Peru State Forest OHV Trails

Peru State Forest in Berkshire County is a 2,800-acre DCR-managed state forest in the hill towns of western Massachusetts, approximately 20 miles northeast of Pittsfield on the Berkshire Plateau, the elevated upland that forms the spine of the Berkshires between the Housatonic Valley to the west and the Connecticut River Valley to the east. The forest contains a designated ATV/OHV trail network on existing forest roads and purpose-built trail corridors winding through the northern hardwood and mixed forest that dominates the Berkshire Plateau at 1,800 to 2,200 feet elevation: sugar maple, yellow birch, American beech, and white ash on the wetter slopes, with red spruce and white pine in the cooler northeast-facing drainages. At Berkshire Plateau elevation, Peru State Forest offers riding conditions that are meaningfully different from the lower-elevation Massachusetts riding areas: cooler summer temperatures that extend comfortable riding into July and August when lowland areas are hot, and a northern hardwood forest character that distinguishes the riding from the oak-pine woodland typical of eastern Massachusetts OHV areas. The trail system connects with snowmobile corridor routes used by the Berkshire County snowmobile clubs in winter, giving the trails a groomed base that benefits ATV riding in the shoulder seasons. ATVs and registered dirt bikes are the permitted machine classes. The DCR Pittsfield office (413-442-8928) handles current trail status and seasonal access information for the Berkshire region state forest OHV network.