"Berkshire Destinations" Takes You Off The Beaten Path
Hikers and explorers: Think you've seen it all in the Berkshires region? Then you, especially, need this new guidebook!
"Robinson's Point" is a vantage point that is somewhat obscure and has very limited parking on Notch Road at the Mt Greylock Reservation. A short trail down provides a guaranteed “wow” from its small rocky perch looking west. This location will provide a spectacular view of The Hopper, Mt. Prospect and Mt. Fitch. Remember, what goes down must return on a short, but steep trail. Jan Butler enjoys the view.
All photos and captions by Christy N. Butler
Berkshires explorers may think they’ve hiked most of the trails, seen every waterfall and located every odd rock formation. Christy N. Butler begs to differ, and he’ll prove it to you in his fourth New England-centered guidebook, Berkshire Destinations: An Explorer’s Guide to Waterfalls, Boulders, Vistas and Points of Interest of the Berkshire Hills and Western Massachusetts. It’s 348 pages of the classic and obscure —waterfalls, glacial erratics, vistas, gardens and historical landmarks — many that you’ve likely never heard of before. The book was released in May, “with no place to go,” the author says, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting shutdown.
A guidebook like this, though, is just what we need to help us go — to explore new and unusual destinations even during a pandemic, at any time of year. For longtime residents, the book will offer surprises. For those new to the area, this is a fulsome welcome to all the riches to be found in the region.
Cheshire Cobble has a view unlike any other. So close and direct to Cheshire, it feels like an act of surveillance or an intrusion of the town’s privacy through binoculars or a telephoto lens.
“I try to find things off the beaten path,” Butler says. Originally from Boston, he moved to the Berkshires in 1973 after discharge from military service. He took full advantage of the GI Bill, getting degrees at UMass Amherst and MCLA, and training in trades. He ran the audio visual department Berkshire Medical Center, found jobs in marketing and management, was “in plastics” for years. When he was in college, he worked at Mt. Greylock for three summers, where visitors would ask him about sites to visit. He learned what people want to know about.
Butler was always a hobby photographer, and his wife, Jan, suggested he do something with his photos. Together, they created a series of posters featuring his visuals— of waterfalls and New England beaches. That lead to a collaboration with writer Russell Dunn on two guidebooks, Connecticut Waterfalls, and Rockachusetts, An Explorer’s Guide to Amazing Boulders of Massachusetts.
Next, Butler and Jan published Erratic Wandering: An Explorer’s Hiking Guide to Astonishing Boulders in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont; and, now, Berkshire Destinations. Except for his first, all of his books have been self published through Amazon and are available as paperbacks in full color editions or black and white.
Berkshire Destinations is richly illustrated with photos, maps, and Global Positioning Coordinates (GPS) for parking and destinations for each location.
In Great Barrington, on Monument Mountain, "Inscription Rock" becomes easily read by rubbing snow into its engraving. The rock is located where the steeper Hickey Trail junctions with the longer, but not as steep Indian Monument Trail.
“I’m very heavy into the GPS,” Butler says. By using websites like Google Earth, Garmin Topographic Maps and National Geographic Topographics Maps, readers can get a better insight as to what type of terrain they might encounter, as well as other points of interest nearby. For those who aren’t as internet savvy, the book also provides written directions and maps. Many of the locations involve simple trails for easy hiking, while others are for the more experienced or adventurous, requiring GPS usage with some off-trail bushwhacking.
Butler also includes other points of interests and indoor locations — museums, statues, and the “cottages” that locals know are not mere log cabins. Each chapter is filled with just enough background to add context to the site, and deeply detailed instructions for finding your way.
Butler insists he’s not an historian, and as for his photography, says he’s either an amateur professional or a professional amateur. Modesty aside, the jack-of-all-trades is a fine raconteur with a heavy Boston accent and a curiosity that doesn’t seem to stop. He’s always chasing new places to share. In the hopper is a guide that focuses on caves in Connecticut — yes, caves in Connecticut. That should be worth waiting for.
“I do my social distancing at 70 miles per hour,” he says.
Besides Amazon, the books are available locally at the Arcadian Shop and The Bookstore in Lenox,, and Nature’s Closet in Williamstown.
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