Hiking Massachusetts Peaks

Elevation: 1,018 feet
Prominence: 497 feet
Isolation: 0.97 miles
Summit coordinates: 42°18′13″N 72°31′53″W
Town: Amherst and South Hadley, Massachusetts
Conservation Area: Mount Holyoke Range State Park

Links:
Bare Mountain on Peakbagger
Bare Mountain on AllTrails
Mount Holyoke Range State Park website (including trail map)

General information: Bare Mountain is a prominent summit in the Holyoke Range, a narrow east–west traprock ridge that rises dramatically above the Connecticut River Valley in western Massachusetts. At 1,014 feet, Bare Mountain is not the highest peak in the range (that distinction belongs to nearby Mount Norwottuck) but it is one of the most visually striking. The summit forms a broad open ledge that rises steeply from the farmland and towns of the Pioneer Valley roughly 1,000 feet below.

The mountain lies on the border between Amherst and South Hadley and is part of Mount Holyoke Range State Park, a large protected landscape that preserves several miles of rugged ridgeline and forest. The summit offers sweeping views across the valley to the north and south, including the campuses of the University of Massachusetts and Hampshire College, the Connecticut River lowlands, and the wooded crest of the Holyoke Range stretching toward Mount Holyoke.

Bare Mountain is also a key point along the long-distance Metacomet-Monadnock Trail (now part of the New England National Scenic Trail), which runs along the crest of the Holyoke Range before continuing north toward New Hampshire. Because of its proximity to Amherst and the Five College area, the peak has long been a favorite hiking destination for students and local residents.

Despite its modest elevation, Bare Mountain feels much larger than it appears on a map. The Holyoke Range rises abruptly from the surrounding valley floor, creating dramatic cliffs, steep talus slopes, and broad exposed ledges that give the ridge a distinctly alpine character uncommon in Massachusetts.

Historical background: The Holyoke Range has long been a landmark in the Connecticut River Valley. Indigenous peoples used the surrounding river valley and uplands for thousands of years for hunting, travel, and seasonal settlement. European settlers arrived in the valley during the seventeenth century, establishing towns such as Hadley, Amherst, and Northampton in the fertile floodplain below the ridge. The steep traprock cliffs of the range were never heavily settled, but they became an important destination for scientific study and tourism in the nineteenth century.

Geologist Edward Hitchcock of Amherst College played a particularly important role in interpreting the region’s geology. Hitchcock conducted pioneering research on the volcanic origins of the Holyoke Range and helped popularize the dramatic traprock landscape as a site for geological exploration and scenic tourism.

In more recent history, the north side of Bare Mountain became home to an unusual Cold War relic: a subterranean bunker built for the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command as a potential emergency command facility associated with nearby Westover Air Force Base. The bunker later became a storage facility for the Five Colleges library system.

Another historic feature of the area was Round Mountain, a neighboring summit east of Bare Mountain that was largely removed by quarrying activity during the twentieth century. Today, the next prominent peak east along the ridge is Mount Norwottuck.

Recommended ascent routes: Bare Mountain can be approached from several directions, but the most straightforward access is from the Notch Visitor Center on Route 116, located between Amherst and Granby. The visitor center provides parking, restrooms, and trail maps for Mount Holyoke Range State Park.

Bare Mountain via the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail: From the Notch Visitor Center, cross Route 116 and follow the white-blazed Metacomet-Monadnock Trail west toward Bare Mountain. The trail climbs steadily through hardwood forest before reaching a steeper section with loose rock and talus. After roughly 1 mile and about 500 feet of elevation gain, the trail emerges onto the open ledges of Bare Mountain’s summit. The hike is short but moderately strenuous due to the steep incline and rocky footing. The summit offers really great views. For families with small children, this short hike from the visitors center to the summit is a good choice. Steep, but short enough for little kids, and with a great payoff at the top. More experienced hikers will probably want to keep going…

Bare Mountain and Mount Hitchcock Loop: When I was here, I did the out an back as far as Mount Hitchcock, the next summit on the ridge. It was a great, short hike for the latter part of a summer afternoon. Starting again from the Notch Visitor Center, follow the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail to Bare Mountain, continue west along the ridgeline to Mount Hitchcock, and then return along the same route or connect with other park trails to form a loop. This option provides a longer ridge walk and a better sense of the rugged character of the Holyoke Range. There’s some great terrain between Bare Mountain and Hitchcock with lots of ups and downs and interesting rock formations.

Enjoy!