Ashfield is the sort of Massachusetts hill town where the main street has a general store, a library, a town hall and a lake, and little else, and nobody sees a problem with that. It sits in the Hilltowns west of the Connecticut River, in the rolling country of Franklin County, with the Pioneer Valley down to the east and the Berkshires beginning to stack up to the west. About eighteen hundred people live here, and most of the road network around them is wooded, twisting and quiet.
Route 116 and Route 112 run through, and the smaller roads between Ashfield, Conway, Buckland and Plainfield are the reason to be here. They climb and fall in short bursts, pass through sugar maple woods and open hay fields, and cross small rivers where the water runs fast over pale rock. The surface varies, so expect patched tar and the occasional frost heave. The classic season here is autumn, when the maples go bright and the farm stands put out pumpkins and cider, but a morning in late spring, when the woods are green but the roads are still empty, may be even better.
The town has an interesting past. It was settled in the 1700s, and farming and small mills shaped its early life. Ashfield Lake, a spring-fed pond on the edge of town, is a popular local swimming place. The town is also known for a few local institutions, including Sanderson Academy, a historic school, and the Ashfield Fair held in late summer. Elsewhere in the region you will find the sugarhouses that make maple syrup in March, when the sap runs on cold nights and warm days. The scent of boiling sap is something you will not forget if you catch it on a spring ride.
For practicalities, remember that this is a small town. The general store is the heart of things, good for a sandwich and coffee, but you should not plan on fuel in the village itself. Greenfield, about seventeen kilometres away, has the nearest larger set of stations and supermarkets, and it is wise to fill up there before heading into the hills. Cell coverage can be patchy in the valleys, so a paper map or an offline one is useful. Watch for deer at dawn and dusk, and for slow tractors at any hour.