Description
Monroe State Forest is a rugged terrain forest filled with deep valleys and steep mountains. The forest is popular for hiking, fishing, and horseback riding.
Features of the park include Spruce Mountain and scenic views of the Hoosac Range, Green Mountains, and the Deerfield River from the Civilian Conservation Corps-built Raycroft Lookout. Dunbar Brook, which runs through the forest, drops 700 vertical feet in two miles, cascading over boulders and forming countless waterfalls, rapids and pools.
Researchers have identified 273 acres (110 ha) of old-growth sites in the forest. See the list of old growth forests in Massachusetts for specific locations. Species represented there include Eastern Hemlock, White Pine, Red Spruce, and hardwoods such as Yellow Birch, Sweet Birch, American Beech, American Basswood, and White Ash.
A small portion of the forest borders the State of Vermont.
As with much of the now-forest land in Massachusetts, the majority of land now part of the Monroe State Forest was farmland in the 19th-century. Cellar holes and stone walls throughout the forest serve as a reminder to these days gone by.
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