Spring could be the best time to visit the Berkshires. It’s quieter than summer, but no less beautiful. Locals throw off winter’s bulky parkas and heed the urge to plant flower beds. Hikers head for the trails that honeycomb this woodsy, mountainous stretch of western Massachusetts.

The areas around Great Barrington and Stockbridge have long been a popular weekend destination for city people. Recently, however, a “new Berkshires” has burst into focus. Dynamic new cultural attractions in the northern reaches of Berkshire County—including the towns of North Adams and Williamstown—are drawing sophisticated visitors and, with them, an exciting crop of world-class restaurants and accommodations.

The most dramatic addition came eight years ago with the opening of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, known as MASS MoCA, in the soulful mill town of North Adams. In 1986, curators from nearby Williams College were searching for the right space to exhibit art too big for conventional galleries. They stumbled upon North Adams’ sprawling 19th-century factory complex, abandoned since 1985. Today, the artfully restored brick buildings are light-filled and inviting while still retaining their factory feel. A lively center of visual and performing arts (theater, film, dance), the 13-acre museum has transformed North Adams into an unlikely art-world capital.

The contemporary art installations here are provocative, disturbing, stimulating—anything but conventional. Last summer, a football-field-size gallery held full-scale vintage amusement-park rides that moved sporadically and with glacial slowness in the semi-darkness, inspiring a sort of dreamlike disorientation. And not everyone considers the potted maple trees suspended upside-down—and still growing—in the museum’s courtyard to be art.

On May 26, Brooklyn artist Spencer Finch will open his exhibit of science-related visual art. Finch often visits emotionally fraught scenes like Los Alamos, birthplace of the atomic bomb, then translates his experience into poetic installations. One of these creations uses fluorescent bulbs to re-create the sunlight that Finch believes poet Emily Dickinson would have seen in her garden in Amherst, MA.

Also this spring, “A Season of Dutch Arts in the Berkshires” (at MASS MoCA as well as other nearby theaters) showcases the Netherlands’ best music, visual arts, dance, theater, film and a lecture series, all selected by arts institutions and leading Dutch artists. But whenever you come to MASS MoCA, something will pique your interest. And the inspired gift shop and two appealing restaurants—one serving soups and sandwiches, the other full meals—make it easy to spend a half day or more at the museum (413-662-2111; massmoca.org).

Williamstown, six miles west of North Adams, is surrounded by mountains and positioned at the confluence of the Green and Hoosic rivers. Here historic houses intermingle with the gracious campus of Williams College, which opened its doors in 1793. A stroll downtown reflects the lively tastes of small-town college life. The village is home to the Clark Art Institute, the summertime Williamstown Theatre Festival and the Williams College Museum of Art.

The Clark, one of the nation’s notable small art museums, is set on 140 wooded acres. After viewing the paintings—by Monet, Renoir, Sargent, Homer, della Francesca and others—pick up a map and explore the trails, with views of Mount Greylock (413-458-2303; clarkart.edu).

Six miles west of Pittsfield is Hancock Shaker Village, an outdoor museum with buildings dating from the 1700s and collections of antique furniture and tools. Cows and sheep roam the pastures on this 1,200-acre working farm, and visitors are free to wander through most of the buildings. The beautifully restored Round Stone Barn was built to house a herd of 52 dairy cows. In spring, visitors can watch sheep-shearing and try their hand at spinning and weaving wool (413-443-0188; hancockshakervillage.org).

North Berkshire County also lures outdoor enthusiasts, who come here to canoe and kayak on quiet ponds or quick rivers. An 11-mile bike path, the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail, winds through the Hoosic River Valley and along the Cheshire Reservoir. It’s gentle enough for children, with benches and picnic tables well placed along the route. Rent canoes and kayaks, bikes and even car racks at Berkshire Outfitters (413-743-5900; berkshireoutfitters.com) in Adams; the staff can suggest destinations to suit any skill level.

Hikers have endless options. Many trails traverse Mount Greylock, at 3,491 feet the tallest peak in the state. Since the paved road to the top is closed for repairs until 2009, the only way to enjoy the marvelous five-state view at the summit is on foot. The most accessible route is the Cheshire Harbor Trail, 6.6 miles round-trip. Leave your car at the trailhead, on West Mountain Road in Adams. Some stretches are fairly strenuous, but hikers can take heart in the fact that every Columbus Day, some 2,000 people—young and old, fit and unfit—walk the well-marked trail together. (Pick up a trail map at the Discover the Berkshires Visitor Center, 3 Hoosac St., Adams; 800-237-5747.)

For a more relaxing hike, go to the hill town of Cummington to see one of the few remaining old-growth forests in New England, on the country estate of the poet and journalist William Cullen Bryant. Park by the barn, then walk past the 18th-century homestead and down Bryant Road through a maple tree alley. Turn left on the paved road, look for where the trail dips into the woodland on the right and follow the yellow blazes around a 1.8-mile brookside loop. (For information on house tours, call 413-634-2244.)
  
For dramatic scenery, no drive in the Berkshires can compare with the short stretch of Route 2, also known as the Mohawk Trail, between North Adams and the town of Florida. But however you choose to explore it, this lovely, low-key region, blessed with the state’s highest mountains and most fertile valleys, won’t disappoint. In addition to natural beauty, these days you can expect cutting-edge art, stellar lodging and big-city dining in the northern Berkshires. Glorious.

NOTE: Information may have changed since publication. Please confirm key details before planning your trip.