Petersham (Soapstone hill) Fire Tower

 I kicked off my trip to the Catskills with a stop at the Women’s Federated State Forest in Petersham MA.  My goal was to check off one of the final standing fire towers in Mass that I’d yet to visit.  The Quabbin reservoir maps are TERRIBLE.  They do not distinguish between roads, dirt roads, single-track, and overgrown trails.  I had a good idea of where I needed to get to but wasn’t exactly sure where I could park (try to figure that out with the info online – good luck).  I thought I could drive West road at least until the State forest but was stopped almost immediately after the intersection with Monson Turnpike.  I figured my short run would now be a bit longer but still manageable (I was meeting Eric at the Ludlow Park & Ride at 9:30 am).

Off I went on the class 4 road and soon reached the State Park and saw about 5 cars in the lot but the primitive camping was closed for the season.  I kind of guessed on the correct path to take and continued generally west but also a bit south and as I approached the reservoir I was stopped by a large beaver dammed area.  A muddy path got me around and soon after I was on the “Rabbit Run Rail Bed” which runs along the water.  I wasn’t 100% sure of which of the two “roads” I had taken to get here so I went right (north) and after ½ mile decided that could not be correct.  I turned back and round my goal!  The tower was fenced off and the bottom 20’ of stairs removed, so no climbing.

I tried to find the other road and did but it was even more overgrown than the single-track that I’d taken, so I returned via the same route.  The round trip was 5.6 miles and I just managed to make it to Ludlow on time (laugh).