October Mountain State Forest

About this park

October Mountain State Forest, at roughly 16,500 acres, is the largest state forest anywhere in Massachusetts, spread across the towns of Lee, Lenox, Washington, and Becket in the heart of the Berkshires. According to local legend, the forest and surrounding mountain take their name from novelist Herman Melville, a one-time resident of nearby Pittsfield, who reportedly remarked on the particularly vivid fall foliage covering the mountain in October. The forest's sheer scale gives it a genuinely remote, backcountry character rare this far south in New England, with the Appalachian Trail running along its eastern edge and dozens of miles of additional multi-use trails serving hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians through dense hardwood and conifer forest. Felton Lake, within the forest, provides fishing and non-motorized boating, and the forest's extensive, undeveloped acreage supports a healthy population of white-tailed deer, black bear, and other wildlife typical of the Berkshire highlands. A campground offers both tent and trailer sites for visitors looking to spend multiple days exploring the forest's extensive trail network, and the forest's location between the tourist hubs of Lee and Lenox, both well known for Tanglewood and the broader Berkshires cultural season, gives visitors an easy pairing of genuine wilderness hiking with the region's more polished summer arts offerings.