Discover Northampton: bike trails, theater and gardens

Northampton offers several distinct points of interest for planning a trip: bike trails, cultural venues, gardens and recurring events. If you are primarily looking for an active focus, details about the trail network are useful; for a culturally focused trip, the theater, museum and arts festival offer different points of reference. You can tailor your stay to these interests: the trails can be compared by length, while the theater, garden and events offer historical, artistic and seasonal perspectives.

Bike trails and trail lengths

The Mass Central Rail Trail runs for 6.9 miles through Northampton; the New Haven & Northampton Canal Greenway runs for four miles through the city. The Mass Central Rail Trail is therefore the longer of the two routes through Northampton mentioned here, while the Canal Greenway is the shorter. If trail length matters to your plans, this comparison offers a concrete point of reference. Northampton’s shared-use trail network includes bike trails and rail trails; most trails are ten feet wide and paved. As trail conditions can change, check their current status before your ride.

Theater and events

The Academy of Music Theatre is a historic building and the nation’s first municipally owned theater. It serves as a venue for live theater, dance, film, music and arts education. Its history and present-day use offer different cultural points of interest: you may be interested both in its significance as a municipal theater and in the range of cultural fields represented there.

Recurring events also take place at different times of year. Northampton’s Memorial Day Parade has been held every year on Memorial Day since 1868. The Paradise City Arts Festival takes place in Northampton twice a year, in spring and fall. When planning your trip, you can distinguish between a holiday-related event and two seasonal windows: around Memorial Day, the parade is the main point of reference; for the festival, spring or fall are options. If you plan to attend a specific event or performance, check the dates before your trip.

Park, garden and local history

Look Memorial Park has a steam train and is also home to the Christenson Wildlife Center. This means railroad and wildlife themes sit side by side in the same park. The Botanic Garden of Smith College includes a 127-acre arboretum and offers a distinct botanical focus. This gives you a concrete choice between railroad and wildlife center themes on the one hand, and a botanical garden with an arboretum on the other.

The exhibits at the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library & Museum also cover Calvin Coolidge’s years as a Northampton resident after his presidency. This looks beyond his time in office to a later period of his life connected with the city. In contrast with the historic Academy of Music Theatre, the focus here is on the biography of a former president and his life as a Northampton resident.

Discover more destinations: Amherst, Hadley, Belchertown.

For the broader travel overview: Hampshire.