At the summit of Mt Holyoke, a former hotel dating from 1861 is now a museum and visitor center. Old photographs show Summit House as it was in its heyday in the early 1900s.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Skinner State Park

0.03 MILES

This mountaintop park, at the summit of Mt Holyoke, peaks out at a rather modest-sounding height of 942ft. But that's high enough to earn the visitor…

2. Smith College Museum of Art

2.79 MILES

This impressive campus museum boasts a 25,000-piece collection. The collection is particularly strong in 19th- and 20th-century European and North…

3. Smith College

2.85 MILES

Founded 'for the education of the intelligent gentlewoman' in 1875, Smith College is one of the largest women's colleges in the country, with 2600…

4. Lyman Conservatory

2.96 MILES

Visitors are welcome to explore Smith College's collection of Victorian greenhouses, set opposite Paradise Pond, which are packed to the brim with odd…

5. Mount Holyoke College

3.09 MILES

The nation's oldest women's college, founded in 1837, is in the center of South Hadley, the southernmost and sleepiest of the Five College towns. The…

6. Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

3.12 MILES

Co-founded by the author and illustrator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, this superb museum celebrates book illustrations from around the world with…

7. Hampshire College

3.37 MILES

The region's most innovative center of learning is Hampshire College, 3 miles south of Amherst center on MA 116. Students here don't pick a major in the…

8. Dinosaur Footprints

4.6 MILES

Around 190 million years ago, the Pioneer Valley area was a subtropical swamp inhabited by carnivorous, two-legged dinosaurs, and a large cluster of their…