mountain in Massachusetts.
Mount Greylock, named for an early Native American chief who haressed British settlers during the French and Indian Wars, is an easy climb...especially if you drive Notch Road, a 16-mile-long scenic byway, to a parking lot below the summit. Or if you want to actually climb Greylock, you can hike up the Appalachian Trail section that traverses the mountain from north to south.
Mount Greylock also figures prominently in American art and literature, with lots of 19th-century writes like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Henry David Thoreau climbing to its wooded summit, which now has a towering granite monument honoring Massachusetts' veterans.
Find out more interesting facts about Mount Greylock's geology, geography, forests, and human history at my new article Facts About Mount Greylock: Massachusetts' Highest Mountain and make plans to climb the 31st highest state high point.
Photograph above: A sign marks the summit of Mount Greylock, Massachusetts' High Point. Photograph © Stewart M. Green.
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