Beartown State Forest

One of the few places that has year-round camping in MA. It's an easy 2.5 hour drive from Boston. Had a fantastic stay over Veteran's Day holiday. Off season camping is first come, first served. I had no problem getting a site. Several grocery stores are within a 10-20 minute drive. Lots of hiking and exploring available within the park, as well as non-motorized boating on the pond. As of this writing, campground fee for MA residents is $14 per night. The view of the pond from sites 8, 9, 10, and 11 is lovely. The only drawback I can see is most of the campsites aren't terribly private. This was not an issue in November because I pretty much had the place to myself.

We hiked the Pond Loop in Beartown State Park mid April and it took us about 1 hour 40 minutes.

The reason it took so long was because there were a lot of muddy spots and we had to navigate around them.

This would be considered a pretty easy hike. For the majority of the hike you are walking quite close to the water, and for about 40% of the hike you are walking through the woods.

I was wearing running shoes, and even though it was muddy I was able to keep my shoes relatively clean. The trail is quite easy to walk on rocks and at places where it's very wet they have boards or little bridges.

We were a group that consisted of five year olds all the way up to 55 year olds, and the hike was perfectly fine for everyone. We took it slow, and there was really no exertion required.

It was a really nice way to spend a good portion of your day. Bring along snacks or even a picnic because they have plenty of picnic tables.

Awesome mountain with lots of trails. We spent most of our time at Benedict Pond pulling out a ton of sunnies and a few small mouth bass and carp. Perfect for the kids who lose interest without electronics as the fish never stopped biting. The pond loop was perfect for the family; just challenging enough to keep everyone on their toes but not too tough. Benedict Pond also offers a clean public restroom and swimming but no life guard. We also did a small hike up Wildcat Trail after parking at the ORV lot (another clean port-o-potty) looking for the wildcat privy but due to Covid-19, it was closed. We drove around the forest more than we hiked and got out a few times to enjoy the flora and fauna... we even spotted an owl going down Beartown Mountain Rd.