Looking for a fall walk in The Berkshires?

The Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area will be offering its 11th annual “Heritage Walks Weekends” on Sept. 22-23 and Oct.13-14.

The group will be hosting 53 free guided tours throughout The Berkshires and Litchfield County, Conn.

They look to accomplish this by supporting the programs their partner organizations offer to illuminate and educate residents and tourists about the history and culture that makes the region a “very special place” to live and visit.

The Heritage Walks will feature educational walking tours through historic estate gardens and town districts and a historic train station tour.

Nature walks and trail hikes, tours of industrial site ruins that were once thriving industries, a canoe trip on the Housatonic River, bike rides along scenic country roads and a Native American village walk will also be offered. Historians, naturalists and environmentalists will help participants explore and learn about the region’s rich history.

Historical and cultural venues will open their doors to the public for free behind-the-scenes tours; and natural resources organizations will provide access to many of the region’s most interesting outdoor recreational areas.

For example, on Sept. 22 you can take a walk in Great Barrington exploring the River Walk, through downtown and into the shady woods of the Lake Mansfield Conservation Forest.

The walk will be led by Christine Ward from Great Barrington Trails and Greenways. It starts at the W.E.B. DuBois River Garden at Church and River streets at 9 a.m.

Another planned event for Sept. 23 is the historic railroad tour in Lenox.

In the walk you can learn the history of the Berkshire rail line between Pittsfield and Bridgeport, Conn., and tour the locomotives and vintage passenger cars.

This tour will meet at 1 p.m. at the Lenox Station on Willow Creek Road at the east end of Housatonic Street.

For the full list of hikes visit the walk website, heritage-hikes.org.

The Housatonic Heritage Area mission is to “preserve, celebrate and share with others our regional historic, cultural, scenic and natural heritage of the 29 towns that lie within the upper Housatonic River watershed area, from Kent, Conn., to Lanesborough, Mass.”

Posted by Kameron Z. Spaulding on September 6, 2012. Filed under Community Events,Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry