Getting back into hiking after my knee injury, as my knee was not quite ready to hike super rugged terrain like the White Mountains just yet, I was thinking about a side quest to work on to build things back up and discovered an interesting peakbagging list in Massachusetts to start with – Massachusetts 50 Highest Public Peaks.
This list was curated by Patrick Browne with the goal of avoiding private property or ridiculous bushwhacking. Despite many of the peaks in Massachusetts being fairly short (Mount Greylock, the highest, tops out at less than 3500 feet) it’s a big enough list that it’ll still take a lot of work. In addition, many of the peaks are close to each other so this presents some interesting big mileage options which hit multiple peaks, which I’m excited to get to once my knee can tolerate 30km or more days. The unfortunate thing is that almost all of these peaks are in Western Massachusetts (1.5+ hours away from home) which means a lot of driving.
As of the time I decided to start this list, I had climbed two of these peaks – Wachusett Mountain (closest one to me) and Mount Frissell (which I climbed while going for the Connecticut state high point last year). I immediately began studying the list on Peakbagger along with plotting routes. I plan to repeat both Wachusett and Frissell as I work through this list (Frissell is part of a pretty wicked 38 km route I mapped through Mt Washington State Park which hits 6 peaks and one I’m looking forward to banging out). My goal is to finish the last peaks on my birthday in late November. This would have me hiking all 50 of the peaks in under 6 months (163 days to be precise). I might re-hike the first two I did this year so I hike all 50 in less than 150 days, we’ll see.
My plan is to complete the 50 in two phases. Phase 1 will consist of hikes less than 20 km in length and generally less than 800 meters of elevation gain and cover 38 of the 50 peaks. I will finish Phase 1 in early September. Phase 2 will cover the last 12 peaks, which will be done in 2 very long hikes around 38 km in length, each gaining over 1000 meters of elevation gain. Phase 2 will be completed November. Between the two phases, I’ll tackle some easier 4000 foot peaks in NH, VT and ME which bridge the gap (both distance and elevation wise).
I’ll also look to complete as many of the Massachusetts county high points as well along the way – some are on the 50 list but others are not (either on private property, too low, or too close to other peaks to meet the prominence requirements).
50 Highest Public Peaks
Current completion: 23/50
October 26, 2025: Mount Frissell
June 13, 2026: Todd Mountain (Rowe), Adams Mountain
June 27, 2026: Massaemett Mountain, Peter Hill
July 3: Tully Mountain, Warner Hill, Judges Hill
July 5: Spruce Mountain, Spruce Hill North Peak
July 8: Mount Watatic
July 10: Negus Mountain
July 11: Todd Mountain (Charlemont), Clark Mountain
July 20: Mount Wachusett (first hiked October 17, 2025)
July 22: Mount Grace
July 25: North Mountain, Borden Mountain
August 1: Round Top Hill, Lenox Mountain, Lenox Mountain South Peak
August 2: Walling Mountain, Gobble Mountain
County High Points
Current completion: 4/14
October 17, 2025: Mount Wachusett (Worcester County)
July 8, 2026: Nutting Hill Northeast Slope (Middlesex County)
July 17, 2026: Holt Hill (Essex County)
August 1, 2026: Round Top Hill (Hampden County)
Veg 'n' Alpine 