About the Highlands

The Highlands Region consists of 38 towns in western Massachusetts that lie between the Housatonic and Connecticut River valleys, and the Vermont and Connecticut borders.

Home to 44,000 people, yet with only three stoplights, the Highlands are a remarkable patchwork of rural towns steeped in a long tradition of agriculture and forest stewardship. Their common heritage has yielded a landscape of farm fields and compact villages set amidst working woodlots, rolling hills, and pristine rivers, which in turn provide residents and visitors with inspiration and a quality of life that is deeply rooted in a connection to the land.

Large tracts of forest--some of the largest in Southern New England--support the region's exceptional ecological diversity and wildlife habitat. Several of Massachusetts' most pristine river systems nourish the Highlands' many working forests and farms. Centuries-old settlement patterns are reflected in the stonewalls and winding country roads that connect these historic farms and forests to compact villages and town centers. Together with the region's rich tradition of agriculture and forest stewardship, this landscape of outstanding beauty creates a rural character not found elsewhere in Massachusetts.

Towns Comprising the Highland Communities Region