Pioneer Valley

The Pioneer Valley is the geographical region consisting of three counties in the Connecticut River valley of Western Massachusetts:

• Hampden County
• Hampshire County
• Franklin County

Cities and towns include:

• Springfield, Massachusetts
• Holyoke, Massachusetts
• Northampton, Massachusetts
• Amherst, Massachusetts
• Greenfield, Massachusetts

The Pioneer Valley is sometimes known to its inhabitants as "the Happy Valley", but more often as simply "the Valley". It is the "valley full o' Pioneer" in "the sleepy west of the woody east" of which the Pixies sang in the song "UMass."

The Pioneer Valley is a significant agricultural region. Shade-grown tobacco is one of the major crops; and tobacco fields and hundreds of tobacco barns dot the landscape.

The area has also become a popular tourist destination, especially as a get-away from Boston and New York.

Of major importance is education: the area is home to many colleges and universities, including some of the nation's finest.

• Amherst College
• Hampshire College
• Mount Holyoke College
• Smith College
• University of Massachusetts Amherst

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Regions of Massachusetts
The Berkshires | Greater Boston | Cape Cod | North Shore | Pioneer Valley | South Shore
Counties
Barnstable | Berkshire | Bristol | Dukes | Essex | Franklin | Hampden | Hampshire | Middlesex | Nantucket | Norfolk | Plymouth | Suffolk | Worcester