Beau Bridges Trail is know for the six bridges crossing Cascade Brook. They were built by Kay Burnett and friends. Kay discovered the wonders of the Mt. Tom State Reservation sometime in the 1950’s and quickly acquired a reputation for being a skilled trail builder and maintainer.  Kay and her friends pre-cut and drilled lumber for the bridges in Kay’s garage and those women backpacked the each bridge’s parts to the site where the bridges were assembled and anchored into place.

For many years Kay served as a guiding force on the Mt. Tom Citizens Advisory Committee. When not tending to the trails, Kay served as the Chair of the Berkshire Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club, as well as the editor of the chapter’s newsletter. Kay was the Associate Librarian at Smith College’s Josten Library in Northampton for nearly 40 years. Her specialty was in the field of music cataloging, and she received several national awards acknowledging her expertise and influence in this field.   Kay was named by her friends “The Trails Lady” for her dedication to Mt. Tom State Resdervation’s 22 miles of trails.  One of those, the Kay-Bee Trail, bears her name.

For more about Kay, stop in at the Mt. Tom State Reservation Visitor Center.  Image courtesy of a friend of the Mt. Tom Range.