FranklinSites.com Hiking Guide
Home

States
 Colorado
 Connecticut
 Maine
 Massachusetts
 New Hampshire
 New York
 Rhode Island
 Utah
 Vermont

 View All

Lists
 NE 4,000 Footers
 NE 100 Highest
 NH 4,000 Footers
 NH 100 Highest
 NH 52 With A View
 NH Belknap Range
 NH Ossipee 10

Links

Trail Conditions

Trip Log
 Sunrises
 Sunsets


About


Pocumtuck Mountain
Colrain, MA, Heath, MA, and Charlemont, MA

Trailheads, measurements, times, distances, and maps are all approximate and relative to the hike(s) as shown below.

Trail near Pocumtuck summit

Though I have hiked Pocumtuck many times, today was a series of firsts - first time hiking it from Stacy Road, first time hiking it mid-winter, and first time snowshoeing it.

Initially I had planned to park as far up South Catamount or Stacy Road as possible. Upon arriving, I realized that would actually mean parking at the beginning of one or the other. Since South Catamount Road has no parking signs all over the area near the snowbank, process of elimination chose Stacy Road as my route.

After building my own parking spot in a snowbank (thank you Toyota Off Road Package!), I put on my running snowshoes and headed up Stacy Road (due to the length of the hike, I only used them for running/jogging a few times).

Stacy Road was well packed by snowmobile traffic, making the snowshoes pointless. Upon reaching McLeod Pond and seeing some ice fishers and snowmobilers on it, I decided to go right across the pond. After about five or ten steps, I looked to my left and saw slush poking through the snow. Not wanting to go swimming, I made like the French military and gave up on crossing the pond.

This is where the snowshoes came in handy. Due to wind, the trail around the south side of the pond was essentially unbroken. Though some exposed parts had only a few inches of snow, one section was easily 3 feet deep.

The rest of the hike to Pocumtuck was packed due to recent snowmobile traffic. The obstructed views on the knob southeast of Pocumtuck were surprisingly good - Mt. Greylock and Mt. Monadnock were visible in the distance.

The views from the ledge on Pocumtuck were amazingly strong - better than my last half dozen or so visits. The towers on top of Mt. Greylock and Borden Mountain were visible, as well as the radar bubble thing in Cummington, and the towers of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.


Hike Ratings
Getting To Trailhead: Easy
Destination: McLeod Pond
Length: Moderate
Steepness: Moderate
Navigation: Moderate
Views: Excellent
Crowds: Minimal
Destination: Pocumtuck Mountain
Length: Moderate
Steepness: Moderate
Navigation: Difficult
Views: Excellent
Crowds: Minimal


Hike Stats
Date Hiked: Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Hike Commenced: 1:09 PM
Parking Elevation: 570'
Destination: McLeod Pond
Ascent Commenced: 1:13 PM at Stacy Road trailhead
Pond Reached: 1:43 PM
Time Elapsed: 00:30
Trailhead Elevation: 577'
Pond Elevation: 1,115'
Vertical Gain: 588'
Destination: Pocumtuck Mountain
Summit Reached: 2:59 PM
Time Elapsed: 01:16
Trailhead Elevation: 1,115'
Summit Elevation: 1,872'
Vertical Gain: 1,027'
Hike Ended: 4:52 PM
Hike Time Elapsed: 03:41
Hike Vertical Gain: 1,942'



Stacy Road trailhead


McLeod Pond, mostly frozen over


Pocumtuck Mountain summit, looking west at Mt. Greylock




Directions to trailhead: Take Route 112 to North River Road, take a right onto Colrain Road. Stacy Road is on the left. There is limited parking on the side of the road.

Back to Pocumtuck Mountain Profile




Copyright 2002-2021, All Rights Reserved.
www.FranklinSites.com