Metacomet-Monadnock Trail

Metacomet-Monadnock Trail
Trap rock cliffs along the M&M Trail on the Mount Tom Range
Length	110 mi (177 km)
Location	Massachusetts and New Hampshire
Designation	Under study for inclusion in a National Scenic Trail
Use	hiking, snowshoeing, other
Elevation
Highest point	Mount Monadnock, 3,165 ft (965 m)
Lowest point	Connecticut River, 89 ft (27 m)
Hiking details
Trail difficulty	easy, with difficult sections
Season	easiest spring to fall
Hazards	deer ticks, weather, poison ivy

The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail (M&M Trail) is a 114-mile-long (183 km) hiking trail that traverses the Metacomet Ridge of the Pioneer Valley region of Massachusetts and the central uplands of Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Although less than 70 miles (110 km) from Boston and other large population centers, the trail is considered remarkably rural and scenic and includes many areas of unique ecologic, historic, and geologic interest. Notable features include waterfalls, dramatic cliff faces, exposed mountain summits, woodlands, swamps, lakes, river floodplain, farmland, significant historic sites, and the summits of Mount Monadnock, Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke. The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail is maintained largely through the efforts of the Berkshire Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC). Much of the trail (but not all) is a portion of the New England National Scenic Trail.

The Metacomet-Monadnock Trail extends from the Connecticut/ Massachusetts border through Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, and northwestern Worcester counties in Massachusetts, and Cheshire County in New Hampshire. The southern terminus of the trail is located in southeast Southwick, Massachusetts, at Rising Corner Road and is identified with a kiosk. Geographically it begins near the gap between West Suffield Mountain and Provin Mountain, southwest of the city of Springfield; the northern terminus is located on the summit of Mount Monadnock in southern New Hampshire. The Metacomet Trail in Connecticut and the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Trail in New Hampshire continue where the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail leaves off. These trails extend the overall hiking possibilities another 101 miles (163 km) to the south (along the Metacomet Trail and its logical extension, the Mattabesett Trail), and 50 miles (80 km) farther north into central New Hampshire.