Dates visited: 9/27/2020 & 5/19/2023

Northampton is a cool city. I've visited record stores and gone to many concerts here. After finishing the Manhan Rail Trail, we walked around the city a bit. We returned two and a half years later and walked around the city again, while my wife visited some of the shops.

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Dates visited: 9/26/2020, 9/27/2020 & 9/21/2021

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. On the first trip, it was a warm day and we got to a point where Mandy decided it was time to turn around and head back, so we turned around and headed back! We came back a year later because I didn't have any photos from the end of the trail.

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Dates visited: 9/21/2021 & 11/23/2023

See Also: Northampton, MA, Hadley, MA, Amherst, MA

This multi use trail is part of Mass Central Rail Trail, which boasts to be the longest rail trail in the Northeast, running from Northampton to Boston. Like the New Haven/Northampton Canal Trail, there are gaps. The trail starts at the intersection of the Manhan Rail Trail and the Northampton Bikeway. I have no plans to try to complete the whole thing! The highlight of the Northampton portion is the long bridge over the Connecticut River and Elwell Island. The park portion includes a boat launch and a picnic area.

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We spent Thanksgiving morning filling in a small gap in the trail we left two years ago. This is the section of the trail west of the bridge, that goes under I-91. When we were here two years ago, the portion between Damon Avenue and I-91 was re-routed due to construction, so we skipped about a half mile section. After walking the section we had skipped previously, we repeated the section over the bridge, eventually connecting where we left off in Hadley a few days prior.

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Date visited: 9/14/2020

This is a great little path that runs along side the Mill River and into the Smith College Campus. I let the dogs walk through the river to cool off a bit. Since the path seems to be along Smith College property, masks were required to be worn while on this trail.

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Date visited: 5/11/2022

This is a popular hiking area in Northampton. We encountered a number of mountain bike riders here, as well as some bird watchers. When we reached the wildlife blind, a woman in the blind startled the dogs, and they started to bark. The woman got annoyed and told me "You should quiet the dogs down if you want any hope of seeing any birds". She then left the area in disgust. Anyway, we walked a loop trail I found in the All-Trails app, but the loop didn't reach the lake, so I took a detour to the lake. The trail was very rocky at the start, but the rest of it was mainly flat and easy.

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Dates visited: 9/21/2021, 9/30/2022 & 9/17/2024

This is part of a network of bike trails in Northampton that includes the Manhan Rail Trail and the Norwottuck Rail Trail. This one runs west from the point where they all meet. Our first visit here was just to use a small portion of the eastern end of the trail to connect with the other two, since we could park in the Stop & Shop parking lot for free. We returned a little over a year later and walked the 3+ miles from Stop & Shop to Look Park, in the Florence section of Northampton. This is a very busy segment of the trail. There is a short connecting trail to the Barrett Street Marsh overlook that we checked out as well. Combined with a short walk at Look Park, we walked 6.8 miles total out and back. Thankfully, it was a cool day and the dogs had no problem with it. I think Lexi could have done another 6.8 miles actually!

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We picked up the bike trail in Leeds Village and headed south about a mile to Look Park. This was the start of a three and a half mile loop. This is a different section of the trail than the portion we walked two years earlier.

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Dates visited: 9/30/2022 & 9/17/2024

This is a nice privately owned park located in the Florence section of Northampton. We reached here via the Northampton Bikeway, so we had already walked over 3 miles just to get here, and still had to go back. So we only walked around the front section of the park. We will have to come back at a later date to see the rest. The section of the park we did visit included numerous fountains and sculptures, as well as Pines Theater. I saw a concert at this theater 16 years prior, and hadn't been back to the park since. All in all, the park looks like a really great place to relax and take the dogs for a walk!

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Like our previous visit here two years ago, we arrived via the Northampton Bikeway, but this time from Leeds Village and the other direction. We were able to explore sections of the park that we didn't have a chance to visit on our first trip here two years ago. We saw more sculptures, as well as a wildlife center (dogs aren't allowed inside), an archery range, various covered bridges, picnic areas, a spray park, a closed ice cream shop, and playgrounds. There's a lot going on here! Oh, and there's a train that circles the park. They were running the train while we were here, even with no passengers! We left the park via a dirt trail that leads to Arch Street and Leeds Village, creating a loop that led back to where we parked.

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Date visited: 5/19/2023

This is a cute park in the center of Northampton. It features a paved walking trail, some open areas, a few gardens, and a lot of trees. We encountered many other dog walkers here. The park closes to vehicles at 5PM, but there is plenty of parking available along the street. This is a nice place to spend some time in the spring.

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Date visited: 9/17/2024

We parked on Main Street, and began a three and a half mile loop here that included the Northampton Bikeway and Look Park. The pictures below are all from Main Street. There are a number of historical signs with information about the Mill River flood of 1874 that killed 139 people and destroyed the village.

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