Nestled at the foot of the Berkshires along the scenic Mohawk Trail byway is Shelburne Falls, voted one of the prettiest small villages in North America.

Along with the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum, you will find galleries, artisan shops, restaurants, bookstores, breweries and some of the friendliest people around. It is the founding home to one of the oldest cutlery manufacturers in the United States, Lamson and Goodnow, with their retail shop.

Take a stroll across the beautiful Bridge of Flowers and discover the beauty of a concrete arch bridge originally built to carry the trolley and now converted to a garden of botanical delights.

Nearby, the Deerfield River cascades across the "Glacial Potholes" - once a Native American fishing spot and place of rare beauty with ancient geological holes carved in gneiss rock by the river.

Shelburne Falls and the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum are a wonderful day trip from anywhere in New England and eastern New York, but if you can spend the weekend or a few days there are so many more things to see and do.

To the east, Historic Deerfield offers a glimpse of Colonial America with demonstrations of early Colonial life, historic reproductions of textiles and furniture in the Flynt center and an exciting but bloody history of the Deerfield Massacre.

For less dramatic offerings, Route 5 and 10 in Deerfield offers more family attractions including the Butterfly conservatory where thousands of butterflies take flight around you inside a temperature controlled greenhouse. Try your hand at finding fossils and gems at the Dinosaur and Rock Fossil Museum. And finish it off at the "Scenter" of the Universe, the world famous Yankee Candle flagship store.

To the west of Shelburne falls, Route 2 "the Mohawk Trail" meanders along the placid banks of the Deerfield River towards the Berkshire mountains. You will find Berkshire East resort with lift-served mountain biking, zip lines and the Mountain Coaster - a great ride down from peak to valley.

The Deerfield River is also the home to seasonal white water rafting with Zoar Outdoor, with guided white water rafting tours, kayak tours and rentals and a zip line canopy tour. The Deerfield River also has some of the region's best fly fishing for trout and other indigenous fish species.

Over the mountain road of the Mohawk Trail and the hairpin turn, you will discover the historic factory town of North Adams. Converted from one of the nation's first electric motor factories is Mass MOCA, one of the region's foremost Museums of Contemporary Art, with constantly changing displays and features.

If you wish to enjoy the local scenery on your own, there are some of the region's best quiet roads for cycling, mountain bike trail systems, plus so many campgrounds and great trails to just take a hike.

Your weekend in the Berkshires can include such side attractions as the Tanglewood performing arts center, Jacobs Pillow, the Norman Rockwell museum and Williams College.