Yokun Ridge South Berkshire Natural Resources Council Brothers Trail

Richmond Mountain Road, Lenox, MA

About Brothers Trail

The Brother's Trail is a small, 0.9-mile moderate hike located within the vast 734-acre Yokun Ridge South reserve of the BNRC in the heart of the Berkshires. This trail connects the Charcoal Trail to Old Baldhead Road on the other side of Lenox-Richmond Mountain Road and was described by a long-time Lenox resident, author Nathaniel Hawthorne, as a "shady nook where summer had cooled herself." Designed by trail builder Peter Jensen, the trail has a set of stone steps that lead visitors under the towering hemlock, oak, pines, sassafras, and tulip poplar trees that cover the gorge. Wildlife often spotted here include barred owls, indigo bunting, and other forest birds. Lucky hikers might also spot a bear or large mammal rustling through the leaves.

The Brother's Trail was named after the grandsons of the Gilded Age finance giant, Anson Phelps Stokes, who bought and built a house on this property in 1893, which he called Shadowbrook. The house burned down in 1956, and his grandchildren gave this land to be protected in the early 1970s. This was one of the first lands the BNRC owned for conservation purposes and helped set the groundwork for all the free public access land they currently offer.