{"id":7134,"date":"2016-08-26T12:17:30","date_gmt":"2016-08-26T16:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/?p=7134"},"modified":"2019-11-15T11:00:03","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T16:00:03","slug":"4-peaceful-massachusetts-town-commons-to-enjoy-fall-foliage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/?p=7134","title":{"rendered":"4 Peaceful Massachusetts Town Commons to Enjoy Fall Foliage"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"display: block; float: left; padding: 5px;\"><script>\/\/ <![CDATA[ google_ad_client = \"ca-pub-0542617997214413\"; \/* Cheap-Travel-Side-Ad *\/ google_ad_slot = \"4615336226\"; google_ad_width = 336; google_ad_height = 280; \/\/ ]]><\/script><br \/>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\/\/ <![CDATA[ \/\/ ]]><\/script><\/div>\n<p>While the crowds of tourists flock to New England&#8217;s most popular fall foliage destinations, you can feel good\u00a0about taking in the colors in small, uncrowded Massachusetts towns that most people don&#8217;t even know exist.<\/p>\n<p>Have you ever heard of Wendell, Royalston, Hardwick and Belchertown? If not, these beautiful little north central and western Massachusetts towns feature unspoiled historic town commons with lots of trees that take on the foliage most notably around the first few weeks of October.<\/p>\n<p>When writing <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/1493019279?ascsubtag=pfb-DPD-1-2-1447594318192pb&amp;ref_=pfb_DPD_1_2_1447594318192pb&amp;tag=hydfbook0e-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Massachusetts Town Greens<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0&#8212; a book about the history of local town commons as central gathering places &#8212; I came across these towns and didn&#8217;t want to leave! Sure, I was on my way to cover the more popular town greens in the state, but much to my surprise, the commons in Wendell, Royalston, Hardwick and Belchertown turned out to be amongst my very favorites. There&#8217;s just something so nice about peace and solitude combining with foliage. It&#8217;s almost like going back in time before the fall foliage travel industry took hold. Royalston, I have been told, hasn&#8217;t changed much at all in the past 150 years with the exception of paved roadways.<\/p>\n<p>Picture yourself in these small central Massachusetts towns, and better yet, try to visit if you have the chance. Here, you can enjoy and connect with traditional New England featuring\u00a0old homes and churches surrounding the town commons.\u00a0They are ideal locations for a picnic, a stroll through the leaves, picture taking and the occasional fall town fair like they have in \u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.belchertownfair.com\/2015\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Belchertown<\/a><\/strong>. The area is also rich in apple picking orchards like <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/redapplefarm.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Red Apple Farm in Phillipston<\/a><\/strong> (reasonably close to Wendell and Royalston), <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.brookfieldorchardsonline.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Brookfield Orchards in North Brookfield<\/a><\/strong> (near Hardwick) and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.coldspringorchard.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Cold Spring Orchard in Belchertown<\/a><\/strong>. So relax and take in the true meaning of the fall foliage season with\u00a0fewer tourist\u00a0obstructions during your Sunday fall drive, or autumn travels any other time of the week&#8230; below, we will let the pictures do the talking&#8230;<\/p>\n<h1>Wendell Town Common (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/place\/Wendell,+MA\/@42.5546461,-72.4101424,11z\/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e136df2cb4e975:0xc070a71a55076a55?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Find on Map<\/a>)<\/h1>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/wendell-massachusetts.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7135\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7135\" src=\"http:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/wendell-massachusetts.jpg\" alt=\"Wendell, Massachusetts, town common\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/wendell-massachusetts.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/wendell-massachusetts-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/wendell-massachusetts-567x425.jpg 567w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/wendell-massachusetts-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/wendell-massachusetts-900x675.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Royalston Town Common (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/place\/Royalston,+MA\/@42.672523,-72.1906846,12z\/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e1425fc3d23985:0x22b93e046582a58e?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Find on Map<\/a>)<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Royalston.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7136\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7136\" src=\"http:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Royalston.jpg\" alt=\"Royalston, Massachusetts., town common\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Royalston.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Royalston-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Royalston-567x425.jpg 567w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Royalston-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Royalston-900x675.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Hardwick Town Common (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/place\/Hardwick,+MA\/@42.3558744,-72.2038346,12z\/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e6b46ff3af56bf:0x2193761ff4df5176?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Find on Map<\/a>)<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/hardwick-town-common.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7137\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7137\" src=\"http:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/hardwick-town-common.jpg\" alt=\"Hardwick, Massachusetts town common\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/hardwick-town-common.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/hardwick-town-common-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/hardwick-town-common-567x425.jpg 567w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/hardwick-town-common-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/hardwick-town-common-900x675.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Belchertown Town Common (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/place\/Belchertown,+MA+01007\/@42.2722835,-72.4020655,12z\/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e6c87b587aca29:0xe32c622163b1844b?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Find on Map<\/a>)<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/belchertown-town-common.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7138\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7138\" src=\"http:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/belchertown-town-common.jpg\" alt=\"Belchertown town common, Belchertown, Massachusetts\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/belchertown-town-common.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/belchertown-town-common-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/belchertown-town-common-567x425.jpg 567w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/belchertown-town-common-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/belchertown-town-common-900x675.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Things to do nearby:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/?p=3104#sthash.4h9AYlle.dpbs\">Brookfield Orchards, North Brookfield<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/?p=253#sthash.ScDO9Mzt.dpbs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bridge of Flowers, Shelburne Falls<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.visitingnewengland.com\/salemcrossinn.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Salem Cross Inn restaurant, West Brookfield<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/newenglandtravelnews.blogspot.com\/2012\/05\/10-reasons-to-love-central.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Things to do in Central Massachusetts<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While the crowds of tourists flock to New England&#8217;s most popular fall foliage destinations, you can feel good\u00a0about taking in the colors in small, uncrowded Massachusetts towns that most people don&#8217;t even know exist. Have you ever heard of Wendell, Royalston, Hardwick and Belchertown? If not, these beautiful little north central and western Massachusetts towns [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[265,2415,275,268,2438],"tags":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7134"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7134"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7526,"href":"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7134\/revisions\/7526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visitingnewengland.com\/blog-cheap-travel\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}