Shelburne Fire Tower via Halligan Ave (Shelburne State Forest)

Shelburne Fire Tower via Halligan Ave (Shelburne State Forest)

Distance: 3.37 miles
Elevation: 1,050 feet

Time: 1 hour, 57 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes moving)
Hike Type: Reverse Stemmed Figure-8 Loop
Hiking Challenges: 52 Hike Challenge; Operation Alaska Benchmark Challenge

The Hike

Day 3 in my little outdoor adventure weekend! After skiing at Jay and Ragged, my plan for today was to head to NJ for the holidays via a hike up to the Shelburne Fire Tower followed by some more skiing at Berkshire East. I was up at 3:45am and out the door at 4:00am. The drive out west was nice and easy, aided with an Egg McMuffin and a brutal gas station christening near Turner's Falls. 

Just after 6:00am I made it to the confusing trailhead. There were turn around signs on Halligan Ave about 50 feet from Route 2 telling hikers to turn around at the sign (in a tricky spot) to park. I did a 30-point turn and parked on the side of Halligan Ave. near the trailhead, which seemed to be okay! It was a crystal clear morning and there were no degrees outside, off we go!

There was a dusting of snow and a few sets of footprints on this well-blazed white trail. My puffy came off five minutes in and heard the classic sound of a twig snapping in the distance - spooky! The snow on the ground sparkled like glitter in my headlamp's light and my buff was freezing, but it was so wonderfully peaceful. 

My second puffy came off at the junction with the yellow-blazed Big Trees Trail junction, and the trail climbed moderately to the junction with an orange-blazed trail. After crossing with Big Trees Trail again, the trail went through a power cut, showing some light on the horizon. I hit the final terminus of the Big Trees Trail at 0.66 miles while my eyelashes were freezing together. 

There was some avoidable ice near the top and as per usual, I was sweating. Thankfully, my layering system was working well! I did wish I brought a second shirt, but oh well... Just before the top there was some impressive needle ice, and then voila! The top had a picnic table, a nice clearing, and the very unique stone fire tower. 

There was no door to the tower and it was DARK in side. With my headlamp, I carefully and cautiously climbed up. There were a few windows on the way up followed by three at the top level of the tower, just below the locked cabin. This was by far the most unique fire tower that I've climbed! I took some photos - the town of Shelburne Falls, the cloud of Berkshire East's snowmaking, and Mt. Greylock out of one, Mt. Monadnock and surrounding hills out of another, and the Pioneer Valley, including the Holyoke Range and UMass, out of the third. Once the sun broke the horizon I headed down to make some hot chocolate!

I made the hot chocolate with my JetBoil down at the picnic table, where I also found a survey disc nearby. I climbed back up with cocoa in hand and a nip of Pumpkin Spice Rum Chata, which was LOVELY. I enjoyed the views and the unique solitude in this cold tower.

After a nice break, I finished my cocoa and started my return trip. I passed a guy near the top with a little dog wearing the BIGGEST coat - what a trooper! I followed the Big Trees Connector Trail down, and TECHNICALLY broke trail, as I was the first human to hike it since the last snow, even if it was only coated in an inch. Either a bobcat or coyote got ahead of me, though! Footing was a little slippery, but I went slow and had no problem.

It seems like the Big Trees Trail and connector are new trails, as its hard to find information on them, and even the trailhead info was outdated. 

On this trail and the actual Big Trees Trail, many of the trees had ID tags naming the type of tree and how to ID them, which I genuinely had a fantastic time reading and guessing. I saw a hawk/falcon at the power cut and followed some bunny tracks for a while, and later saw a deer near the end of the Big Trees Trail.

Once back on the white trail, I was soon at the car. What a lovely hike! I would absolutely come back, especially for a sunrise before Berkshire East. All of my clothes were basically frozen solid at this point, but I did a FAST change and zoomed over to the mountain!

Step-By-Step

- Park on side of the road on Halligan Ave.

- Start hike on white-blazed Tower Trail.

- Follow Tower Trail to summit.

- Turn around and retrace steps.

- At junction with Big Trees Trail Connector, turn right onto yellow-blazed Big Trees Trail Connector.

- At next jct., cross Tower Trail and continue onto yellow-blazed Big Trees Trail.

- At terminus, continue descend on Tower Trail to car.

"The Fire Tower Trail" from brochure (outdated)

The trail climbs 1.25 miles to the stone fire tower at the top of Mt. Massaemett. It is rated strenuous. Begin at the culvert at Rt. 2 and Halligan Avenue, just west of the South Maple Street entrance to Shelburne Falls. Park on the uphill side of Halligan Avenue. The trees on the first part of the trail are blazed with white paint. The trail continues across a power line. Coming to a junction with a wide trail (orange blaze), turn right and follow, bearing left uphill to the tower. You can climb the tower for a tree state view. Return the way you came or continue down the road to the cell tower (3rd structure). Turn left and follow the fence on the left side to link up with The Ridge Trail to the High Ledges Sanctuary). 

"Fire Tower Trails, Shelburne, MA" from brochure (updated)

THE HIKE: The 1.3-mile Fire Tower Trail and the Big Trees Trail provide many educational panels and tree identification stops along the way to the summit of Massaemett Mountain. A rigorous hike up these trails leads to the Shelburne State Forest Fire Tower, with scenic views in all four directions.

THE HISTORY: There had been two wooden, recreational, observation towers on the summit during the late 1800's. One burned down and the other blew down. A more durable stone & cement tower was constructed in 1909, from stone quarried near the summit of the mountain. In 1911, the tower also began to be used as a fire lookout to watch for forest fires. Currently, during periods of high fire danger, the glass "cab" on top of the tower is staffed by Mass Dept. of Conservation and Recreation. This historic tower is one of only two stone fire towers still in use in New England.

Map of Shelburne Trails (Outdated)

Photo Album