In the vicinity of Springfield the most interesting drives are to be
found on the west side of the Connecticut River, for the comparatively
flat land east of the river is thickly settled and heavily
industrialized, and geological phenomena are effectively masked. The
country to the west offers a display of features which may be traced to
the activities of the river, to the former presence of glacial Lake
Springfield, to the prolonged erosion of the Triassic bedrock, and to
the resistance of the pre-Triassic rocks in the western highland. Almost
any trip will include this entire suite of geological phenomena. The
distances which are given in the following tours have been taken from
the west side of the North End Bridge.
_Springfield, Holyoke, Easthampton, and Westfield_
This route follows north on the floodplain along the river bank via
Federal Highway 5, and the heavy retaining wall is designed to keep the
river out. The sand promontory which comes to the left side of the road
(0.6) is a remnant of the old lake--bottom deposits. Past the junction
with the road through West Springfield (0.8), the highway utilizes the
old lake beds, which form a terrace above the present floodplain; but
ultimately (1.6) it drops again to the floodplain level, with its many
abandoned channels, although it discreetly stays on one of the higher,
and older, meander-cut terraces. A cut-off to Chicopee turns right
(2.4), but Federal Highway 5 continues north across the meander terraces
to the forks (4.6) which lead to the residential (left) and business
(right) sections of Holyoke.
Here the main highway climbs steeply from the floodplain to the top of
the lake deposits. The view north shows the Holyoke Range rising above
the roofs and chimneys of Holyoke. Lake deposits form a broad flat
between the Triassic volcanic ridges which lie to the west and the
trench cut by the Connecticut River.
The road from Westfield and the airport (Federal Highway 202) from the
left, and the road to Easthampton (7.6) turns left from the main
highway, which continues north. The north route, described under the
tours from Northampton (see pp. 80-82), features the dinosaur tracks and
the succession of Triassic rocks. The Easthampton road goes past the
south end of the Mount Tom Range, and its scenic attractions have been
dealt with elsewhere (see p. 85). Its most interesting sights are the
line of lakes between the two volcanic series and the view from the
summit of the ridge. Easthampton (12.7) lies on the old lake bottom,
from which an impressive view of the palisade of massive columns
comprising the tilted lava flow of Mount Tom can be obtained.
At Easthampton the tour turns south on the College Highway (State 10)
towards Southampton and Westfield. The road follows the gravel plain
which was spread into Lake Hadley by streams flowing out of the western
highland. The plain is dissected locally by the Manhan River (15.2 and
18.0) which crosses the road twice, and one small valley near
Southampton (17.1) discloses Triassic arkose buried by the sand. The
road rises above the lake deposits (17.4) near the Manhan River, and at
once glacial erratics become numerous. The "land of stone fences" forms
a narrow divide between the Lake Hadley basin and the Lake Springfield
sand plain (21.1), which extends south to the valley of the Westfield
River. The Holyoke road (22.5), which enters from the left, came over
the trap ridge and across the lake plain.
As the College Highway approaches the edge of the Westfield valley
(23.6), it slopes steeply down to the level floor cut by the river. It
crosses the Westfield (24.5) and comes to the junction (24.9) with the
Jacob's Ladder route (Federal Highway 20), which offers another
interesting sidetrip into the Western Upland.
The route continues south to the center of Westfield (25.2), leaving the
College Highway at the south end of the common. The Springfield road
goes around the central square and starts east in the valley which the
meandering Westfield River carved out of the Lake Springfield sediments.
The terrace levels and the scalloped pattern of the meander scarps are
conspicuous along the lowland. The highway crosses the Little Westfield
River (26.1) and then the Westfield itself (27.0) just beyond the
entrance to Robinson State Park.
Most mineral collectors will instantly recognize a road turning off to
the left (27.8) as the way to the Westfield trap quarry. For years this
locality has been as important a source of specimens to collectors as it
has been of crushed rock to road-builders. Beyond the quarry road the
valley narrows, and the terraces close in as the river enters the gap in
the trap ridge. The black lava flow crosses the river (28.3) at the
Westfield-West Springfield town line, and shortly the upper flow
appears, resting on red shales in both railroad and road cuts (29.1).
Actually there are two flows separated by an amygdaloidal band in the
upper lava series at this place. The highway crosses the Boston and
Albany tracks (29.3) and leaves the river. After passing the junction
with the Holyoke road (31.0), the highway drops to the upper terrace
level on the bed of glacial Lake Springfield (31.4). The upper terrace
is narrow here, and the road soon descends to the meander-cut terraces
of the floodplain (32.1). The road to Memorial Bridge turns right (32.3)
and our route returns to the North End Bridge (32.8).
_Westfield to the Westfield Marble Quarry_
This is a short drive of 5.7 miles each way from Westfield, with a mile
walk from the Little Westfield road to the marble quarry. The view of
the Little Westfield gorge and the entire Connecticut Lowland from
Meriden to Amherst makes this trip well worth taking.
The tour leaves Westfield on the Jacob's Ladder road and soon reaches
the terraced margin (1.6) of the Westfield valley. The numerous benches
along the stream banks represent temporary flood-plain levels of the
Westfield. The route turns left from the Jacob's Ladder highway (4.0)
and parallels the base of the western highland to the Little Westfield
road (4.9). Throughout this distance the marble quarry derrick appears
on the highland skyline. Our road turns right at the next crossing and
winds along the edge of the Little Westfield gorge (see pp. 61-62). The
narrow hill road to the marble quarry turns right (5.7), but it is
inadvisable to drive. The walk is an easy one, and the view at the top
is worth the moderate physical exertion.