The New England National Scenic Trail (NET), formerly the historic Mattabesett, Metacomet, and Monadnock (M-M-M) Trails, runs north about 235 miles from the Guilford Point area on Long Island Sound over hills, ridges and waterfalls though Massachusetts to the border of New Hampshire. has been in existence for over half a century. Its two branches travel through 39 communities in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The trail has now been been granted national park status by the U.S. National Park Service. and is now listed as National Park Unit No. 428. What this means is that the trail has become eligible for Federal government funding. The NET’s new status and recognition isn’t about money though. Scores of volunteers with numerous nonprofit groups will continue to do their part to help keep the NET an attractive destination patrons need and far.
The trail enters Massachusetts in Southwick and travels for 63 miles along the Metacomet Ridge through Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties. The path takes hikers through the Mount Tom State Reservation and atop the Holyoke Range, including a leg known as the Seven Sisters. The trail traces a long spine of basalt, a kind of volcanic rock, and on its run through Massachusetts carries the name of the Wampanoag chief who fought English colonists in 1675 and 1676. In Connecticut, sections of the route are known as the Mattabesett and Metacomet trails.
The route is a showcases of classic New England landscapes, vistas, rural towns, agrarian lands, unfragmented forests, and river valleys. The trail also travels diverse ecosystems and natural resources: trap-rock ridges, mountain summits, forested glades, vernal pools, lakes, streams and waterfalls, Native American and colonial historical landmarks.
Content compiled from various sources. Map courtesy of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the Berkshire Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club.