Constitution Hill

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• ​​​​​​​Trailhead Parking:  ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Google Maps | 42.5238, -73.2423

From Pittsfield

Take Route 7 north into Lanesborough. Just past the Lanesborough Police Station turn left onto Bridge Street. If you pass The Old Forge you have just missed it. Follow Bridge Street to the end, past the BNRC sign, to the large parking area with a kiosk.

From Lenox/Lee

Take Route 20 north into Pittsfield. In Pittsfield, continue past the BNRC offices and hop on Route 7 (First Street, but North Street will work too). Take Route 7 north into Lanesborough. Just past the Lanesborough Police Station turn left onto Bridge Street. If you pass The Old Forge you have just missed it. Follow Bridge Street to the end, past the BNRC sign, to the large parking area with a kiosk.

From North Adams

Take Route 8 south toward Cheshire. In Cheshire, just past the fire station and just before Cheshire Reservoir, turn right onto Lanesboro/Old Cheshire Road. After 4 miles, turn right onto Prospect Street. At the bottom of the hill turn right onto Route 7 and immediately left onto Bridge Street. Follow Bridge Street to the end, past the BNRC sign, to the large parking area with a kiosk.

• Constitution Hill Trail: 1.7 miles, round-trip, moderate
• Field Trail: 0.9 miles, round-trip, easy

Constitution Hill Trail

This trail takes you past the Constitution Oak tree and a large rock outcrop. Beyond the summit, the trail turns westward past an old stonewall before bringing you back on what eventually becomes a woods road whose surface was once hardened by chunks of slag glass, which are still visible. Slag glass is a byproduct of iron production that was used as fill on old roads.

Field Trail

A mowed path that parallels Bridge Street before veering downhill through the hedgerow and winding around the field. This trail has great views of Mt. Greylock.

In 1788, a Lanesboro farmer named Jonathan Smith was chosen to represent his town at the convention in Boston that would decide whether Massachusetts should ratify the proposed new US Constitution. At the convention he made a persuasive argument in favor of it as a way to prevent outbreaks of violence like Shays’ Rebellion in Western Massachusetts. The bonfire he had organized atop “Bald Headed Hill” alerted residents of Lanesboro and surrounding towns that his view had prevailed and Massachusetts had ratified the Constitution.

The hill is no longer bald, and was renamed “Constitution Hill” by Smith. The forest has long since reclaimed the landscape, though there are winter views from the ridge after leaves have fallen. A plaque marks the bonfire site, near an oak that was planted in 1921 to replace an oak that was the solitary sentinel on the hill in Smith’s day.

Near the trailhead and its two parking areas is a reclaimed orchard and the site of the home of a 19th century humorist, Josh Billings. He is now memorialized by Berkshire County’s annual Josh Billings RunAground triathlon.