October Mountain State Forest

Hiked October Mountain State Forest on a peaceful weekday—no crowds, easy parking at the main trailheads off Route 7/20 in Lee, MA. This is Massachusetts' largest state forest (16,500+ acres), with miles of quiet trails through dense hardwood forest, old stone walls, streams, and gentle ridges.

Great place to spend some time outdoors. Lots of hiking and biking options, ATV trails, and stunning vistas. Give it a look.

2025 Update: Returned for a great week here. This time camped in the lower section. Staff is very nice and helpful. The campground sites are clean and well maintained. However, the bathroom needs some maintenance and a deep steam clean of the tiles-- the floors, the shower walls. The toilets and sinks are cleaned well, however, the scum on the walls, especially in shower area and toilet dividers is gross. A quick 15 minutes scrub here or there with some mold remover or an engagement with a pressure washer would improve the cleanliness. Another negative is staff regularly drive a UTV through the back camping area section of this lower level to access maintenance area in the bathroom. It's actually quite annoying. It would be better if they drove around and on the road to enter. As always, your experience here will depend on your neighbors. It is more of an open area for camping and sound does travel. The hum from the electrical is definitely more evident in the lower section, however, you won't be there much because you'll be out exploring. There is just so much to see and do in this area. If you do plan on just hanging around the campsite all day between the hum and whatever is going on at the maintenance shed.... I think maybe they were milling lumber.... It's a bit much to tolerate. Beautiful short trails to access within the campground. Anything you might need to access can be found a short distance away in the center of town. I have to give it three stars just because of the negatives. I experienced this time. Five stars for its location, offerings in the area and pleasant staff. 2022: Small campground and sadly you will hear the hum from the electrical facility right across from the entrance. Stayed in a yurt that was pretty smelly but after a heavy dose of disinfectant spray, it was much better. The bathrooms, however, were clean-- for a campground. The staff was awesome and knowledgeable about the area and had great suggestions for activities and places to visit. You will have more than 17,000 acres of forest to explore and you won't spend that much time at your campsite. If you can sleep with the hum of power in the background and spend your days away in the forest the noise won't bother you in the least. Great hiking! The Appalachian trail runs right through. There is plenty to do and to explore in nearby towns. Again, another state forest with tons of potential but not enough staff and not enough money budgeted to keep it up the way it should be. Sad.

Great campground, clean bathrooms, staff were great! I ended up staying in one of the yurts. Definitely located in a great location in the Berkshire of Massachusetts. Would definitely stay there again!!

October Mountain is a great place for hiking and getting some mud on the tires of your 4x4! With a series of dams, waterfalls, ponds, streams & trails to explore, it's definitely a full day of outdoor fun. It's hard to find legal trails to explore with an offroad vehicle so this place is a treasure. Perfect mild to moderate trails available to get lost in nature.