Shelburne Falls Bowling Alley | Candlepin Bowling

The Shelburne Falls bowling alley.
Credit: Aimee Seavey The obvious pun is likely unintentional but not unappreciated. Believed to be the second-oldest candlepin venue in the country, the eight lanes at the Shelburne Falls Bowling Alley have been welcoming folks “through the alley to the alley” since 1906, just 26 years after candlepin got its start in the central Massachusetts city of Worcester. While similar to tenpin bowling, candlepin uses narrower pins and smaller balls, noticeably lacking finger holes. The sport has also remained mostly in New England—a regional exclusivity that can pose a peculiar sight for out-of-town visitors. Thanks to the town’s location just off the scenic Mohawk Trail, the locals who frequent the alley during the nine and a half months of the year that it’s open (early September through mid-June) are joined by leaf peepers in the fall and skiers heading north in the winter. “We get a lot of people who come in and say, ‘How cute! It’s toy bowling!’ They think that means it’s going to be easy,” says owner Joanne Gaulin with a smile. “But once we get them into shoes and out there, they quickly realize that it’s a lot harder.”