Natural Beauty and Recreation

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By far most of the town of Orange is rural, and most of that is forested. The central part of the town consists of the Millers River corridor, through which the River flows from east to west, eventually to enter the Connecticut River after passing through Wendell and Erving. To the south and east is a broad flat well-drained glacial outwash plain, part of which supports one of the largest dairy farm operations in the region. To the south and west are Walnut Hill and Chestnut Hill, both oriented south to north and between which is Lake Mattawa.

To the north of the Millers River are a number of more or less individual hills, the most prominent of which is Tully Mountain. Several lakes and ponds are found in the northern part of town, most of which are historic impoundments. The outer parts of the Town contain large acreages of Conservation Restricted land, some of which are owned by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).

A significant percentage of this acreage was acquired or otherwise permanently conserved through the North Quabbin Initiative, which set aside many thousands of acres in Orange and the neighboring towns. Both DCR and the Mount Grace Land Conservancy have been and continue to be leaders in the preservation of broad areas of open space in Orange. Most recently, DCR and Mt. Grace cooperated to purchase the old Partridge farm on the north side of Tully Mountain – the last unprotected piece of land around the mountain.

The hiking, boating, horse back riding, and fishing is spectacular.