Boat Tour of the pond

Pond Facts – 218 acre raised “great” pond; 53’ deep; it is fed by 4 streams, runoff, & springs.

Features – Includes 2 camps & 4 community associations; Richmond Town Beach, 195 cottages; 2/3 of pond is in Richmond, 1/3 in Pittsfield; bounded by Taconic Mountains to west/Lenox Mtn. to east; train tracks on north shore; Pittsfield Airport is nearby.

Fishing – Largemouth bass, rock bass, pickerel, perch, bluegill, bullhead; it is stocked with trout (mostly rainbow, some brookies & browns).

Public Boat Launch – for shallow draft boats; Town of Richmond funds the weed treatments & boat launch monitors (to keep zebra mussels & invasives out of the pond); includes new kayak launch dock, 2 accessible fishing platforms, & 2 benches donated by RPA; brick bldg. is sewer pump station, which pumps effluent to Pittsfield (all cottages have been on sewers since 2007); shed contains Richmond Fire Dept.’s emergency rescue boat.
 

The Tour, paddling counter-clockwise from the boat launch:

Richmond Shores (120 cottages, with their own semi-public beach); includes canal which connects to Nordeen Marsh, but there is a large willow tree downed in & completely blocking the canal between the Shore Road large culvert underpass & Town Beach Road; otherwise, the marsh is sometimes accessible in high water by kayak portage over Town Beach Road.

Camp Russell (Boys & Girls Club) – Started 1910 as overnight camp for boys; early 1980’s changed to a day camp; starting in 1991, girls were also allowed; hosts many specialized summer day camp sessions; “Fenway” ball field & swimming pool are behind the mess hall.

Branch Farm (10 cottages) - Initially, cottage owners rented the land from Camp Russell; now it's a condo, so the land is owned jointly by cottagers; the oldest cabin on the pond was built here in 1895 - the Stover/Brogan cottage.

Independent cottages (2) – They’re the green & brown ones; brown one was built 1907 & operated as Birch Lodge with 4 guest rooms.
 

Whitewood (18 cottages); Truran boat rentals operated there in the 1950’s.

Privately owned 50-acre property with 1,300 feet shoreline; the former Girl Scouts’ Camp Marion White; new owner donated beaver ponds/heron rookery east of Swamp Road to create Tracy Brook Wildlife Sanctuary (100th MA Audubon sanctuary); southern part of the Camp was the former Camp Bluebird, of Women's Club of Pittsfield.

South Pond Farm condominiums (46 units); this community is in Pittsfield; formerly part of the Scace Flower Farm.

Camp Arrow Wood, owned & operated year-round by Mill Town Capital as a component of a 3-venue outdoor recreation complex including Bousquet Ski & Bousquet Sport (the former Berkshire West Athletic Club). It was Lakeside Christian Camp & Conference Center (Baptist, year-round) for 40 years until spring 2020. Lakeside was preceded by Camp Allegro for NY City Jewish girls from 1934 until 1979; its PA system announced the uniform of the day. The first camp located there was the Boy Scouts' Camp Peirson, 1916 to 1929.

Dam – Mill owner built it in 1864; it expanded the pond acreage by 1/3; the outflow feeds the West Branch of the Housatonic River; Mill Town Capital owns & maintains the dam.

Richmond Town Beach – It is actually on Pittsfield land. The beach is open in the summer; access gate closes daily at 6:00 pm. Please note that there are no lifeguards and opening time is unspecific as per Town Hall staff. The beach area has picnic tables and a porta-potty.  No dogs allowed.  Fun Fact: this was once the site of an historic ice house, which harvested and shipped ice by train to NY City.

Pond map, Self-guided boat tour brochures, RPA brochures, and more are available at the RPA kiosk at the boat launch.