On 9/12/09 and 10/17/09 Teddy bear and I took historic hikes in the
Bear Hole Watershed area sponsored by the West Springfield
Environmental Committee in conjunction with the town Historical
Commission. Both groups encourage passive recreation, NOTHING with
a motor allowed, their feelings are that the more public use will
lead to less illegal activities. You will see a lot of no
trespassing signs, these are meant for anything with a motor.
We have hiked, rode our bikes and now snowshoed and may try
cross country skiing next year. There are many dog walkers on the
roads and trails.
There will be 3 other caches in the “4 Corners” area
giving the history of that part of the watershed.
This first cache can be done from the parking area at the end of
Bear Hole Road. There are other caches that can be done from there
and are in the Bear Hole Watershed area. For this cache there is a
gate that is always locked but an opening in the fence, to the left
of the gate, is designed to allow people on foot or bike to access
the trails within the watershed.
If you want to circumnavigate the reservoir on foot or bike, we
did both, its easier to go back to the first gate, and follow the
road down, down and down some more! At the bottom you will see the
water treatment area and dam. By crossing the dam you can follow
the road to the resort area and do the historic hike backwards. For
more photos and information Google “bear hole hikes” or
“Rusty Clark bear hole hike”. If you see someone in a
blue coat, I was NOT hugging that tree!!! I left my tree measuring
equipment at home and knowing I can reach over 5 feet around a tree
I can get a rough reading!!
There will be one cache, with old and new photos of the historic
sites in this part of the watershed. The coordinates for the points
of interest will be in a plastic bag and you can take a copy with
you.
Please leave the photos in the cache for others to see.
A 1790 reference states that Seth Smith saw a bear “on the
Great Plain” while he was “hoeing corn” . This
sighting aroused considerable local attention since, by that date,
the bear population in MA was already approaching zero. Around 1890
West Springfield businessman M.L. Tourelotte and his partners built
their “Bear Hole Family Resort” on Paucatuck Brook. As
you pass thru the gates, you will be following the old carriage
road. Near the cache area you will see a road on the left, this was
the old Great Plains Road, This part of road was discontinued in
the 1700’s. Part of the road is still in use with a number of
homes on it. After you find the cache if you want you can take the
rest of the tour.
At coordinates N42 08.160 W72 40.659, on your left, you will see
a ILLEGAL quad trail going down. At the bottom a short bushwhack
will take you to what remains of the locally famous,
“Massasoit Spring&. Spring coordinates are N42 08.161
W72 40.735.
At N42 08.178 W72 40.740 you can look down and see some of the
spring area after the snow starts to melt. This was a source of
“water of unusual purity”. In fact, water bottled at
the spring was sold from a wagon, which featured paintings, on its
sides, of a man wrestling with a bear. The slogan on the side of
the wagon read “ I’ve got you and you’ve got
me”.
Go back to the road, at N42 08.165 W72 40.788, while the resort
was open, you would leave you vehicle here and walk down to the
left to the resort. This is where the illegal snowmobile trail is.
Taking the road on your right, they would take your vehicle to the
barns, with parking for up to 100 carriages. At N42 08.250 W72
40.760 you can see the foundations for the barns and somewhere near
by the resorts caretaker house. Back then the valley across the
road was full of water from the man made lake, you can see some of
the old walls and some old pipes marking the lake edges.
As you head down to the resort, you will see a old stone wall
that at that time was whitewashed, (they said for romantic
reasons?). As you follow the road, you will cross over the
bridge/dam built over the waterfall to make the man made pond for
fishing and you could rent a row boat or canoe for the day. You can
see pipes and walls showing how deep the pond was, almost up to the
road.
Follow the road to the left and at the intersection go straight
a short distance and take the trail or road to the brook at N42
08.112 W72 40.803. This spot was the entrance to the resorts
pavilion that was built across the brook on 2 levels, with a dance
hall and restaurant. You could eat, listen to music or just listen
to the waterfalls and brook flowing under you. Standing here and
looking back over your shoulder, you can see the remains of the
bear den where a three legged bear was kept, “behind a
lattice of strong iron bars”. This may have been a lime kiln
at one time.
The resort was short lived, lasting only from 1890 to 1906 when
the town took over the property, by eminent domain, for use as a
town water supply