Great Barrington — Thru-hikers of the Appalachian Trail know well that the trail is far from a solitary walk in the woods; it is a close-knit community where it’s hard to find yourself alone, where hikers are preceded by their reputations.
But another important part of that community comes from the towns along the trail. Five years ago, Great Barrington became one of 35 towns, and the only one in Massachusetts, to be named an Appalachian Trail Community ™, a designation given by the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC).

“If we’re going to be a trail community we have to celebrate our link to the AT,” said Deb Phillips who works with Great Barrington Trails and Greenways, the collaborative group behind the designation. Hikers are a visible presence in Great Barrington during the summer, even with no trailheads in the town itself, and the numbers of A.T. hikers are up as long-distance hiking gains popularity, assisted by movies like Wild and an adaptation of Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, which comes out this fall.
“The question is, how do we get Barrington to recognize and celebrate its trail community status?” said Adam Morris of Mass Parks DCR (Department of Conservation and Recreation).
According to Silvia Cassano, the ATC’s Trail Management Assistant, “The designation hopes to raise awareness of this economic, recreational, and conservation asset here in our own backyard. To take ownership of it, to give back, and to steward it, is greatly needed. The A.T. runs mainly on volunteer labor and love,” she adds.
She envisions more local support for hikers: “a network like other AT Communities have, with shuttle and lodging providers, discounts at stores and eateries, and more community members assisting in planning A.T. events.”
For the last three years, she has helped plan one such event, the Great Barrington Appalachian Trail Community Celebration, which was held at Benedict Pond in July. Another such celebration was recently held in North Adams. The public signed up for guided hikes of varying difficulty levels, including two 7-mile hikes on the A.T. that culminated at Benedict Pond. Then thru-hikers and community members mingled for a cookout, complete with swimming, bonfires, and music from the Berkshire Ukulele Band.

Morris envisions events like this “a throwback” to the early days of the trail, when “the fact that this huge linear park even existed was amazing. In the 1930s, every community that it went through celebrated its presence.” Now, he says, that “long sleepy relationship is finally coming to a new life.”
“More people are getting what it means to be out in nature,” said Phillips. “We get so keyed into electronic stuff, but the literature is out that there’s such a mental health benefit to time spent in nature.”
In that way, the A.T. Community ™ designation ties in with the image that Great Barrington has invested in—its environmental stewardship and healthy living, say Morris and Phillips, citing the large amount of protected land (the majority owned by DCR), the farm-to-table movement, and the 3-mile walking loop that encircles the town so people can “actually walk to get where they want to go,” notes Phillips, “not just, you have to get in your car and go for a hike.”
In fact, the notion that solace and healing could be found not only in nature, but in community, was a key point for Benton MacKaye, the forester and philosopher who proposed the Appalachian Trail in the 1920s. A frequent visitor to Gould Farm, where his sister was a resident, he saw the rejuvenating power that a nurturing community could have on those who were mentally ill.
Thru-hikers will tell you that being on the trail makes minor things really special. Any efforts Great Barrington makes to welcome the hiking community will go a long way. “We want them to think, Great Barrington is a place where good stuff happens,” said Morris. The way the trail works, the impressions that the town makes will “trickle their way back” to next season’s hikers.
The thru-hikers at the Benedict Pond picnic were favorably impressed. A group of three young men from Indiana said, “This is the best part of our day, and will probably be one of the best parts of our week.” They tend to “get stuck” in towns, even when they planned to get in and out.
A hiker from Ohio, trail name “Five,” who’d never backpacked a day in his life until he started the trail, echoed those sentiments. He spends at least three or four hours in a town. “Everybody’s been so nice. I get a real cup of coffee instead of that garbage I make on the trail. And up here the creameries are wonderful. I’m a bit of an ice cream-a-holic. This is the best ice cream I’ve ever eaten.”
He also spoke of the joys of “trail magic,” recalling that once he came down to a road where someone had left “a real chair with a back on it. You don’t know what a pleasure that is to sit in a chair.” And “Five,” who grew up in the 70s, hitchhiking everywhere, told his wife, “Man, I’m hitchhiking again, I haven’t hitchhiked in 40 years. I’m gonna miss this.”