www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/western/svym.htm
Savoy Mountain State Forest makes it easy to leave the everyday world behind. Scenic North and South Ponds, with wooded edges and hills rising in the distance, offer tranquil places to fish, picnic and swim. Forty-five campsites and one group site are located in an old apple orchard. Four log cabins overlook South Pond, available for year-round rental. Over 50 miles of wooded trails invite year-round recreational access to spectacular natural features.
The forest is located atop the Hoosac Mountain Range in northwestern Massachusetts, an extension of the Green Mountains of Vermont and the first mountain barrier west of the Connecticut River Valley. Hoosac is an Algonquin word meaning “place of stones.” Settlement of the remote towns of Florida and Savoy by farmers began in the early 19th century. The construction of the Hoosac Tunnel (1851-75) for railroad transportation created a momentary population boom, but after its completion the tunnel workers left. Many moved down in the valley to Adams or North Adams to work in the woolen mills, or headed west to join in the great land rush for better farmland. Savoy Mountain State Forest was created in 1918 with the purchase of 1,000 acres of this abandoned farmland. During the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps reforested much of this area with Norway and blue spruce, and built new concrete dams at Bog, Burnett and Tannery Ponds to replace older dams. Today, apple trees interspersed throughout the campground and stonewalls are some reminders of the once vibrant farming history.
260 Central Shaft Road
Florida, MA 01247
413-663-8469 or
413-664-4800