Hike #6: Robinson State Park - Agawam, MA

Date Hiked:  Saturday, January 23, 2016
Estimated distance round-trip: 4.18 miles
Weather: 27°F, cloudy
Resources:  Robinson State Park, Trail Map
Highlights of the trip: dam
Progress toward 2016 hiking goals:  6/52 hikes; 17.59/250 miles

A couple of friends who live outside of Boston were heading to western MA to do some cross country skiing and asked if we wanted to get together.  We were a little leery of going too far from home with a Nor'easter bearing down on the region, but weather reports seemed to indicate the worst weather would be to our south.   We decided to meet them for a hike at Robinson State Park in Agawam, MA.

We parked right near the main entrance.  The state website indicates a parking fee, but that may only be for the warmer months.  The gatehouse was boarded up.  The road into the park remained open, but there were signs all over the place making it clear that the gates would be closed at 4 p.m.  We headed into the eastern part of the park and walked along the Westfield River. 

Freight train moving along the other side of the river.

Interesting ice.

The most spectacular part of the hike was the ice covering the West Springfield dam.

Looking across the dam to the fishway.

I'm glad we decided to hike along the river in this direction because the dam was really interesting.  I'm also glad we got out here on a cold January day.  This isn't something you would see at other times of year.

After our hike, we had lunch at American Classics which was only about 1/2 mile away.  The decor is nothing special, but the food was good.  I had a BLT and onion rings.  The onion rings were really good and I thought I got a good size helping for the price.  One friend had blueberry pancakes with real maple syrup and the others had chili which, though made with ground beef as opposed to chunks of meat, had very good flavor.  If it were a little closer to home, we would probably make it a regular place to eat.

A good morning of hiking and catching up with friends we hadn't seen in a couple of years, then back home to wait for the snow.