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The terminus of the Taconic State Parkway deposits visitors a mere 20 miles from Tanglewood, the sylvan Lenox setting where the Boston Sym-phony Orchestra holds forth until Labor Day. There’s a saying that goes around the Berkshires about Septem-ber, that although Tanglewood’s out—Tanglewood’s out. The bad news is good news, too.

The traffic calms down, cooler weather arrives, and the Berkshires come alive in a different way.

And what a country for touring! Pleasantly hilly, speckled with dappled streams and mysterious forests; pastoral, shade-strewn in hostas and fern; brimming over with cultural activities and sights; rife with products of the land—Berkshire blue cheese, goat cheese, maple syrup, cider, fruits, mushrooms, smoked meats and grand cuisines.

Mount Greylock, at 3,491 feet the highest point in southern New England, is accessed either through New Ash-ford or North Adams. The summit, which is crossed by the Appalachian Trail, offers a 360-degree panorama of mountains, valleys, lakes and streams, quaint little villages, and the glorious forest.

Stately Williamstown, on the county’s northern border with Vermont, de-fines New England classicism while also hosting a world-class art museum, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, which holds one of the finest collections of French Impressionist paintings anywhere, as well as a few jaw-dropping American masters.

As stunning as Williamstown is, nothing quite prepares the traveler for the transformations taking place next door, in once-forgotten North Adams. The old mill town now hosts Mass MoCA, the nation’s largest contemporary art venue, along with an eclectic blend of art, music, film and theater spread over a 17-building campus.

This is an off-the-beaten-path tour, so instead of following routes 7 or 8 down past the usual array of manicured Berkshires sights and settings, I headed east across the hairpin turn of the Mohawk Trail (Route 2). The drive down the "shunpike" (slang for a road that avoids tolls) from Eastern Summit passes "Bear Xing" signs along a forest that rises over Cold River, a genuine mountain stream far from the madding crowds.

It’s less than an hour’s drive through a farming and state parks region along 8A from Savoy into Dalton, where I picked up route 7 again into Pittsfield.

Pittsfield provides access to Arrowhead, where Herman Melville wrote Moby-Dick, and, via Route 20, Hancock Shaker Village.

Early October brings the traditional Tub Parade to Lenox, initiated more than a century ago by the wealthy "cottage" dwellers of the Gilded Age, who dressed their carriages ("tubs") in fancy flowers and paraded through town at the end of the season. Lenox is also home to the Ventfort Hall Museum of the Gilded Age.

In addition to the vistas, estates, galleries and cultural events, and grand artwork everywhere, the Berkshires also offer some fine American dining. Great Barrington alone has 60 restaurants.

Routes 183 and 41 are lesser-traveled byroads of the southern Berkshires. Here the hills appear in unexpected profusion, the views crowd up against each other, and the farms and fancy homes define a unique and utterly charming landscape.

The hiking trail to Monument Mountain from Route 7 is a popular draw, although the mountain can also be seen to great advantage from Chesterwood, the estate of Daniel French, who designed the Lincoln Memorial statue of the 16th president in 1922. Chesterwood is a mere 20 minutes from Route 23 in New York, where a connection with the Taconic resumes and the traveler is whisked away to southern metropolitan climes again.