DCR Closes Bash Bish Falls Parking to Manage Crowds| 01:22PM / Thursday, July 23, 2020 | |
MOUNT WASHINGTON, Mass. — The state Department of Conservation and Recreation has closed the parking area at Bash Bish Falls after reports of crowds at the remote park.
The Berkshire Edge reported that upwards of 1,000 people had "packed into the small park over the weekend." The numbers made it difficult for appropriate social distancing during the pandemic as visitors reportedly were picnicking and swimming in defiance of the rules in the hot, humid weather. At one point, state and local police aided rangers in shutting down the park because of overcrowding.
The park, which is also part of New York's Taconic State Park, has been open but with no facilities. The Edge reports that it was vandalized in early May when visitors went into the closed park and overturned barriers on the Massachusetts side and threw them into the brook on the New York side.
There currently is no alcohol, littering, swimming, diving, rock climbing or entering the gorge allowed. An image the Edge used from a local Google group shows plenty of people in the water and on the surrounding rocks last weekend.
A release from DCR says it's closing the parking area to manage capacity but that the park will remain open.
The same prohibitions apply and the state has also added coolers, glass containers and grilling.
DCR has released the following recommendations on the use of any state parks:
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If a location is crowded, please consider leaving the area and either visiting a different location or returning at a later date or time;
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Follow posted rules and posted parking restrictions;
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Stay within solitary or small groups, and avoid gatherings of ten or more people;
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Practice social distancing of at least six feet between individuals;
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Wear a facial mask or covering in public;
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Participate in only non-contact recreational activities;
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Practice healthy personal hygiene, such as handwashing for at least 20 seconds; and,
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Stay home if ill, over 70, and/or part of a vulnerable population.
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