Setting
Shire Village Camp is beautifully secluded in a magnificent setting of hills and woodland. Ninety-six acres in all, sixty of which are wooded.
As you enter on our private road, the first cluster of houses you see resembles a small village. It’s a semicircle of rustic stone buildings which accommodate bunks, a theater (with stage and dressing rooms), a recreation room and dining room (both with large fireplaces), kitchen, camp office, library, and an open shed play area.
In the immediate surrounding area are additional cabins and bunks for campers and staff, as well as a number of smaller structures for camper activity.
There are two riding rings, a tennis court, athletic fields, a filtered pool and a good-sized brook, which flows into a private pond and then continues into our own section of the Westfield River.
Directions
The only way to get all the way to Shire Village is by car, although there is Greyhound and Peter Pan bus service to Northampton, MA (about 30 minutes away).
Directions by Car
From most places in the New York area the fastest route is either the Hutchinson River parkway (which becomes the Merritt Parkway and then the Wilbur Cross)
or the New England Thruway (Rt. 95), to get to Route 91 in Connecticut. (you pick up 91 outside of New Haven)
Take 91 all the way past Hartford (watch the signs, and stay in the lanes marked 91 North), past Springfield, MA to Northampton exits.
Take the second Northampton exit, Marked Route 9, and make a left onto Route 9 West, through Northampton and a number of smaller towns, following signs to Cummington (should take about 25-30 minutes from Northampton)
Bear right onto the main street of Cummington just after you go over the arched iron bridge. Go almost to the end of Main Street and then turn right on Plainfield Rd., which leads you uphill towards Rt. 116. Drive up the hill about a mile and look for the entrance to Shire Village on your left. As you enter camp, park in the designated parking area, and then check in at the office down the hill.
An alternate route (good from NJ) is the Taconic Parkway to Route 295 East, to Route 41 North, to Route 20 East to Pittsfield. Pick up Route 9 East to Cummington. Then bear left onto Main Street in Cummington just after you pass a little general store/deli (the Creamery). Turn left at the corner onto Plainfield Rd. and continue up the hill as described above.
From Boston: Mass Pike (90) West to 91 North, then follow directions from through Northampton.