Take On the Seven Sisters
Connecticut River Valley / Amherst–Hadley, Massachusetts
Activity
Hiking / Ridge Traverse
Difficulty
Difficult / repeated steep ridge climbs
Distance
8 mi round trip
Elevation gain
~2500 ft
Duration
~5–7 hrs
Route
Out & back
The adventure
Traverse the famous Holyoke Range roller coaster from the Notch to the historic Summit House and back.
Leave the Notch on the white-blazed New England Trail and refuse every invitation the ridge gives you to call one hill enough. Cross the repeated summits and lookouts all the way to Mount Holyoke, reach the historic Summit House, then reverse the entire ridge to the Notch.
Traprock ridge above the Connecticut River Valley
What you'll do
Start at Notch Visitor Center, then follow the route about 4 miles each way.
Expect rugged ridge with repeated very steep ascents and descents.
Expect roughly 2,500 ft of climbing along the way.
What you're looking at
- Connecticut River Valley
The story of the place
The route is called Seven Sisters, though the official description explicitly warns there are more than seven summits/lookouts.
The Summit House is a surviving nineteenth-century mountaintop tourism landmark.
Once you're there
Park free at the Notch Visitor Center on Route 116/West Street. Pick up the white-blazed New England Trail and head west across the ridge.
Stay with the white blazes through the many steep ups and downs until the trail reaches Mount Holyoke and the Summit House. Unless you have arranged a legal shuttle, turn around there and retrace the same ridge to the Notch.
Carry a map and pay attention where other park trails intersect the ridge route.
Don't miss
Try counting the distinct ridge bumps on the way to Mount Holyoke. The trail's name is tidy. The actual terrain did not get the memo.
Good to know
- Access
- No permit or reservation identified for ordinary individual hiking from the Notch.
- Best time to go
- The hiking trails are generally accessible year-round, but snow and ice can make the steep ridge materially more technical. Summit House services are seasonal.
- Parking
- Free at Notch Visitor Center; overflow on Military Road.
- Summit house
- Open seasonally, generally mid-May through mid-October on posted days; interior access is not required for completion.
- Visitor center
- Seasonal/daily schedule varies by season.
- Hazards
- Very steep grades, rocky footing, ice, heat/exposure on ridge openings, long return distance
- Dogs
- Dogs are allowed subject to leash and current park rules.
- EIGHT-MILE RETURN
- The official route is four miles one way—or eight miles round trip—between the Notch and Mount Holyoke.
- FOLLOW WHITE
- White New England Trail blazes carry you over a succession of summits and lookouts rather than around them.
- SUMMIT HISTORY
- The Mount Holyoke Summit House began as a nineteenth-century summit hotel and remains the ridge's unmistakable western payoff.
- SMART START
- Free parking, restrooms, drinking water and trail orientation are available at the Notch Visitor Center during posted visitor-center hours.
- Surface
- Rocky ridge trail, roots, ledges and steep forest climbs
- Managed by
- Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation — Mount Holyoke Range State Park / J. A. Skinner State Park.
Please respect the place
- Follow the white-blazed New England Trail
- Expect numerous steep climbs and descents
- Carry enough water for a long ridge hike
- Summit House interior and services are seasonal
Photos
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