In the vicinity of Springfield the most interesting drives are to be found on the west side of the Connecticut River, for the comparatively flat land east of the river is thickly settled and heavily industrialized, and geological phenomena are effectively masked. The country to the west offers a display of features which may be traced to the activities of the river, to the former presence of glacial Lake Springfield, to the prolonged erosion of the Triassic bedrock, and to the resistance of the pre-Triassic rocks in the western highland. Almost any trip will include this entire suite of geological phenomena. The distances which are given in the following tours have been taken from the west side of the North End Bridge.

Springfield, Holyoke, Easthampton, and Westfield

This route follows north on the floodplain along the river bank via Federal Highway 5, and the heavy retaining wall is designed to keep the river out. The sand promontory which comes to the left side of the road (0.6) is a remnant of the old lake—bottom deposits. Past the junction with the road through West Springfield (0.8), the highway utilizes the old lake beds, which form a terrace above the present floodplain; but ultimately (1.6) it drops again to the floodplain level, with its many abandoned channels, although it discreetly stays on one of the higher, and older, meander-cut terraces. A cut-off to Chicopee turns right (2.4), but Federal Highway 5 continues north across the meander terraces to the forks (4.6) which lead to the residential (left) and business (right) sections of Holyoke.

Here the main highway climbs steeply from the floodplain to the top of the lake deposits. The view north shows the Holyoke Range rising above the roofs and chimneys of Holyoke. Lake deposits form a broad flat between the Triassic volcanic ridges which lie to the west and the trench cut by the Connecticut River.

The road from Westfield and the airport (Federal Highway 202) from the left, and the road to Easthampton (7.6) turns left from the main highway, which continues north. The north route, described under the tours from Northampton (see pp. 80-82), features the dinosaur tracks and the succession of Triassic rocks. The Easthampton road goes past the south end of the Mount Tom Range, and its scenic attractions have been dealt with elsewhere (see p. 85). Its most interesting sights are the line of lakes between the two volcanic series and the view from the summit of the ridge. Easthampton (12.7) lies on the old lake bottom, from which an impressive view of the palisade of massive columns comprising the tilted lava flow of Mount Tom can be obtained.

At Easthampton the tour turns south on the College Highway (State 10) towards Southampton and Westfield. The road follows the gravel plain which was spread into Lake Hadley by streams flowing out of the western highland. The plain is dissected locally by the Manhan River (15.2 and 18.0) which crosses the road twice, and one small valley near Southampton (17.1) discloses Triassic arkose buried by the sand. The road rises above the lake deposits (17.4) near the Manhan River, and at once glacial erratics become numerous. The “land of stone fences” forms a narrow divide between the Lake Hadley basin and the Lake Springfield sand plain (21.1), which extends south to the valley of the Westfield River. The Holyoke road (22.5), which enters from the left, came over the trap ridge and across the lake plain.

As the College Highway approaches the edge of the Westfield valley (23.6), it slopes steeply down to the level floor cut by the river. It crosses the Westfield (24.5) and comes to the junction (24.9) with the Jacob’s Ladder route (Federal Highway 20), which offers another interesting sidetrip into the Western Upland.

The route continues south to the center of Westfield (25.2), leaving the College Highway at the south end of the common. The Springfield road goes around the central square and starts east in the valley which the meandering Westfield River carved out of the Lake Springfield sediments. The terrace levels and the scalloped pattern of the meander scarps are conspicuous along the lowland. The highway crosses the Little Westfield River (26.1) and then the Westfield itself (27.0) just beyond the entrance to Robinson State Park.

Most mineral collectors will instantly recognize a road turning off to the left (27.8) as the way to the Westfield trap quarry. For years this locality has been as important a source of specimens to collectors as it has been of crushed rock to road-builders. Beyond the quarry road the valley narrows, and the terraces close in as the river enters the gap in the trap ridge. The black lava flow crosses the river (28.3) at the Westfield-West Springfield town line, and shortly the upper flow appears, resting on red shales in both railroad and road cuts (29.1). Actually there are two flows separated by an amygdaloidal band in the upper lava series at this place. The highway crosses the Boston and Albany tracks (29.3) and leaves the river. After passing the junction with the Holyoke road (31.0), the highway drops to the upper terrace level on the bed of glacial Lake Springfield (31.4). The upper terrace is narrow here, and the road soon descends to the meander-cut terraces of the floodplain (32.1). The road to Memorial Bridge turns right (32.3) and our route returns to the North End Bridge (32.8).

Westfield to the Westfield Marble Quarry

This is a short drive of 5.7 miles each way from Westfield, with a mile walk from the Little Westfield road to the marble quarry. The view of the Little Westfield gorge and the entire Connecticut Lowland from Meriden to Amherst makes this trip well worth taking.

The tour leaves Westfield on the Jacob’s Ladder road and soon reaches the terraced margin (1.6) of the Westfield valley. The numerous benches along the stream banks represent temporary flood-plain levels of the Westfield. The route turns left from the Jacob’s Ladder highway (4.0) and parallels the base of the western highland to the Little Westfield road (4.9). Throughout this distance the marble quarry derrick appears on the highland skyline. Our road turns right at the next crossing and winds along the edge of the Little Westfield gorge (see pp. 61-62). The narrow hill road to the marble quarry turns right (5.7), but it is inadvisable to drive. The walk is an easy one, and the view at the top is worth the moderate physical exertion.

Optional Trips

It must be plain, even to the casual reader, that the foregoing pages have been written with self-restraint. Many of the luring side roads were passed without so much as a pause; trips to the Cobble Mountain Reservoir west of Westfield, and to the Quabbin Reservoir east of Belchertown have not even been suggested; some of the main highways were slighted. For anyone who knows the byways and the hidden beauties that can be found in reasonably accessible places, this chapter will seem inadequate and incomplete.

But it would take a volume far beyond the scope of this brief guide to do justice to the scenery, the geography, and the geologic detail of the Connecticut Valley and its bordering uplands. The authors can merely ask the indulgence of those who would like to know more.