Lost ski areaMassachusettsBerkshire HillsNortheast
Beartown
Ran 1935–1964. A state forest ski area above South Lee, cut by the CCC for snow trains in 1935, that ran with rope tows on and off until the 1960s.
Overview
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Imagery: USGS The National Map · Terrain: Mapzen, USGS and others
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Beartown was a ski area on the north side of Beartown State Forest above South Lee. Civilian Conservation Corps crews cut its first trails in 1935 to a plan by Charles L.1,2
Read the whole historyTodayForest has taken back the trails, though remains of some buildings can still be found. (2026)1
Timeline
8 events · swipe
Memories
Skied Beartown, or worked there?
Tell us what you remember, or what this page has wrong. Memories show here, credited to you, after we read them; facts are checked against a source before they change a figure.
Lost near Beartown
The closest other lost ski areas, as the crow flies.
- Opened 1948 · 7 mi away · MassachusettsA small ski hill with a double chairlift at the Eastover resort in Lenox, run from the late 1940s into at least the mid-1990s.
- 1934–1983 · 12.6 mi away · MassachusettsThe ski slopes of the Jug End Barn resort in South Egremont, skied from the mid-1930s until the resort's bankruptcy and closing in 1983.
- 1936–2020 · 19.7 mi away · MassachusettsThe Springfield Ski Club's ski area in Blandford, run by the club from 1936 to 2017 and by Ski Butternut's owners until it closed in 2020.
History
Written by aurora.ski from the 2 pages below, each sentence numbered to its sources.
Beartown was a ski area on the north side of Beartown State Forest above South Lee. Civilian Conservation Corps crews cut its first trails in 1935 to a plan by Charles L. Parker of the Springfield Ski Club, aiming at the snow trains that stopped at South Lee station. Train skiers got a grand opening on January 26, 1936, on the Grizzly, Kodiak and Polar trails; the Sedgwick trail followed in 1938.1,2
Lift service began in the 1940–41 winter, when the state built a lodge and leased out a 1,400-foot rope tow. With the snow trains halted by war, it shut after 1941–42 and reopened for 1945–46. Under Albert Prinz a summit tow came for 1951–52, giving three tows on 820 feet of vertical. Parking for only a handful of cars held it back, and regular operation lapsed after the mid-1950s apart from a 1958–59 lease.1,2
In 1961 a Lenox group, Beartown Associates, led by William T. McCormack, took it on, built an access road and installed electric rope tows. Crowds lagged the chairlift areas nearby, and after 1963–64 the group quit and sold its tows to Brodie Mountain's developer; NELSAP dates the end to 1966. A 1966 plan for a summit chairlift was reportedly refused a state permit.1,2
TodayForest has taken back the trails, though remains of some buildings can still be found. (2026)1
Timeline
- 1935CCC crews cut the first trails for snow-train skiers1,2
- 1936Grand opening for snow-train skiers on January 261
- 1940State lodge and a 1,400-foot rope tow bring lift service1
- 1942Shuts for the war after the 1941–42 season1
- 1945Reopens for the 1945–46 season1
- 1951A summit tow gives three tows on 820 feet of vertical1,2
- 1961Beartown Associates reopens it with electric rope tows1,2
- 1964Last season under Beartown Associates; tows sold to Brodie's developer1
Sources for this history (2)
- 1New England Ski History · Beartown Mountain
- 2New England Lost Ski Areas Project · Beartown State Forest Ski Area
Photos
No photographs of Beartown we may republish yet
Its old photos and trail maps live on the sites that collected them, and Google finds the rest.
Memories
What skiers remember of Beartown, in their own words.
Facts
Location
42.2713° N · 73.2693° W · Massachusetts · Berkshire Hills
OpenSkiMap lists it as abandoned.
Years operated
1935–1964
Closed after the 1964 season. It stays here as part of the record of U.S. ski areas.
Its numbers
all 3all 3, in one list
Terrain contours: USGS 3D Elevation Program, public domain