There are twelve Trustees of Reservation properties in the Central Region of Massachusetts, all great places to hike and all close to the Inn. But the name Rock House Reservation has always intrigued me. And after finally getting there I must say it is a wonderful property and a great place to hike, especially for those of us who love rocks and rock formations.
The central feature is a massive rock formation, not quite but almost a cave. Easy to see how it’s called a house. This “Rock House” was formed during the last glacial retreat and was used as a winter hunting camp by Native Americans.
The property became a farm in the mid 1880′s and later someone created a pond and built a cabin on the ledge overlooking the pond. That cottage is now a trail side museum and overs spectacular views of Carter Pond.
The pond at Rock House Reservation in North Brookfield, MA
Just north of the Trailside Museum one find’s Balance Rock. It is huge and it is balanced and it is stable — I know because my husband and our three dogs climbed all over it to check it out.
Balance Rock at Rock House Reservation
The property is 75 acres with five distinct trails. You can find a down-loadable map on the Trustees website. We down loaded the map and set off to Rock House Reservation a couple of Mondays ago with our three dogs. It was a great place to hike with the dogs and all five of us really enjoyed it. I think it would be a great place to hike with children too. The only disappointment was that the scenic vista at the top of the Summit Trail was grown in and not so scenic anymore. But the Butterfly garden looked intriguing and we plan to go back when things are in bloom.
