The Trustees of Reservations | Tyringham Cobble

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A black, white, and light blue striped header image reading The Trustees of Reservations Tyringham Cobble

During my trip to the Berkshires in July 2023, I visited Tyringham Cobble, a 240 acre preserve owned by The Trustees of Reservations. While the Cobble Loop Trail is just 2 miles (3.2 km), with the option to add on a 0.25 mile (400 m) out-and-back trail to a local pavilion, parts of the path overlap the historic Appalachian Trail. Clear signage throughout the route ensures that visitors do not become lost on the 2,000 mile (3,540 km) trail and end up in Maine or Florida. The hilly trail is studded with stone, perhaps contributing to its early name “Cobble Hill”.

Parking Lot at Tyringham Cobble; a dirt parking lot in front of a green lawn. In the background are a red barn and tree covered hills. The Barn at Tyringham Cobble; a red wooden building in a grassy green field Cobble Hill; a hill covered in trees

Beginning in 1792, a Shaker village developed in this area. (The last former Shaker village I visited was Canterbury Shaker Village in Canterbury, NH back in August 2022.) According to the National Park Service, Tyringham Shaker Village was the fourth of its kind in Massachusetts alone during the height of Shakerism. Nearby Jerusalem Road was named by the Shakers, along with adjacent Shaker Pond. The community extensively developed the area through the 1840s, adding multiple farm buildings and accumulating around 2,000 acres (8 km2) of land. Like other Shaker communities, they embraced technology, using water-powered equipment to run woodworking tools and a cider press. Unfortunately, also like other Shaker communities, the village could not sustain itself after the Civil War when young men no longer wanted to join the society. The village became unsustainable by 1874 and closed completely by 1885, when its residents went to the nearby villages of Mount Lebanon, NY; Enfield, NH; and Hancock, MA.

Footbridge on Cobble Loop Trail; a wooden bridge with green painted metal railings Bench at the Overlook; a wooden bench looking out to the green, tree-covered hills. Mushroom on Cobble Loop Trail; a red and yellow toadstool mushroom

For the next fifty years, little human activity happened in the area. In the 1930s, heiress Olivia Bayard Cutting James took an interest in Cobble Hill. She had briefly married Pulitzer prizewinning author Henry James in 1917, but the marriage lasted only six months after finding they preferred a pair of Draper sisters. (This was a different family than the one owning Draper Corporation in Hopedale, MA.) Henry married Dorothea Draper, while Olivia became the partner of Martha Lincoln Draper. The latter couple built a house in Tyringham across from Cobble Hill. Olivia created an organization called “The Cobblers” made of other local landowners. When Olivia passed away in 1963, she left the land and an endowment to The Trustees, and her surviving friends donated their own portions.

Queen Anne's Lace on Cobble Loop Trail; many tiny white flowers in a round cluster with a red flower in the center. Sign for Appalachian Trail crossing Cobble Loop Trail Stony Bunny on Cobble Loop Trail; a ten foot tall glacial boulder shaped like a bunny Tyringham Cobble Trustees sign; a teal sign with a white Trustees logo and the park name in lime green

Besides its history, Tyringham Cobble provides phenomenal views of area from its lookout points, along with featuring a large rock shaped like a bunny. The summit is reached by a circling trail that climbs 400 feet (122 meters) in about 1 mile (1600 meters). The trail has rocks, roots, and small ravines, and while footing is relatively stable, this is not a good walk for an inexperienced hiker. For those able to manage the trail, the quick but strenuous jaunt is worth the trip.


Abby Epplett’s Rating System

Experience: 7/10

Accessibility: 3/10



Location: Tyringham Cobble Park, 20 Jerusalem Rd, Tyringham, MA 01264, USA