The road soon drops into a wide and open valley (50.1) which seems to slope interminably southeastward; this is the head of the Westfield drainage, and it has occupied this position in the Westfield system far back in geologic time (see p. 14). The little village of Savoy (51.8) nestles near the eastern edge of the valley, and once beyond the settlement, the highway tops a divide (52.7) comprised of rolling hills. It skirts Plainfield Pond (56.0 to 56.4) and then comes out upon a panorama of the upland which embraces the entire Westfield basin (57.5). This section is underlain by the Savoy schist, which is characterized by its many large red garnets. At the hilltop (59.7) in Plainfield the road forks, the route to the right descending to the Berkshire Trail and the road ahead proceeding to Ashfield. This portion of the New England upland lies so far back from the main streams that the small tributaries have not yet cut deeply into its gently rolling surface, and no hint of hidden valleys can be detected in the peaceful landscape.

The Ashfield road traverses woodland country that is almost flat. The stream valleys are broad and are rarely more than a hundred feet below divides. Even Swift River (63.9), which crosses the road about two miles above the end of its entrenched gorge, has not deepened its valley, despite the long span of years since New England was raised to its present elevation (see p. 47). Past the alternate road to Cummington (64.0), the route continues across the flat country above Ashfield; but where the road to Goshen turns south (66.4), deep dissection of the New England upland begins. An opening in the trees (66.6 to 67.1) discloses the valleys along the South River in the vicinity of South Ashfield, as well as the level skyline in the highlands east of the Connecticut Valley. The road drops into the South River valley at Ashfield (68.2), where a choice of routes to Greenfield is presented. The road that follows the South River to Conway (75.4) is the more interesting.

The river is joined by a tributary from the north at South Ashfield (69.9), and the streams occupy deep but open valleys. Kame terraces flank the rivers and are a source of gravel for road ballast. The old dam (73.9) near Conway is a picturesque spot, and the deep, shady pool below is not neglected by anglers. Glacial erratics (see pp. 8-9) dot the hill slopes, but ledges are rare and consist of the locally named Conway schist where the rock does appear at the surface. The road branches again at Conway: the left fork goes north along the dissected brink of the Deerfield gorge to Shelburne Falls, but our choice falls upon the eastward route to South Deerfield.

The highway climbs through a cut (75.8) in contorted, gneissic Conway schist, which seems to be lined with twisted white quartz veins from this point to the margin of the Connecticut Valley. The road levels off just before it reaches the New England upland, and then it drops through rolling hill country to the shaded valley of Mill Brook (77.4), which it follows to the edge of the lowland (80.1). Rocky ledges are common along this swiftly flowing stream. A good view of the Pocumtuck Hills appears on the left (79.7), with the flat plain of the old Deerfield delta stretching to their base. The road crosses this plain and enters South Deerfield (81.8).

The tour turns north on Federal Highway 5, which is built on the deposits spread in glacial Lake Hadley by the Deerfield River from its mouth eastward to the foot of the Pocumtuck Hills of Triassic conglomerate. Bloody Brook (82.2) drains this part of the plain. North of the road which goes through the notch between the Sugarloafs (82.6), the delta deposits continue as a terrace along the base of the Pocumtuck Hills as far as Cheapside. But the Deerfield has excavated its post-glacial delta, and the roadway descends to the meander-cut floodplain (84.4 to 88.1), though it rises over one of the meander scarps (85.1). Remnants of the Deerfield delta form a terrace due west across the valley and on the margin of the hills. The entire lowland north of the meander-cut terrace was inundated in 1936, and the water level may still be identified by debris on the railroad embankment on the right. Old Deerfield (86.1) itself is on a meander-scarp terrace, and the 1936 flood line is well marked along it. After the road crosses the Deerfield River (88.3), it leaves the floodplain as it climbs to the center of Greenfield (89.8).

Greenfield, Orange, Pelham, Amherst, and Deerfield

Route 2 also leads eastward from Greenfield to the French King Bridge and Millers Falls. The highway out from Greenfield turns north (0.3) along the west front of the trap ridge, near the summit of which several individual lava flows are represented by separate sets of columns superimposed one upon the other (see p. 26). The underlying bedded sandstones outcrop in the lower wooded slopes. A road branches right (1.7) to Turners Falls and crosses the lava ridge, but the main highway continues straight to a sharp curve near Falls River (3.4). Pillow-shaped masses of lava characterize the bottom of the lava flow and lie above conglomerate in the bluff to the right. The valley of Falls River is a fault zone slicing across the lava sheet, which reappears at the lookout-parking place at Turners Falls (3.5). The extent to which the waterfall has receded (see pp. 58-59) may be judged from the length of the gorge.

The route continues left past the bridge entrance (3.6). Ripple-marked red shales—once Triassic muds in which stray dinosaurs left their tracks—outcrop by the roadside (4.6 to 5.7), and coarse conglomerate beds (5.9) overlie the shales and dip steeply towards the river. Somewhat farther east a broad sand plain (6.0 to 6.8) of glacial outwash (see p. 59), which ends at the French King gorge, buries the Triassic bedrock, but once again conglomerate appears and forms the west wall of the gorge. Pre-Triassic crystalline rocks (6.9) likewise outcrop on the western cliffs, and form a narrow ridge between the present course of the river and the pre-glacial channel, which lies below the glacial delta (7.0 to 7.9) of Millers River.

The road to Northfield turns left (7.9) and another (8.7) leads right to Millers Falls, but Route 2 continues east, climbing high above the river (9.9), which flows through a narrow gorge. Gneiss with horizontal banding outcrops (11.2) in mesa-like hills north of the highway, which descends to a point (12.5) that was 5.5 feet under water during the 1936 flood. The road continues near the water’s edge for almost half a mile, and the narrow gorge through gneiss ends at Erving (13.8). Here the valley widens out into a hilly lowland which has been developed on schist with occasional bands of gneiss. The road follows the north bank of the river across this lowland to Orange (17.9). Route 2 continues to Athol where the Daniel Shays highway enters from the south, but an alternate route, which turns right in the center of Orange and crosses Millers River (18.0), provides a preferable short-cut to the Daniel Shays Highway (21.8). This section of road is lined with stone fences which memorialize the combined labors of the great Ice Sheet and the early settlers.

Route 32 from Petersham and Worcester enters from the left (22.7) just before the highway dips into the creek bottom at the edge of the Quabbin basin. Thence it ascends to the New England upland level, where a lookout (25.5) affords an expansive view to the east and north, with Mount Monadnock rising prominently on the distant skyline. New Salem (25.8) is on the hilltop. Hornblende schist outcrops at intervals across the broad ridge, and especially near the descent (28.4) southwestward to another stream (30.3) which empties into the Quabbin Reservoir. Once again the highway climbs rather steadily for three and one-half miles, passing the Shutesbury road (31.0) on the right, until it reaches another lookout (34.6) from which the trenched New England upland spreads out to the east. Pelham gneiss is the main rock on the broad ridge west of the Quabbin basin, especially in the vicinity of Pelham (35.2), which gave the rock its name.

The tour turns east to Amherst (41.7), following a section which has been described elsewhere (see pp. 78-79). The principal sights include the panorama of the Connecticut Lowland and the ice-margin lake deposits. The drive from Amherst to Northampton (see pp. 78-79) and from Northampton to South Deerfield (see pp. 87-88) on Federal Highway 5 has likewise been covered in other tours, but some new features may be seen along the shorter route from Amherst to Sunderland.

The Sunderland road turns right at the north end of the Amherst common. It descends, first, from Amherst Island, in glacial Lake Hadley, to the old beach at Massachusetts State College (42.6), and then from the beach to the lake bottom (43.2) north of the campus. The route takes the left fork in North Amherst (44.2), traverses part of the old lake bed, swings west around the Long Plain delta (45.5), and crosses its entrenched brook (46.1). Most of the stream’s water seeps through the delta sands and gravels, and emerges in springs at the Fish Hatchery (46.3). Gravel pits across the road furnish an excellent section of the fore-set and top-set beds of the delta. The road right (46.8) goes to the delta top east of Mount Toby, Montague and Turners Falls, but the main highway continues north.

The road turns left and then right (47.2), cutting through a beach bar in glacial Lake Hadley, and passing a sand dune area (47.6) which developed from the sandy braids in the channel of the Connecticut when it first established its course on the lake bed (see pp. 4-6). The route drops down from a terrace (47.9) to the highest floodplain level of the Connecticut. Swales (48.3 and 48.5) on this flat represent former river channels, and the scalloped embankment to the east records the lateral swing and undercutting of the meandering river. The North Hadley road (48.7) enters from the south along a low ridge between two swales, and after the sharp right turn into Sunderland (49.2), the road divides, one fork going north to Montague, the other west across the Sunderland Bridge to South Deerfield.

The Sunderland Bridge (49.4 to 49.6) offers a good view downstream along the natural levees (see p. 2) and westward to the cliffs of Mount Sugarloaf (see pp. 56-58). The road rises above the floodplain (49.9) and passes the Sugarloaf trail (50.0) on the right. A right turn into Federal Highway 5 at South Deerfield (51.0) brings the motorist back to a section of country already described in connection with the Mohawk Trail tour (see pp. 95-96), and another eight miles of driving brings him to Greenfield (59.1).

Greenfield, Turners Falls, Montague, North Amherst

A variant of the drive east from Greenfield is available in the route that turns right across the Turners Falls Bridge (3.6 to 3.8) and follows the east side of the Connecticut Valley southward. The road turns left in the center of Turners Falls (4.2) and climbs the embankment which the river excavated in the old lake beds. On the sand plain above (4.9), the left fork goes to Millers Falls and the right, to Montague. The Montague road skirts the west side of a low line of hills which terminate at a depression (8.6) on the pre-glacial course of the Connecticut. The road goes over Saw Mill River (9.4), in the bed of which Triassic conglomerate is exposed. Conglomerate also appears in the hills directly south, but the older crystalline rocks crop out in an exhumed ridge to the southwest and in the highlands eastward. The conglomerates form the south end of a Triassic basin extending from Mount Hermon and Northfield farther up the valley (see p. 26). Beyond Montague (9.7) Triassic conglomerate appears along the roadside (10.1) as far as the forks to Sunderland and Millers Falls (10.8).

The Millers Falls road follows the foot of a terrace which rises to the old delta level, and at the next fork (11.0), the route keeps right and continues southward to North Amherst. The delta of the glacial stream buried many ice cakes which left numerous kettle holes (11.0 to 11.5) when they melted. The stratification of the deposits is displayed in the many road cuts. The route crosses the Central Vermont Railroad (11.5) and follows an old outwash plain southward past the road to Roaring Brook (13.1) (see p. 54). The tour continues through a narrow stretch in which crystalline rocks predominate, as far as the Long Plain delta (15.6). Mount Toby rises steeply on the west side of the railroad. A third of the way up the mountainside can be seen (13.9) a conspicuous bench, which consists of an exhumed remnant of the ancient, sloping granite mountain front on which the Triassic sediments were laid (see pp. 20-21). The bench level drops northward to the railroad at Roaring Brook, and southward it crosses the road (14.9). The conglomerate east of the road (14.9 to 15.3) fills an old mountain valley. A road east (15.3) goes to Leverett, and the lead vein is located just south of it at the hilltop.

The route skirts the margin of the crystalline rocks and crosses the railroad again (15.6). Just beyond the road to Leverett station (16.1) the motorist may exercise the option of returning to the Sunderland road (17.3) by going right across the Long Plain delta and thence to Greenfield (29.6) via South Deerfield (see p. 95). Or he may extend his trip by taking the left fork of the Mount Toby road, which follows the boundary between the Long Plain delta and the glaciated eastern highlands. Boulders and bare ledges feature in the landscape to the east, whereas the flat delta and the level beach margin (17.9) lie to the west. Beyond the limits of the delta lies a series of bare ledges of gneiss. After crossing Factory Hollow Brook (19.1), the route joins the Sunderland road (19.2) at the center of North Amherst, returning to Greenfield (34.1) by way of Sunderland and South Deerfield, as before (see p. 98).

Greenfield, Turners Falls, Montague, Sunderland

The Sunderland road (10.8) just beyond Montague turns right and climbs the terrace along the floodplain of Saw Mill River. The plain is the delta which this stream built into Lake Hadley. A few rock ridges project above it; buried ice has melted to form kettle holes (11.4) (see pp. 7-8); and post-glacial streams have cut valleys in it; yet it preserves its deltaic form to the old lake margin (11.6). Low shed-like cliffs occur east of the road (11.9); the overhanging rock is Toby conglomerate, and the excavated shelter is a gray shale which was laid in a Triassic lake bed (see pp. 22 and 68). These cliffs recede from the highway and end (12.3) at the Sunderland Caves (see p. 55). The route continues downhill and joins the river road on the floodplain of the Connecticut (14).

The road rises over a promontory (14.1) formed by the resistant Deerfield lava sheet (see p. 26) and then descends to the river floodplain and meander-cut terraces (see p. 22), which cross to the east side of the highway and continue south beyond Sunderland (15.5). In Sunderland junction is made with the longer tour through Amherst (see p. 98), and the return to Greenfield may be made by that route (25.4).