The Berkshires () are a highland region located in western Massachusetts and northwestern Connecticut in the United States. Generally, "Berkshires" may refer the range of hills in Massachusetts that lie between the Housatonic and Connecticut Rivers. Highlands of northwest Connecticut may be seen as part of the Berkshires and sometimes called the Northwest Hills or Litchfield Hills. The segment of the Taconic Mountains in Massachusetts is often considered a part of the Berkshires, although they are geologically separate and are a comparatively narrow range along New York's eastern border.
Also referred to as the Berkshire Highlands, Berkshire Hills, Berkshire Mountains, and Berkshire Plateau, the region enjoys a vibrant tourism industry based on music, arts, and recreation. Geologically, the mountains are a range of the Appalachian Mountains.
The Berkshires were named among the 12 Last Great Places by The Nature Conservancy.
Definition
The term "The Berkshires" has overlapping but non-identical political, cultural, and geographic definitions.
Political
Politically, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, was formed as a governmental unit in 1761. It includes the western extremity of the state, with its western boundary bordering New York and its eastern boundary roughly paralleling the watershed divide separating the Connecticut River watershed from the Housatonic River and Hoosic River watersheds. However, like most other counties in Massachusetts, the active governmental role of Berkshire County has been abolished, so has no legal or governmental function.
Cultural
Culturally, the term "Berkshires" includes all of the highland region in western Massachusetts west of the Connecticut River and lower Westfield River. The cultural region also includes the Taconic Mountains bordering New York, which are geologically distinct from the Berkshires orogeny. Southwest Vermont and the Taconic region of New York are occasionally grouped with the Berkshires cultural region.
Sir Francis Bernard, the royal governor (in office 1760–1769), named the area "Berkshire" to honor his home county in England. In the present, the name of the modern American region is pronounced differently (BERK-sheer, -shər) to the modern English County (BARK-sheer, -shər).
Geographic
Geologically and physically, the Berkshires are the southern continuation of the Green Mountains of Vermont, distinct from them only by their lower average elevation and by virtue of what side of the border they fall on. In physical geography, the Berkshires extend from the Housatonic River and Hoosic River valleys in western Massachusetts, to the Connecticut River valley in north-central Massachusetts, and to the foot of the lower Westfield River valley in south-central Massachusetts. In Connecticut, where they are referred to as the Litchfield Hills, they extend east from the upper Housatonic River valley in the northwest part of the state.
Geologically, the Berkshires are bordered on the west by the Taconic Mountains, the south by the Hudson Highlands, and to the east, they are bordered by the Metacomet Ridge. They are on the average lower and less prominent than the Green Mountains of Vermont, and form a broad, dissected plateau punctuated by hills and peaks and cut by river valleys. The Berkshires topography gradually diminishes in profile and elevation from west to east and from north to south, except where rivers have cut deep gorges and sharp bluff faces into the Berkshire plateau.
Formation
The Berkshires and related Green Mountains formed over half a billion years ago when Africa collided with North America, pushing up the Appalachian Mountains and forming the bedrock of the Berkshires. Erosion over hundreds of millions of years wore these mountains down to the hills that we see today.
Elevation
The average regional elevation of the Berkshires ranges from about . One of the high points is Spruce Mountain, at . The highest point in the Berkshires physiographic region is Crum Hill, , in the town of Monroe.
Rivers
The Housatonic River, Hoosic River, Westfield River, and Deerfield River watersheds drain the Berkshire region in Massachusetts; in Connecticut the main river drainages are the Farmington River, the Naugatuck River, the Shepaug River, and the Housatonic River.