A day hike on Mount Toby in Sunderland, MA

This past Sunday, October 18^th, I went up to Sunderland, MA to hike Mount Toby. Mount Toby is a nice little mountain in Western Mass, with an elevation of 1,269 feet. There is a 5.5-mile loop that goes around the mountain. This loop is accessible year round, and ever features a waterfall. The top of the summit is wooded, so there is not much of a view, however there is a fire tower that you can climb up to see the view.

I thought it would be nice to go this time of year in New England, because I’d be able to look and see all the fall foliage. Unfortunately, on Sunday, it decided to start snowing on the way up, and was coming down decently while I was at the top of the fire tower. Because of this, the visibility wasn’t the greatest, but I was still able to look out and see some of the nearby mountains/hills and the Connecticut River. On a really clear day, you should be able to see Amherst and the Holyoke Range in the south, the Connecticut River and Mount Sugarloaf to the west, Mount Snow, Mount Ascutney and Mount Monadnock to the north, and the peace pagoda in Leverett to the east.

While up there, my friend, Brian, tried to direct us to the waterfall, but he couldn’t remember how to get there. Chances are the waterfall would not even be a waterfall right now because it was so dry this year.

On the last stretch of the trail we took to the summit, I noticed there was a rock that had the words “Don’t Stop” painting onto it, which I thought was really cool. So naturally I stopped and took a picture, even though it said not to stop.

I’m thinking of getting some snowshoes for this winter, and plan to try and hike up Mount Toby in the snow as a winter activity. The trail is probably considered moderate, I found that there were a few really steep areas to hike up but other than those the trail is decently easy. If you are even in Western Mass, I would highly recommend stopping here, or at any of the other mountains in the area because the views are definitely to die for.