Mohawk Trail State Forest and the Cold River gorge — where Route 2 threads a shadowed canyon beneath some of the tallest old-growth white pines in the Northeast.
Now the road pulls into the Cold River gorge, and the temperature drops and the light goes green and dim — because you're driving into Mohawk Trail State Forest, one of the wildest pockets of woods in Massachusetts. The little river tumbling along beside you is the Cold River, and it earns the name; it runs cold and clear straight off the mountains.
Look up. Tucked into these steep slopes, especially in the coves where the loggers couldn't easily reach, stand some of the tallest trees in the whole Northeast — old-growth white pines that have been measured at over a hundred and seventy feet, the tallest known in New England. Some of them were standing when that Native footpath was the only way through here. There's a majesty to this gorge that you feel in your chest; it's the kind of deep, shadowed forest that older cultures called sacred, and it's easy to see why.
The road hugs the river, the walls close in, and the curves come one after another, so keep your eyes on the pavement and steal your looks at the pull-offs. When you come out the top of this gorge, you'll have climbed a long way — and the views are about to open up wide.
Photo: Tichnor Bros. Inc., Boston, Mass. · Public domain
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