Bigfoot Sightings Haunt Massachusetts Forests

If you've ever wondered whether the Northeast is too populated or too "civilized" for Bigfoot sightings, a recent podcast episode I stumbled across might just change your mind. The hosts of Field Notes from the Unknown took listeners on a wild ride through the woods of New England and beyond, and honestly, it's one of the most compelling regional deep dives I've heard in a while. The episode kicks off with a bang, recounting a terrifying August 1983 encounter at October Mountain in Massachusetts. Picture this: four teenage and young college-age friends camping at Camp Eagle on the shore of Felton Lake, roasting marshmallows (and apparently dealing with plenty of bugs in their s'mores), when rustling in the leaves starts around 10 PM. They brush it off. But around midnight, two of them, 18-year-old Eric Durant and 22-year-old Frederick Peridu, venture about 100 yards into the woods to investigate. What they saw was something on two legs, silhouetted by moonlight, and absolutely massive. The boys later told the Berkshire Eagle, "I don't scare easily, but it sure scared me." They hightailed it back to camp, threw everything in their hatchback, and when the headlights flicked on, they illuminated a crouching figure with glowing fire-red eyes staring back at them. The creature rose to nearly seven and a half feet tall, covered in dark, shaggy brown fur. If that doesn't give you chills, I don't know what will. What makes this episode really stand out is how thoroughly it documents the long history of Sasquatch sightings in the Northeast. The hosts lean heavily on Robert E. Bartholomew's book "Monsters of the North Woods," which apparently remains one of the best resources out there for tracking Wildman and Bigfoot encounters dating back centuries. Legends in the Berkshires go all the way back to 1765 and 1895, with one particularly fascinating case known as the Cobble Mountain Critter. Witnesses in the early 1700s and 1800s described a hairy hominid walking upright on two legs, covered in dark shaggy brown-black hair, maxing out between 9 and 10 feet tall. That's not a misprint, folks. Nine to ten feet. Massachusetts might be a small state, but it packs a punch when it comes to biodiversity and, apparently, cryptid activity. Boston and Cape Cod have their sharks and sea serpents (shoutout to the Gloucester Sea Serpent), but head to the far western end and you've got the Berkshires, a low mountain range topping out around 3,500 feet at Mount Greylock. It's a hotspot for skiers and leaf peepers, but maybe also for something else entirely. The hosts also mentioned Leo Minster State Forest, which sits just 45 miles west of Boston and is colloquially known as "Monsterland." Rangers out there have reportedly found footprints, heard mysterious calls, and logged more than ten sightings of red or dark brown shaggy Bigfoot-like creatures. Footprint casts are apparently floating around out there if you know where to look. And of course, no discussion of Massachusetts cryptids would be complete without the Bridgewater Triangle. The hosts touched on how Bigfoot encounters in that area mirror others across the state, roadside crossings, swamp sightings of upright bipedal hominids, and a whole lot of weird noises. The association with the area and the Pukwudgie definitely adds another layer of mystery to an already strange place. The episode promises to cover Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and even Pennsylvania, so there's plenty more to dig into. The Northeast gets overlooked a lot in Bigfoot discussions, mostly because people picture Boston, Baltimore, and seaside communities when they think of the region. But the truth is, there's still a ton of dense woodland out there, plus the termination point of the Appalachian Mountains and the Adirondacks, which are snowy for half the year and absolutely massive. If a large bipedal hominid is going to live off deer and small animals somewhere, the Adirondacks seem like a pretty ideal candidate. This is definitely worth a listen if you're into regional Bigfoot lore or just love a good campfire story with some historical weight behind it. The hosts have a fun, conversational chemistry, and they clearly did their homework. Check it out and let me know what you think, especially if you've had any encounters in those woods yourself.