National Connecticut river scenic byway

"The beauty of the valley is indeed very different from the majesty of your grand elevations;  but I cannot allow that there is anything in this world more lovely, more perfect,--in its kind,--than this belovedold homestead where I was born;  with the windings of the river,--the 'green meadows and still waters' of an earthly Paradise,' --the flowing outlines of the distant Western hills,--the splendid urn-shaped and sheaf-shaped elms around us and over us,--the woods, not far off, at the East,--with large grassy yards and hay-fields on every side." - Fredrick Dan Huntington, Bishop of New York, in a letter to a friend living in the Berkshires (1863; Box 22, Folder 1)

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum is the designated Way-Point Center for the National Connecticut River Scenic Byway. The Museum hosts a panel exhibit on the natural history of the Valley, the Museum’s history, and sites along the by-way for travelers. A newly created trail system begins at the Museum and traverses the farm fields along the river and continues across River Drive through a forested area along a ridge. This ridge was part of the old buggy path to the top of Mount Warner where the family grazed their cattle in the 18th century and in the late 19th century went nutting on Sunday outings. At the top of the Mount Warner Trail keep a look out for John's Rock. The rock is named after John Morrison, a Scottish Prisoner-of-War during the Revolutionary War, who would climb and rest there, while he worked on the gardens and farm. For more information regarding the Porter-Phelps-Huntington history in relation to the new trail system, please contact the museum. We would love to answer any questions you have!

For a local trail map please click here.

If you are interested in more information on the Connecticut River Byway and the connecting Scenic Byways in Western Massachusetts please click here.

These banners are on display in the front of the museum. To See larger versions of these panels please click on the image below. 

The larger town of Hadley, Massachusetts was placed on the 2010 World Monuments Watch for its history of Puritan settlement and Great Meadow farming system.