CCC Camp 108. Beartown State Forest was established in 1921 when the state purchased 5,000 acres of land. Additional land acquisition brought state holdings at Beartown to 7,713 acres by 1933. CCC Camp S-66 (Company 108) and Camp SA-66 (Company 112) were established at Beartown in 1933. The first task assigned to Camp S-66 was to build a road running north/south through the of center the forest to provide access to the area. Camp SA-66 also worked on road construction for access and recreational use as well as building water holes, clearing road edges and eradicating white pine blister rust. Both camps cut cordwood, salvaged chestnut, constructed trails, planted trees (mostly spruce and pine) and carried out forest stand improvements. Road improvements included several bridges with wood stringers and stone abutments. The use of stone culverts rather than concrete was encouraged when possible as these used local materials, were less expensive and taught new skills. Courtesy DCR.

Beartown State Forest offers up many 4×4 and hiking trails of all abilities and covers Lee, Stockbridge, Tyringham, Great Barrington and Monterey. We went in from Route 102 to Meadow to Pine Street in Lee and parked at the big sign. There are 10,000 acres here to explore and two summits, Mt. Wilcox and Beartown Mountain. History is still alive here with old growth trees, cellar holes and lost cemeteries, print a map and spend the day!

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