Launching its 33rd season in the culturally-rich Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts in Lenox, Shakespeare & Company aspires to create a theatre of unprecedented excellence rooted in the classical ideals of inquiry, balance, and harmony; a company that performs as the Elizabethans did — in love with poetry, physical prowess, and the mysteries of the universe. With a core of over 150 artists, the company performs Shakespeare, generating opportunities for collaboration between actors, directors, and designers of all races, nationalities, and backgrounds. Shakespeare & Company provides original, in-depth, classical training and performance methods. The company also develops and produces new plays of social and political significance. Shakespeare & Company's educational programs inspire a new generation of... More >>>

The Berkshire Museum was founded in 1903 by Zenas Crane, the grandson of the founder of Crane & Company. When he built the museum, his vision was to create an inviting environment for everyone, not just the elite. He sought to use the museum's varied collection to enrich, educate and delight the county's citizens of all ages. This vision guides the museum to this day. At the heart of the museum's mission is a commitment to playing an active cultural and educational role in the community. "Wally," our life-size front lawn-dwelling stegosaurus, was constructed for the Sinclair Dinoland Pavilion at the 1964-65 World's Fair by the renowned wildlife sculptor Louis Paul Jonas. He welcomes visitors to the only art, natural science and history museum in Western Massachusetts. Fourteen galleries, an aquarium, a 291 seat fully equipped, air conditioned theater, classrooms and a museum store make up the Berkshire... More >>>

Built in 1750 for the first minister of Township No. 1, the Reverend Adonijah Bidwell, The Bidwell House is a gracious saltbox home. Rev. Bidwell arrived in 1750 to be the first minister of this frontier region, which eventually became the towns of Monterey and Tyringham. Bidwell built an imposing home with six large, paneled rooms, four fireplaces, two beehive ovens, and three closets. Surrounding the house are terraced stone walls brimming with perennial beds. Installed in the 20th century when the house was restored, these provide a fabulous setting for this gem of a Georgian saltbox. The remaining acreage is woodlands laced with hiking trails and foot paths leading to historical landmarks throughout... More >>>

Following ministerial studies at Yale, Reverend John Sergeant moved to the south Berkshires to establish a mission for fifty Mohicans. He lived in a simple cabin until he married Abigail Williams in 1739 and built the Mission House. Originally located atop Prospect Hill, this National Historic Landmark was carefully disassembled, moved, and restored by Miss Mabel Choate at its present location on Main Street between 1926 and 1927. The house contains an outstanding collection of eighteenth-century American furniture and decorative arts. Between 1928 and 1933, noted landscape architect Fletcher Steele designed the Colonial Revival garden, which features a colonial-style dooryard garden of circular brick paths enclosed by a tidewater cypress fence. A kitchen garden divided by... More >>>

The Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum's primary mission is to foster interest in the history of railroading in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts through the provision of safe, educational, and entertaining tourist train rides between Lenox and Stockbridge. The museum resumed tourist excursion service over 10 miles of track owned by the Housatonic Railroad in the spring of 2003. During 2005 the Museum repainted locomotive 8619 in an adaptation of the New York, New Haven and Hartford switching locomotive paint scheme. Three passenger cars that match our existing fleet were leased from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and were moved to Lenox from where they had been stored in Holyoke. A 12:15pm departure was added from Lenox to Lee to offer a shorter 45... More >>>

Melville’s associations with Berkshire County began in his childhood. The grandson of two Revolutionary War heroes, Melville was born in New York City in 1819. His mother, Maria Gansevoort Melville, was the daughter of General Peter Gansevoort of Albany, who was called the “Hero of Fort Stanwix” due to his role in the defense of that fort in Rome, New York, during the Revolution. (Melville would name his second son Stanwix in honor of that event.) The Gansevoorts had come to the new world in the 1600s and established themselves as one of the first families of Dutch Albany. Melville’s father, Allan Melvill, was also from a prominent family, this time from Boston. Allan was the son of Thomas Melvill, the son of a Scottish immigrant who achieved wealth as a merchant... More >>>

Discover a geologic wonder at this 48 acre park. Examine the only naturally formed white marble arch and man-made white marble dam in North America, and tour an abandoned marble quarry. The "natural bridge" for which the park is named, according to geologists, is 550 million year old bedrock marble, carved into an arch by the force of glacial melt water over 13,000 years ago; one of the best places in New England to demonstrate the effects of glaciation. The bridge spans rushing Hudson Brook as it twists and tumbles through a steep 60-foot deep gorge. In the summer months, knowledgeable park interpreters are on hand to explain the natural forces that created the bridge and its more recent human-related history. There is a 0.25 mile walkway above and... More >>>

The Ashuwillticook Rail Trail is a former railroad corridor converted into a 10-foot wide paved, universally accessible, passive recreation path. The Ashuwillticook runs parallel to Route 8 through the towns of Cheshire, Lanesborough and Adams. The southern end of the rail trail begins at the entrance to the Berkshire Mall off MA Rte. 8 in Lanesborough and travels 11.2 miles north to the center of Adams. Parking lots and restrooms are available at selected locations along the way. The rail trail passes through the Hoosic River Valley, between the Mount Greylock and the Hoosac Mountain Ranges. Cheshire Reservoir, the Hoosic River, and associated wetlands flank much of the trail offering outstanding views of the scenery and abundant wildlife... More >>>

The Berkshire Botanical Garden is a not-for-profit, membership-supported educational organization encompassing 15 acres of cultivated land at the intersection of Routes 102 and 183 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Called “a glistening community gem” by Virginia Small, author of the book Great Gardens of the Berkshires, the Garden’s mission is to fulfill the community’s need for information, education and inspiration concerning the art and science of gardening and the preservation and improvement of our local environment. Our public display gardens are open May through mid-October. Both functional and ornamental, they are among the oldest in the US and have been expanded over the years in breadth and... More >>>