This week's Hikes and Walks column takes readers on an 8-mile journey from Hopkins Forest, up the Taconic Crest, down the RRR Brooks Trail to the Knob to Buxton Ravine.

Hikes and Walks columnist Lauren R. Stevens details a rigorous trip up Bellows Pipe this week, and the views earned in the process.

Although it is an artfully routed and executed piece of work, roots and awkward stones litter the narrow footpath. After all, it was made from scratch. All the more reason for hiking it, to see the challenges it faced and to enjoy how it succeeds despite them.

The Trustees’ 438-acre Questing property in New Marlborough has an intriguing mix of history. nature and breathtaking wildflowers.

How about a 3-mile, plus or minus, hike in Greylock Glen that takes you on two historic ski trails, Bellows Pipe South and the Thunderbolt? Wh…

Eagle columnist Lauren Stevens guides you through a trail and the wonderous fields of the Hopper. 

It’s not always necessary to summit the mountain. After only a few feet on the Haley Farm Trail, for instance, you can sit to enjoy an uplifting expanse of hayfields and the steep, forested sides of the Hopper.

A controlled burn in Pownal last month has set up the opportunity for a delightful hike up to the Dome on East Mountain.

Did you miss spring? Well, go farther north or climb higher, such as onto the Hoosac plateau. Specifically, try a section of the Mohican-Mohawk Trail.

You are unlikely to see anyone you know or, for that matter, anyone, on Ragged. It’s a remote location, clothed in spruce/fir forest unique in Berkshire to it and to the Greylock summit.