Pine Grove Restoration

The City of Northampton, in partnership with Mass Audubon, has protected a 200-plus acre wildlife corridor that is part of a network of open space extending from the Connecticut River Oxbow and Arcadia, through Northampton, west to forested hills and the Berkshire highlands beyond.  Fifteen thousand years ago, this area was at the western shore of glacial Lake Hitchcock.   The varied sediments left behind here as the last glacier receded, combined with its land-use history, create several distinct forest vegetation zones that provide habitat for many different types of plants and animals.  

A 105-acre part of the Greenway on Old Wilson Road was the Pine Grove Golf Course from the 1960’s to 2020  During that time, human use impacted the habitat of this area and changed the way Nashawannuck Brook functions – from a meandering stream with nearby wetlands, to a straight channel that carries water and sediment away quickly.   Increases in the frequency of severe storm events due to climate change will worsen the brook’s unstable dynamics over the coming decades.  

The City and its partners are working to restore this area through reforestation, reestablishing a natural stream channel and bordering wetlands for Nashawannuck Brook, which will create more natural storage during big storms, reduce erosion and downstream flooding, and sequester carbon.

In collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Ecological Restoration and its Priority Projects Program, the City is working to advance design, permitting and construction to restore wetlands and riparian areas, and create additional trail and passive recreational opportunities - including an accessible soft surface trail - at this unique resource.

The area will change over time as habitat and wetlands evolve - view design renderings to see what it might look like!

Nashawannuck Brook Restoration Fact Sheet

Ecological Restoration and Access Improvements Bid Set Plan

Rewilding in the Connecticut River Watershed - article in Estuary magazine

ALL Pine Grove and Nashawannuck files

NEWS AND UPDATES

Work on Old Wilson Road will begin April 6, 2026.  This will include stream daylighting, removal of the Old Wilson Road culvert, addition of a pedestrian bridge at the former culvert location, and creating a parking lot and turnaround.  This work may require temporary closures of both the trails and roadside parking.  Please respect all posted signs and do not enter closed areas.

A $154,650 grant was awarded to the project through the Division of Ecological Restoration's Priority Projects program in March 2026.  This will allow river restoration work to move forward this spring.