Indie Art, Orchard Views, And Craft Beer Thrive Between Northampton And Springfield In A New England Cultural Escape

Of Massachusetts' four 'amtons — Northampton, Southampton, Westhampton, and Easthampton — the first usually gets the spotlight. That's because this underrated, artsy Massachusetts town has a vibrant downtown and progressive spirit, not to mention the campus of Smith College. But the last of the list deserves more of the beam than it tends to get, thanks to a compelling blend of indie art, orchard views, and craft beer. Directly south of Northampton (despite the name), Easthampton sits primarily on the south side of the Manhan River, an east-west tributary of the north-south flowing Connecticut River. This "Valley of the Little River" is also captured in the Algonquin name of Nashawannuck Pond, at the center of the town.

Today, the town of about 16,000 is one of the charming towns of this breathtaking Massachusetts valley and boasts high livability scores , with a close-knit, educated, middle-aged, and financially comfortable community. The mills and factories that drove the local cloth industry in the 19th and early 20th centuries now team with artists and creators. Find a long line of them on Pleasant Street along Lower Mill Pond. Inside is a panoply of art, business, and gastronomy, including art galleries and studios, a vintage market, bookstore, burger joint, and craft brewery. This is also the winter home of Easthampton's Farmers' Market. One of these mills, Eastworks, hosts an annual Open Studios event, where the public comes to watch the creativity in action, while snacking on food-truck fare.

The creative spirit does not stay indoors in Easthampton. Throughout the town are expressions in a variety of mediums, and the resume of public art continues to grow — from the Nashawannuck Pond Wildlife mural on Pine Street to the Easthampton Storyscape sculpture on the Nashawannuck Pond Promenade. February through December, on the first Saturday of the month, art gets special attention at Art Walk, a blend of exhibitions, performances, and nibbles. The art of the word gets the spotlight in April, with Easthampton Poetry Month. Each June, Easthampton's art heart grows three sizes more at the Cultural Chaos festival, filling the Cottage Street Cultural District with music, dance, poetry, performance, art, and food. This is followed in October with a music-focused "afterparty" called Porchfest.

This passion for the arts even extends to the fertile farming country around Easthampton. During harvest time — mid-August until Thanksgiving weekend — Park Hill Orchard hosts Art in the Orchard. The centerpiece is a half-mile trail with 34 large outdoor sculptures that winds through gardens ripe with 95 varieties of perennial fruit, including 48 varieties of apple trees. Nature's wilder art is on display at Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary, covering 751 acres across Easthampton and Northampton, and numerous classes and programs on site channel it into drawing, sculpture, pottery, and printmaking. Visitors to Easthampton who believe brewing is an art can quaff a few masterpieces at three breweries: New City Brewery, Abandoned Building Brewery, and Fort Hill Brewery.

Three major airports lie within a 130 miles of Easthampton — Albany International Airport to the northwest in New York, Manchester-Boston Regional Airport to the northeast in New Hampshire, and Boston Logan International Airport to the east in Boston. There's an Amtrak station in Northampton that's a stop on two lines: the Valley Flyer between Greenfield, Massachusetts and New Haven, Connecticut; and the Vermonter, running from Washington, D.C. and St. Albans, Vermont. The R41 bus does run between Northampton and Easthampton but first requires a mile walk. No direct buses run from Boston, though. That makes a car almost necessary to explore Easthampton and the area. Road connections are good, with interstates 90 and 91 nearby.

Owing to the potentially harsh weather in winter and early spring, as well as the scheduling of festivals and fun, it's generally best to plan any visit to Easthampton in the warmer months. Foliage makes the region particularly attractive, turning it into one of New England's most iconic fall destinations with vibrant leafy views and historic charm. Because Easthampton is a college town — as is neighboring Amherst and South Hadley — keeping an eye on the academic calendar can be a good idea. Move-in and move-out days at the bookends of the academic year, as well as graduation, can make accommodations scarce, so plan ahead.