Bill Regan for the Boston Globe

A burial ground in Chester Center dates from 1799.

Bill Regan for the Boston Globe

A trail leads to a seating area called Boulder Park, where a pile of boulders dropped by the last glacier forms a visual spectacle.

Bill Regan for the Boston Globe

This roadside shrine stands at the highest point of the trail (elevation 1775 feet) in Becket.

Bill Regan for the Boston Globe

Another view of the shrine.

Bill Regan for the Boston Globe

Downtown Lee, the western end of the Jacob's Ladder Trail, features preserved 19th-century architecture.

Bill Regan for the Boston Globe

A placid stretch of the Westfield River in Russell, dammed by the Woronoco Power Co.

Bill Regan for the Boston Globe

The Westfield River.

Bill Regan for the Boston Globe

The Westfield River runs beside a roadside picnic area in Huntington.

Bill Regan for the Boston Globe

The Huntington Country Store.

Bill Regan for the Boston Globe

Littleville Lake is created by flood-control dams on the Westfield River's middle branch.

Bill Regan for the Boston Globe

Sanderson Brook in Chester-Blandford State Forest spills over two falls farther up the trail.