Richmond After Columbus Day: Orchard Hours, Trail Gates and Hunting Season Dates

With Columbus Day weekend behind us and the orchard traffic on Swamp Road and Route 295 thinning out, Richmond's calendar for the rest of the year comes from four organizations, and each one posts its schedule. Bartlett's Orchard and Hilltop Orchards keep their own hours. The Berkshire Natural Resources Council keeps a timed gate at Hollow Fields. MassWildlife sets the deer seasons for the woods all around them. Line those up and late fall in Richmond has a clear weekly pattern, and Sunday matters more in it than any other day.

The Orchards Trade the Ladders for the Counter

The pick-your-own season at Bartlett's Orchard runs from Labor Day weekend through Columbus Day weekend. The orchard also says picking may run longer depending on weather and how the crop is holding up, and it posts updates near the end of the season. Whatever happens up the hill on Yokun Road, the store at 575 Swamp Road keeps going. Bartlett's says its farm market is open year-round, with cider donuts, apple muffins, turnovers, assorted pies, cookies and fresh apple cider. Store hours are listed as 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.

Across town, Hilltop Orchards and Furnace Brook Winery at 508 Canaan Road on Route 295 lists itself as open every day, rain or shine, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with wine and cider tastings daily. When we checked, the homepage still said it was picking McIntosh, Empire, Cortland, Baldwin, Ida Red and Golden Delicious, among others. It also lists weekend wagon rides from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., weather permitting. Neither orchard site shows when its hours were last updated, so check the posted hours before you drive over.

Hilltop is the one that bridges into winter. Its visit page describes a 200-acre orchard with 27 apple varieties and woodland trails designed by trail architect John Morton. It says you can hike, stroll or snowshoe there, with views of three states from the top. Dogs on leash are welcome every day. Indoors there is a wood-burning fireplace with a leather couch, and the farm store sells fruit pies, scones and apple cider donuts made from the orchard's own recipes and fruit. That matters more once you look at what happens in the open woods over the next ten weeks.

Hollow Fields Closes Earlier Starting November 1

Hollow Fields is the Richmond reserve with the most room to roam: more than 660 acres and about six miles of moderate trails, mostly mowed paths through open fields. The parking lot gate opens and closes on its own. From September 1 through October 31 it's open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. From November 1 through February 28 it's open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. That takes three hours off each day, and the cut comes off the late afternoon. In November and December, a walk after work means getting back to the car before 5.

BNRC asks visitors not to park on Perry's Peak Road in any season. It also has a notice posted about the loop trail. A section of the Perry's Peak Loop Trail is temporarily closed where it enters Richmond Town Land. BNRC asks walkers not to cross private property and says work to relocate the trail and reopen public access is underway. For now, plan your loop around the closed section.

Hunting is one of the uses BNRC lists for Hollow Fields, alongside snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and dog walking. That's where the fourth schedule comes in.

The 2026 Deer Seasons Set the Pace in the Woods

MassWildlife updated its deer hunting regulations page on September 10, 2026, and lists these statewide season dates for this year:

Two facts from the same page shape a Richmond walking week. Hunting is prohibited on Sundays in Massachusetts. The busiest stretch is short and comes after Thanksgiving. BNRC's fall hunting season guidance says some kind of hunting happens from mid-October through mid-March, and the busiest period is shotgun season, from late November through mid-December.

With Thanksgiving on November 26 this year, shotgun season runs from Monday, November 30, through Saturday, December 12. That window holds exactly one Sunday, December 6. The next day, Sunday, December 13, falls in the gap before primitive firearms season opens on Monday the 14th.

BNRC welcomes hunters on its land and says there's room for everyone to share it. Its guidelines for that are simple. Every visitor, dogs included, should wear bright clothing through the fall seasons, and blaze orange shows up best in any light. Hikers should stay on marked trails. Dog walkers should keep dogs leashed. This is general information, not legal advice. MassWildlife's page itself says it isn't the complete law and can change, so check the current rules there before you head out.

Matching the Trail to the Week

With those schedules in hand, Richmond's walks sort themselves out:

• Hollow Fields, Perry's Peak Road. The big open loop. The gate closes at 7 p.m. through October 31 and at 5 p.m. from November 1. BNRC lists hunting here, so bright clothing makes sense through the season.
• Stevens Glen, Lenox Branch Road parking. A moderate 1.2-mile round trip to a waterfall and viewing platform, on the line between Richmond and West Stockbridge. It's short enough to fit between errands.
• Hilltop Orchards' trails, Route 295. Orchard rows and John Morton's woodland trails, open every day the farm is, with a fireplace and cider donuts at the end.
• Fairfield Brook WMA, off Swamp Road. A 165-acre MassWildlife area with a small parking lot and no maintained trails. This is hunting ground more than walking ground.

Hollow Fields and Stevens Glen share a quieter backstory. The Richmond Land Trust holds conservation restrictions on both, and BNRC owns and built their trails. Those two groups are why the town has public walking land on this scale.

Building a Sunday Around December 6

Here is how the schedules fit together on the one hunting-free day in the middle of shotgun season:

1. Get to the Hollow Fields lot after the gate opens at 8 a.m., and park in the lot, not on Perry's Peak Road.
2. Walk the field loops, leaving out the closed stretch of the Perry's Peak Loop where it enters Richmond Town Land, unless BNRC has posted that it's reopened.
3. Wear orange anyway. BNRC's advice covers the whole fall season, and hunting is allowed the other six days of the week.
4. Drive to Hilltop Orchards, open daily from 9 to 6, for a tasting by the fireplace.
5. Stop at Bartlett's on Swamp Road before its 5 p.m. weekend close for pies or a jug of cider.

The Sunday ban covers every other Sunday this fall too, including November 1, the first day of the shorter gate hours.

When You'd Rather Be Indoors

The weekday and Saturday calendar fills from the other end of town. The Richmond Free Public Library, at 1751 State Road, has a cluster of dates coming up. On Saturday, October 24, it lists "Chick or Treat for Children" from 10 to 11 a.m., followed by "Chickenologie 101" for teens, adults and seniors from 11 a.m. to noon. The library's Film Club meets on the first Thursday of each month, which puts the next meeting on November 5. "Lively World" is listed for Saturday, November 7, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Both Saturdays fall inside archery season, which runs through November 28.

If you're reading this from out of state and wondering how your Richmond property does in the quiet months, or how late fall here might fit a future sale, we're happy to talk it through. We've watched these seasons change for more than 40 years. Make one call and speak with Paula today at Paula McLean Realtors.