Estimated distance round-trip: 4 miles
Weather: 70°F, cloudy
Resources: Noble View Outdoor Center
Highlights of the trip: waterfalls, view from the lawn
Noble View, owned since 1931 by the Appalachian Mountain Club, covers over 350 acres and has 17 miles of trails. Lodging is available if you want to spend more time. The cottages and campsites are at the top of a hill with tremendous easterly views.
A friend and I met in the parking lot at 9:30 in the morning. Neither of us had ever hiked at Noble View, but the trail map gave us a lot of choices. We decided to do a loop starting from the parking lot and going down the Pitcher Brook Trail. We followed this first to Little Pitcher Falls and then Big Pitcher Falls.
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| Little Pitcher Falls |
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| Big Pitcher Falls. |
Our plan was to continue on this trail and hook up with the Charcoal Kiln Trail, but not long after Big Pitcher Falls, we lost the trail and ended up doing some bushwhacking. We eventually crossed the Border Trail around markers 31 & 32. We followed the Border Trail to the intersection with Laurel Lane and continued down to the Charcoal Kiln Trail. No worries.
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| Puffballs. |
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| Green stain fungus. |
Off of the Charcoal Kiln Trail are two short spurs to overlooks. Unfortunately, the trees have grown up enough to obscure any view. We continued down the trail to the actual location of the Charcoal Kiln.
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| Charcoal kiln. |
From here we had the choice of climbing back up along the Dam Brook Trail or going farther to the Glacial Erratic and up the County Road Trail. Our map indicated trail closures in both directions, but we figured we could bushwhack again if we had to. We decided to head back up along the brook and connect with Laurel Lane to get back to the top.
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| Dam Brook. |
We were able to follow blazes along the brook, but the trail could definitely use some work. It appears that there was a washout or something, so perhaps one of the dams let go. If you read the website, it sounds like the dam had a leak, so it is possible.
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| More puffballs. |
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| View looking over Westfield. |
We really had a fantastic hike. The blazing of the trails left a little to be desired and some of the trails could use some work, but all of the numbered markers were in place and were extremely helpful.
We finished our hike around 2 p.m. and we took a few moments to sit on a rock and enjoy the view. There was a large group of campers that seemed to be having a great time with various activities. Must have been these guys from Worcester. Fantastic!
I will definitely be back to try some of the other trails.
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