Good hairpin day

The Mohawk Trail (Route 2) from Greenfield to North Adams. 38 miles.

The Mohawk Trail has fallen on hard times, with abandoned motels and cabins dotting the landscape. Never mind. Offically opened to automobiles in 1914, this former Native-American highway is still a treat to drive westward from the Connecticut River to North Adams. For better or worse, you start at a McDonald's and end at a McDonald's, but the trip is worthwhile if only for the hairpin turn along the way.

After a five-mile ascent to Shelburne Falls, tourists like to stop at the Bridge of Flowers, a former trolly bridge converted to a garden. But you, like us, might prefer to visit Clark's Corvair Parts Inc., apparently the world's largest purveyor of - yes! - Chevrolet Corvair stuff.

In any case, the wide two-lane road later parallels the Deerfield River for a while, but one of the best stretches meanders alongside the churning Cold River before a winding five-mile climb through the forest to the town of Florida. The highway peaks at about 2,200 feet with some nifty views from Whitcomb Summit - known as Spirit Mountain to the Indians - before eventually plunging from the Western Summit into North Adams. Don't say we didn't warn you: Take the hairpin turn too fast on the way down and you'll end up inside the Golden Eagle Restaurant.

Published in the Boston Globe Calendar's 1999 Wandering New England issue.