Visiting Natural Bridge State Park – The Berkshires, Massachusetts

October 2024

Visiting Natural Bridge State Park – The Berkshires, Massachusetts

Natural Bridge State Park is located just outside of North Adams in the Berkshires. In my research, this spot reminded me of Watkins Glen in the Finger Lakes in that it is a natural gorge that has trails that allow guests to walk along and within it so we were looking forward to this next stop. It is the only natural white marble arch in North America and the natural bridge leads to a 60 foot gorge.

The park itself is peaceful with several walking trail areas. We examined the map before setting on the path towards the gorge. We approached a man-made bridge that takes guest over the gorge for a lovely view of the start of the water falls.

After that, there were fences blocking the rest of the park. I was quite confused as I know there were walkways down into the gorge. Could this really be it?

I asked the park ranger inside the visitor center and apparently the infrastructure was unsafe and the decision to close the walkways was down last summer. There are plans in place to rebuild the walkways to restore the ability for visitors to explore the gorge area, but this may be several years away. 

Admission here is free at present and I would assume they would start charging once the multi-million dollar project is complete to allow. I would say skip this stop on your Berkshires trip for the time being and keep an eye on the status of the restoration project. I know this will be a must stop when you can go into the gorge as it once was so I will certainly stay tuned to their progress.

Continue reading about our weekend in the Berkshires here!

Read all blog posts for the Berkshires here!

See our complete itinerary here!

Planning your trip? Check out the Perfect Fall Itinerary to the Berkshires here!