Route 116 · Adams to South Deerfield

MA-116 crosses the hilltowns end to end: it leaves Adams, climbs to the plateau through Savoy, passes Plainfield and Ashfield and drops through Conway to South Deerfield in the Connecticut River valley. It's 37 miles, and the stretch from Ashfield to South Deerfield is one of the best twisties in the state, with steady curves along the river. The climb out of Adams is steep. Fuel in Adams or Ashfield. Traffic picks up on weekends as you reach South Deerfield.

Adams, where the route starts, sits at the foot of Mt Greylock and is the birthplace of Susan B. Anthony; she was born there in 1820, and her childhood home is a museum in town. MA-116 climbs from there through Savoy Mountain State Forest onto the hilltown plateau, past Plainfield and into Ashfield, a classic New England village with a town hall and a lake.

From Ashfield the road follows the South River down through Conway, a quiet farm town where the Burkeville Covered Bridge, built in 1870, crosses the South River just off the route, to South Deerfield and the Connecticut River valley, with Mt Sugarloaf above it. Fuel in Adams or Ashfield, and the route chains with the hilltowns loop or Mt Greylock for a longer day.