There is a road in Holyoke MA that has frequent, and many times, severe accidents. While that in and of itself doesn’t seem odd or unusual, the fact that most all of these accidents have occurred in almost the same places along an appoximate two mile stretch of highway does seem strange and uncanny. So is it coincidence? It seems like more than coincidence would allow. And, who really believes in coincidences?
Westfield Road is a part of US Route 202 and initially was a trail used by the Agawam and Woronoco tribes. It starts where Westfield MA meets Holyoke along a ridge on East Mountain. The area is a rugged, heavily-wooded rural section that crests the ridge of the mountain and quickly starts a rather steep descent. There are several sharp turns that offer limited sight of on-coming traffic as well.
As you drive down the mountain and look to your right all you see is trees and water – lots of water. Beautiful Ashley and McLean Reservoirs rest along the side of the highway in their picturesque basins which are fed by numerous smaller ponds and streams. Looking over this scene you think picture perfect postcard, but that’s not the feeling you get while driving down this old Native American pathway. The road is creepy.
Westfield Road continues on until it reaches Route 5 further down through town, but the end of the two-mile stretch stops at the bottom of the mountain. There is a small road, on the right that leads down to the Ashley Reservoir Hiking Trail. There’s room for some limited parking and there is no sign identifying it.
Police, fire, emergency crews, and towing companies are all familiar with this locale. Their help is frequently needed there and more often than not, in the same spots over and over again. Some accidents happen in front of homemade markers memorializing past accidents. Feelings of foreboding embed that small part of the highway and it’s as though it is heavy with the energy of other presences. You never feel alone.
The vibe is dark. Maybe the negativity is from all the water surrounding the road, but it seems like more than that. Could it be interference from residual energy still existing there, acting out past accidents? Could it be an interruption from intelligent energies wanting to interact with the living? I don’t know, but I do know that if there was another way to go so I wouldn’t have to use that part of the road, I’d take it. It only takes a spark of time to maybe catch a glimpse of something weird out the corner of your eye and end up somewhere you don’t want to be. The weight of these accidents, injuries, and deaths sits over this part of 202 distributing dark energies that linger. Do they draw others into the same fate that awaited them?
– ashanta
westernmassparanormal 
The whole area is much larger than the parts that can be seen while driving RT-202. It includes parts of Holyoke, Westfield, and West Springfield. There are tons of swamps, ponds, streams,waterfalls, and at least 3 large reservoirs that are all connected by dirt roads and trails. MacLean and Ashley reservoirs are the biggest as far as water area, but the wooded area named Bear Hole watershed/conservation area has a smaller man-made reservoir as well. It is definitely a creepy but beautiful area. There was originally a handful of homesteads in the woods in the West Springfield area. There was a sawmill along a brook that leads to Ashley reservoir, an old mining quarry or 2, a poor farm (what we’d compare to a group home made up of destitute or mentally handicapped individuals), a few farms (mostly cows and pigs raised for food) ,a gristmill, and eventually a recreational resort (where bear hole reservoir is presently). The resort drew families from the nearby communities for day trips to enjoy leisurely activities, solitude, and socializing. The biggest draw was a 3 legged black bear confined to a somewhat natural cave in a hill fitted with a metal gate. The resort was situated right over a waterfall and featured and open sided eating area. There is still a large chimney stack made from locally sourced bricks standing on the side of the waterfall today. The metal gate also remained in the area the last I saw which was about 4 years ago. Anyway it is definitely full of stories about weird things, animals, and unexplainable occurrences. There are a few documented murders that happened in the West Springfield portion throughout the 1980s and as recently as a few years ago. I lived there, my backyard was woods all the way to the East Mountain Range that overlooks East Mountain Road in Westfield. There’s actually a fault line known as Bush’s Notch atop the mountain range and I think the Metacomet-Monadnock hiking trail is somewhere in there as well. We always had feelings of being watched in our house as well as odd happenings. Quite a few neighbors who were hunters talked about weird things they saw and experienced while out in the forest. Every kids’ parents absolutely forbid their kids from going in the woods or even on the dirt roads that had DPW employees and police traveling through all the time. Just about everyone in the neighborhoods surrounding the area had at least 1 story, more often than not, a few, that would eventually surface. Generally, people were not comfortable talking about anything and if the topic came up, the subject was quickly changed or totally ignored. Another interesting thing was that local police had quite a few unexplainable events out there, and nothing except things like ‘black bear sighting’ or ‘escaped yak from local farm’ , were the only things that appeared in the news. If somehow stories like ‘woman run down and dragged by exes vehicle’ (?Joanna Welch? Murder), ‘ snowmobile operator decapitated by old barbed wire fence ‘ were mentioned once at the end of newspapers and no conclusions or mentions ever appeared again. While one Incident heard over police scanner mentioning ‘ vehicle with possible passengers found ablaze in densely wooded area, no roads ,trails or paths located within a quarter mile, firefighters hiked for half hour or more to get positive location’ was never released publicly and overheard by detective’s kids who were then convinced they were insane and suffering addiction.
I grew up in Agawam, ma and always hung out at bear hole park. One thing I like to mention is there were human sacrifices back in the day as well as unexplained occurrence so now it’s closed off and signs up forbidden anyone to use a specific tail after dark. One time while I was parked there I threw a cigarette out my window and it flew back under my hood and caught my engine on fire that was the last time I was there.