Today, I decided to head to the western side of Massachusetts for my sightseeing. My first task was finishing up Holland by hiking the
Quinebaug Woods early in the morning. This place has a simple loop trail, passing along the
Quinebaug River and heading to the top of a hill with the remains of a cabin built in 1932.
 |
| The Quinebaug River |
 |
| The cabin remains |
The next town I visited was Brimfield. The first place I visited was the town common area on the corner of Main Street and Cross Street.
Town Common
 |
Brimfield Town Hall,
21 Main Street |
Before heading for breakfast, I decided to visit Little Alum Pond on Little Alum Road between Champeauz Road and 6th Street.
 |
| Little Alum Lake |
My original intention was to have breakfast at Hooyas Restaurant on 13 Main Street, but it was really crowded, so I opted for the Apple Barn Cafe further down the street at 52 Palmer Road instead, and had the Californian Eggs Benedict, which has tomatoes and lettuce on top of regular eggs Benedict. As you probably can tell by now, I love the dish.
The last place I visited in Brimfield was the Dean Pond Recreational Area in the
Brimfield State Forest. This place can be found along Dean Pond Road between Monson Road and Sutcliff Road. This place was beautiful, complete with fall foliage.
The next town I went to was Warren. On the way while driving on Route 67 North (Boston Road) in Palmer, I had several nice views of the surroundings.
Warren is a beautiful little town with lots of old buildings. Pictures of the various places I visited while here follow.
 |
Quaboag River, along Main Street
close to Cross Street |
 |
Old Warren Train Station,
Main Street and Maple Street |
 |
Warren Town Common,
Main Street and Maple Street |
 |
| Halloween Dolls on Town Common |
The next town in the Fifth Circle was Brookfield, another quaint little town with several large lakes and historical buildings.
 |
Brookfield Town Hall,
6 Central Street |
 |
Memorial Square,
River Street and Central Street |
Quaboag River
from Fiskdale Road
 |
Quacumquasit Pond,
Lake Road and South Pond Road, East Brookfield |
 |
Quaboag Pond,
Quaboag Street and Shore Road, East Brookfield |
West Brookfield was next with equally nice buildings and a beautiful town common.
 |
Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish,
10 Milk Street |
 |
First Congregational Church,
36 North Main Street |
 |
| Lake Wickaboag, 42 Lakeview Drive |
 |
West Brookfield Town Common,
East Main Street and North Main Street |
 |
| Bandstand at Town Common |
 |
West Brookfield Town Hall,
2 East Main Street
|
Finally a second hike for the day. This was the
Rock House Reservation, the parking area found at about 550 West Main Street. The route I took is highlighted below in pink.
From the parking area, I first took the red Inner Loop Trail, heading to the left side of the trail when I reached the fork, passing by Carter Pond.
Along this part of the trail is where the Rock House is.
From here, I headed to the trailside museum, which is situated on an outcrop overlooking Carter Pond with a great view of it from its balcony.
From here, I headed to the other side of the Inner Loop Trail, continuing up to the Balance Rock sitting atop a rocky hill.
The next point of note were the power lines on the Fullam Loop Trail.
When I tried to find my way to the Summit Loop, I overshot it and went all the way to the other parking area. When I backtracked, I finally found the trail hidden between 2 rocks along the way. Heading up it, I didn't find any good views at the supposed viewpoint, and I had to walk through a waterlogged stream on my way back.
When I reached back to the Inner Loop Trail, I took the path I had not walked before, and took this last picture of Carter Pond and the trailside museum at the point where I had to cross a muddy path which was the dam.
After making it back to my car, I headed to the final town of the day, Ware. I first visited the various interesting buildings and places in the town.
 |
Ware Town Hall,
126 Main Street |
 |
Veteran Memorial Park,
in front of Town Hall |
 |
All Saints Catholic Church
17 North Street |
I saved the best for last, as I was soon to realize. My last destination was
Quabbin Park,the entrance to which was at the junction between Belchertown Road and Old Ware-Enfield Road. I had thought that I would have to explore the place on foot, but apparently I could drive in during the daylight hours. This was to be the start of a beautiful drive through a wonderful paradise, complete with fall foliage all around. The route I took is highlighted below in black.
The first picture I took was while travelling up Old Ware-Enfield Road, with tall trees lining each side of the road.
At the junction with the path heading to the Goodnough Dike, the gate was closed, as it has been since September 11, 2001. The walk was pretty long, and it was pretty cold, but the effort was well worth the views I got of
Quabbin Reservoir, especially from the dike. Pictures from here follow.
After finally arriving back at my car, I headed to my next stop, Hank's Meadow. The view from here was pretty good as well.
My next stop was the Enfield Outlook. The extraordinary views from there follow.
The next destination was the top of Quabbin Hill, where the Quabbin Tower resides. Views from the bottom of the tower and nearby follow.
Access to the top of the tower is allowed. The great views from here follow.
The Winsor Memorial Park was next. Once more, more great views.
 |
| Winsor Memorial |
In between the Winsor Memorial Park and the Quabbin Spillway was a little cove with a dock.
The views from the Spillway were beautiful as well, although the water level was not high enough at this moment.
Next, on to the Winsor Dam. I chose to park illegally here, thinking that I would have enough time to go to the dam and back, but as it turned out, while I was at the center of the dam, the caretakers came and noticed my car. Thankfully, they honked loudly and attracted my attention, so I ran all the way back to my car, and as luck would have it , the caretaker decided not to have my car towed. Apparently there was a parking area close to where I had parked, and I had not even seen it until when I was running back. Finally, when I had parked legally, I had time to enjoy the views and the sunset from the dam.
And that was the end of my trip to one of the best places I have been to in my sightseeing trips to date. I highly recommend it as a place to visit on your travels. With that, I headed to dinner at Gheppetto's Grille at 91 Main Street in the same town. I enjoyed my French Onion Soup and Lobster Fettucine in this nice bar-restaurant. I recommend a try if you are in the area.
 |
| French Onion Soup |
 |
| Lobster Fettucine |
I actually left my camera behind when I finally left, but because I had called earlier to check if there was a waiting list, they were able to call me back shortly after I left, and I got back my camera with all these precious pictures the same night.
With that, I was done for the day.
