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◂︎ Mandy & Lexi's Massachusetts Adventures
Easthampton
Manhan Rail
Trail
Dates visited: 9/26/2020, 9/30/2020 & 2/20/2022
See Also: New Haven, Hamden, Cheshire, Southington, Plainville, Farmington, Avon, Simsbury, Granby, East Granby, Suffield, Southwick, MA, Westfield, MA, Southampton, MA, Easthampton, MA, Northampton, MA
The Manhan Rail Trail is a mult-use multi-town path along the site of the old canal that ran from New Haven, CT to Northampton, MA. The Manhan Rail Trail starts in Southampton right on the Easthampton border, and travels to Northampton. This is the same railway line that the Columbia Greenway in Westfield, Southwick Rail Trail in Southwick, and the two sections of Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in Connecticut. There are gaps that prevent the whole thing from being complete. We walked the entire Manhan Rail Trail over the course of three days.
There is a spur in Easthampton that starts in the center of downtown and runs for a little over 2 miles to US-5, near the Holyoke and Northampton borders. We didn't walk the spur initially, but came back nearly a year and a half later and walked it. We started at the US-5 end. The path runs under I-91 and proceeds up a very gradual incline, through a nature preserve and behind resedential and commercial businesses, before ending at an intersection with the main trail near the Mill district.
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Edward J. Dwyer Conservation Area
Date visited: 5/19/2023
This place is also known as the Manhan River Conservation Area. We followed the "Manhan River Trail", which follows the Manhan River through the woods. We used the "Upper Bypass Trail" to complete the loop, for a one mile hike. This was a pretty basic hike through the woods.
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Nonotuck Park
Date visited: 6/11/2023
This was a very fun hike. We started off the 2+ mile loop by a picnic pavilion, before reaching the athletic fields. After the fields, we headed into the woods. The best part of the trail is the section that runs along side the pond. And when I say "along side", I mean it. The trail was right along side the pond. The only issue is that the trail isn't marked at all. We followed the "Nonotuck Park Loop" in All-Trails, and really needed the GPS enabled map to follow the route. Also, there was a sign at the park gate that indicated a $4 cash onky entry fee on the weekends, but there was nobody there collecting a fee. It was a good thing too, because I had no cash after losing my wallet the the day before.
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