Route 57 · Granville & Tolland

Forest curves right on the Connecticut line: MA-57 leaves Southwick, climbs through the Granville gorge, crosses Tolland and New Boston and ends in New Marlborough. It's 28 miles with almost no traffic, linked curves, climbs and a steep descent toward New Boston. You can reach it straight from Granby, CT. There's little fuel, so fill up in Southwick. Slow down in Granville center and watch the crack sealer in the curves on the way down, which gets slick in heat or rain.

Southwick, where the route starts, sits on the "Southwick Jog," the notch where the Massachusetts line dips into Connecticut, the result of an old border dispute between the two colonies that was finally settled in 1804. From there MA-57 climbs west into Granville, an old farm town whose country store, open since 1851 at the corner of MA-57 and MA-189, is known for the cheddar it still ages in its cellar.

West of Granville the road runs through state forest and the small towns of Tolland and New Boston, some of the least populated in the state, before ending at the village green of New Marlborough. It's a good autumn ride and works as a link between the Granby area of Connecticut and the southern Berkshires. Fuel is scarce, so fill up in Southwick or Granby.