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What and where are the Hilltowns?

The Hilltowns are a collection of 28 nearly lost-in-time villages between the Berkshires and the Connecticut River Valley in Western Massachusetts. Originally settled thousands of years ago by what became the Mahican and Pocomtuc Indigenous Peoples, many of the present day roads were their hunting and trading routes. The villages we see today were founded in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Hilltowns are unique for their scenic rural beauty and history of now long-gone mills and early railroads. We are home to one of the only National Park Service designated Wild & Scenic River in the Northeast (78 miles of the Westfield) and are known for our farms, wellness retreats and communities of thriving artists and craftspeople. We have more waterfalls than you can see in a day and outdoors fans come for hiking, kayaking, fishing and hunting.

We’re roughly bounded by the Mass Pike and Rte. 20 on the South, Rte. 2 on the North. Massachusetts Rte. 66 and Rte. 9 bisect us. Click on the map for a larger view.

The Hilltowns are ready for business

Today, with access to cell service and broadband throughout the Hilltowns, people are embracing our slower, rural way of life and many are able to work from home or run businesses online. The Hilltown Community Development Corporation is here to support local business and also conducts renovations of historic buildings, transforming them into community spaces for people to recreate, live and work.

This directory is a way for you to find local businesses whether you are building or renovating a house, or need services like accounting or legal. Need your pet boarded, car fixed or an Ayurvedic massage? Looking into a farm wedding or want to visit artists in their studios? We’re your gateway to life and work in the Hilltowns.

Four Seasons Of Life In The Hilltowns

Check back here each season as we highlight the best things to see and do. The fall brings unparalleled leaf peeping, hiking, pumpkin and apple picking plus our annual artists’ Hilltown Open Studio Tour. Celebrate the holidays by visiting picture-perfect villages lit up for the season. Winter brings ice fishing, snowmobiling and cross country skiing. Spring offers maple syrup breakfasts at sugaring shacks and the country’s oldest whitewater kayak and canoe races. Swim in the rivers, fish in the lakes as summer blooms with wildflowers. Our farms show off their best and offer delicious local produce, meats and dairy with the Hilltown Mobile Market distributing our farmers’ goods throughout the region.

Wherever you live, spend the day or a weekend up in the Hilltowns. Relax, slow down, get out in nature. We think the Hilltowns are magic, you will too.

What and where are the Hilltowns?

The Hilltowns are ready for business

Four Seasons Of Life In The Hilltowns

Improving the quality of life for Hilltown residents and preserving our unique rural character.