Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuary
M
ass Audubon, the statewide conservation nonprofit, protects six wildlife sanctuaries in the Central and Southern Berkshires. At Pleasant Valley in Lenox, their local headquarters lead into a boardwalk around a beaver pond and trails climb the slopes of Lenox Mountain.
At Mass Audubon’s Berkshire headquarters, guided walks and hikes look for creatures and plants of the season — migrating birds, salamanders, wildflowers. Hiking and canoe trips also meet here to explore many corners of the county.
Trails are open dawn to dusk year-round on more than 1,000 acres, and an accessible boardwalk surrounds the beaver pond with quiet places to sit and look over the water. The visitors center is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mass Audubon also protects land (and water) at Tracy Brook in Richmond, Canoe Meadows in Pittsfield and Lime Kiln Farm in Sheffield.
Shad bush are in full blow on Lenox Mountain at Mass Audubon's Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Lenox.
Two-tone trillumn bloom in May along the Ledges Trail on Lenox Mountain at Mass Audubon's Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Lenox.
From the top, a climber can look north clear to Mount Greylock on Lenox Mountain at Mass Audubon's Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Lenox.
Low-bush blueberries bloom on Lenox Mountain at Mass Audubon's Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Lenox.
British Soldiers grow among the lichens on a cobble at the summit of Lenox Mountain at Mass Audubon's Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Lenox.
