Gotta Visit: Rising Corners Hiking Trail (Southwick/Agawam)

Have you heard of Rising Corner? It's where Southwick and Agawam, MA meet up with Suffield, CT. It's also the trail head for a challenging 2-mile hike that skirts the state line. Specifically -- it's the first Massachusetts section of the New England Trail -- also known as Section 01 of the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail (or M-M) Trail. 

There's an open, grassy parking area at the Rising Corner trail head -- you can't miss it. Once you park the car follow the wide grassy trail to the woods. It's easy to get the kids invested in this hike -- they'll love running through the grassy approach to the trail and once you're in the woods it's a few hundred yards until you reach a long bridge that runs over a swamp. Pretty quickly after the swamp, though, you're hitting a challenging incline. From there on out it's a hilly hike through the woods. You can keep the kids on the lookout for the white blaze marks. The trail is pretty curvy -- and it's easy to get off track so look for the double blaze marks noting a turn in the trail. 

There are some fun logs to climb over on the trail, a few fallen branches to duck under, and after about a mile into the trek you'll come upon a wide open clearing with a beautiful view. This is a good spot to sit and rest for a few. After the lookout it's back to the hilly terrain. You will cross a tiny stream with a tiny bridge perfect for a quick game of Pooh sticks.

Eventually, you'll come upon the property of the Agawam Bowmen Club. You'll see archery targets along the path. As you reach the end of the 2-mile hike you'll notice a giant rock on the right side of the trail. Perfect photo opp. If you let the kids slide down the rock a few times they'll probably find the energy to reach the end of the hike. Shortly after the rock slide you'll come upon a lovely brown house and gravel driveway. This gracious homeowner shares a driveway with the end of the trail. You can follow the gravel drive as it curves to the left and you'll reach the official end of the trail at the red apple Agawam Bowmen sign. 

Section 02 of the New England Trail picks up across Route 57 -- but I wouldn't recommend crossing this road. It's super busy and folks are not expecting pedestrians at the top of the hill there. Better to turn around and head back and pick up the next leg of the hike another day. 

It took our party of five (two moms, two big kids and two littles) just about three hours to hike four miles (two in and two back) on this trail. It took two hours to hike in and an hour to return to the Rising Corner parking area (it was a chilly November morning and the promise of hot lunch at home lit some fire under our tails). It was a quiet hike -- we only encountered two other folks on the trail. The little kids did great with intermittent piggy back rides when their feet just couldn't go anymore. You have to have a carrier for the babies and bring your own water and snacks. There are no amenities  anywhere on the trail or at the trail heads so make sure everyone uses the potty beforehand. 

There is no fee to use the trail or for parking; however, please keep in mind and be respectful of the fact that portions of the trail run through private property. Please respect the generous property owners and stick to the trail. 

This is a great 413 hike for the whole family. I love that it's part of the 215-mile New England Trail that runs from Long Island Sound in Connecticut all the way up to the New Hampshire border. This is a doable hike in/out goal to complete with the kids in the coming years. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. See you on the trail! #getoutside #gotakeahike #newenglandlife

Comments

[Amy]

I want to thank you for sharing this! My "kids" are 35 and 39, so I am a bit old for your target audience, but my husband and I were looking for a quiet place to walk during these days of social distancing, and I found this blog post. It was lovely! We didn't get all the way through today, but we will definitely go back and bring snacks and water and better shoes.

[Valerie]

Amy! Thank you for letting me know. I'm so glad you found the post and enjoyed the hike. Rising Corners is one of my favorite spots.

[Alicia]

Found this post and hiked the trail today with our 7 YO daughter. It was great! Hot today but there is so much shade out there that it was perfect!

[Valerie]

I'm so glad you enjoyed it too! We visited two weeks ago and the bugs were hungry! We only made it half way before they chased us off the trail. LOLOL.