Quabbin Reservoir is a drowned valley, and the quiet around it comes partly from that. When Boston needed more drinking water in the early twentieth century, the state dammed the Swift River in the middle of Massachusetts, and between the 1930s and the mid-1940s the water slowly rose over four towns, Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott, whose people had been moved out. Roads, houses and farms lie beneath the surface, and at certain gates you can still walk old, abandoned roads that run down to the water and disappear.
The reservoir is one of the largest in the country, and its shoreline, kept free of development to protect the water, has grown into some of the best woodland in southern New England. Forest covers the hills in oak, maple and pine, and the lack of people has allowed wildlife to flourish: bald eagles have been reintroduced and now nest here, loons call on the water, and deer, moose and even black bears are regular residents. The Quabbin is a place for quiet things, such as watching a hawk circle or listening to the wind in the pines.
The park area at the Winsor Dam, the southern end of the reservoir, has a road along the top of the dam and a tower on the hill above, from which you can see the whole expanse of water and the hills beyond, with Mount Monadnock sometimes visible on the distant skyline. The roads around it are short, well-surfaced and leisurely, with low speed limits that are strictly enforced, because this is a protected watershed and the rangers take it seriously. It is not a place for spirited riding, but for taking a break from it, and the roads that approach it through the Pioneer Valley and across the hills to the east are lovely in their own right.
There are rules: gates open at set times, pets and swimming are not allowed, and you must keep to the marked roads and trails. Belchertown, six kilometres away, and Ware, a bit further, have all the fuel and food you need, with small-town diners and cafes along Route 9. October is the finest month, when the foliage turns and the light is soft, and the road can be busy then on weekends. Go early.