This 1.2 delightful boardwalk trail is wheelchair accessible and meanders through vernal pools, woods, and meadows. It has benches for sitting and bird viewing. It is excellent for all ages, especially children.

Mount Sugarloaf state reservation is located in Sunderland, just beside Amherst. It is a wonderful small mountain in the Pioneer Valley that is walkable, with a 1.4-mile trail to the top. It has a road to the top as well, and it has one of the best views of the Connecticut river valley. It's an excellent place to have a picnic. It's especially fun to go there in the fall so you can see the beautiful foliage colors and the corn maze at Mike's Maze from the top.

Stay here at Stone House Farm and enjoy a cup of tea in our bulb show in our conservatory porch. We have blooming cyclamens, cymbidium orchids, daffodils and hyacinths, amaryllis and much more. Then head on down to the Mt Holyoke College bulb show, for another delicious experience of mid-winter floral delight!

The Tower Hill Botanic Garden has a four-season display of plant life common to the New England area. Carefully cultivated gardens and unique trails are part of the stunning 171-acre property. It is about an hour away, but well worth the drive.

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is located in South Amherst on the campus of Hampshire College. In our opinion, they have the finest children's book selection that we've ever seen. Free craft activities, lovely short movies for kids in the theater, and interactive story times at different times each day make it a favorite destination for my grandchildren. Different illustrators are featured in the galleries each time I visit.

The Smith College Museum of Art got its beginnings in the 1870, and has become widely recognized as one of the leading academic museums in the nation. One could easily spend hours there enjoying the thought-provoking installations and permanent collections. In addition to the museum itself, they also have a fun gift store.

The Emily Dickinson Museum includes the house that Emily grew up in and The Evergreens, where her brother and his family lived. They offer a wonderful tour of the houses, and there is a gift shop as well. To those of us to whom her poetry speaks, it's a wonderful place to spend an afternoon.

The Botanic Garden of Smith College was created to encourage understanding of the importance of the plant kingdom. Founded over a century ago, the Garden is features plants native to the New England area. They host a spring bulb show and a fall mum show, both of which shouldn't be missed! During the pandemic reservations are required for these shows ahead of time. The spring bulb show happens every March and features over 5,000 bulbs in the greenhouses. We love it so much that we have created our own mini bulb show here on our porch in the spring that guests can enjoy!

The Mount Holyoke College Botanic Garden is designed to maintain a living plant collection for the benefit of the college's faculty and students. The Garden includes over 2,000 types of plants from six continents. They too have a spring bulb show in March.