The Berkshires on a budget

Although several top venues have taken their final curtain calls for the season, there’s still plenty to do in the hilly hinterlands of Western Massachusetts. Combine some mountain hiking with museum-hopping, bike-riding, kayak-paddling, outlet-shopping, and fun dining. Pick a retro cheap sleep, add a passel of pretty leaves, and you’ve got yourself a wallet-friendly weekend.

The Berkshires may be most famous for its castle-like digs and luxury spas, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend big bucks for lodging. In upscale Great Barrington is Briarcliff Motel, a contemporary bed-and-breakfast under new owners Clare and Richard Proctor. Minimalist-cool, with such mid-century touches as a blue sink basin and vintage Philco fridge, it will set you back just $135 per night (double occupancy) on weekends.
www.thebriarcliffmotel.com

Framed by mountains and winding alongside a river and lake, the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail is a 10-foot-wide path that runs for 11.2 miles along the Hoosic River Valley, between Mount Greylock and the Hoosac Mountains. A former railroad corridor, it’s basically flat as it winds through the towns of Adams, Lanesborough, and Cheshire.

You can park at either end of the path, and there’s a restroom just off the path on Cheshire Lake. You can’t miss the brown Ashuwillticook trail signs – banners along the rail trail in Adams feature a bear on a bicycle, with signage directing riders to access points.

If the idea of paddling along a lakeshore with a backdrop of fall color sounds fun, why not squeeze in one more kayak outing before November’s gales hit? Berkshire Outfitters offers rentals of double and single kayaks for $54 or $39 per day, respectively.
www.berkshireoutfitters.com

As deals go, you can’t do better than free, which is one of the reasons to check out the Williams College Museum of Art. You’ll be beckoned inside by Louise Bourgeois’s freaky eye sculptures; inside are more than 13,000 works of art, including the world’s largest collection of work by the artist brothers Maurice and Charles Prendergast.
wcma.williams.edu

Hike in the footsteps of literary giants on Monument Mountain — this is the spot where Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Oliver Wendell Holmes trekked on Aug. 5, 1850, toting a picnic and champagne up the west side of the peak. The trailhead is off Route 7; go 3.6 miles north of the Route 23 junction in Great Barrington.  
thetrustees.org

Driving to the summit of the 3,491-foot mountain is one of the Berkshires must-dos, especially when the valleys below are decked in riotous hues of red and gold. (Plus, the road closes on Oct. 21.)

There are several places to pull off and hike up, up, up. You’ll get different vantage points, too.

On the Jones Nose Trail is a pasture of golden aster, aswirl in orange butterflies. It is definitely a memorable hiking moment, along with the view of the Catskills seen from a rocky ledge.