Mount Greylock
9.0 miles, 2,805 ft of climbing, 5.9% average grade.
Massachusetts' rooftop, raced from North Adams: nine miles gaining 2,800 feet at a deceptive 6% average, with long stretches into double digits and brutal short pitches, quintessential New England climbing on roads cut before anyone thought grades should be graded. The open summit pays it all back with views across three states.
Highlights
- The highest point in Massachusetts (3,491')
- Long 10%+ stretches hidden inside a friendly-sounding 6% average
- The Veterans War Memorial Tower and Bascom Lodge at the summit
- Literary mountain: Melville watched it from his desk while writing Moby-Dick
Must Know
- The profile is uneven: repeated steep sections with false flats between. Ride it like intervals.
- Summit weather is its own climate, the tower is often in cloud when North Adams is sunny.
- The descent is long and fast; bring layers and check your brakes.
Lodging
North Adams and Williamstown anchor the north side with hotels, inns, and college-town restaurants. Bascom Lodge itself rents rooms at the summit if you want to wake up on top.
Food & Views
- MASS MoCA's campus in North Adams, art and food in one stop
- Williamstown's college-town cafés
- Views: the memorial tower gallery at the summit, and sunset from Bascom Lodge
Nearby Routes
- Road: the Mohawk Trail and the Taconic valley roads
- Gravel: Notch Road's dirt shoulders and the Hopper region
- Hike: the Appalachian Trail crosses the summit
- MTB: the Bullitt trail network in Pittsfield State Forest