Does anyone know of any hikes that include a ghost town?

[slowpoke]

I was surprised to learn on New England Chronicle recently that Vermont has ghost towns. Sure Enough, http://www.ghosttowns.com/ lists ghost towns in New Hampshire and Vermont. At least one of them says you can't get there on a 4-wheeled vehicle, which makes me think some of them might be part of a nice hike. Does anyone know of any hikes that include a ghost town?

 

[Toe Cozy]

Check out the Glastenbury Mtn area

After getting back from a fairly epic weekend backpack recently I stopped in to McNeills in Brattleboro for a replenishing brew. There are lots of interesting folks to chat with there. One of the older guys I know, Lee, is an antique book dealer and local history buff. He informed me that there is quite a bit of history around disappearances on and near Glastenbury Mtn. The loop hike on that mountain is pretty great with a fantastic shelter on the LT. He also informed me of a book called Mischief in the Mountains. An old book about strange happenings in the New England mountains.

If you're interested in this kind of stuff I suggest checking out books by Joseph Citro. He's the resident chronicle-er of the strange and paranormal and creepy in New England (specially VT) Green Mountain Ghosts. He has a book called Curious New England that might give you some ideas too. Maybe not long distance stuff, but off the beaten path for sure.

And way over in Mass there is Dogtown. That one is fairly well know though...
Dogtown

I'm planning on checking the Joe Citro books out of the library so I'm armed with good frightening stories to freak me out(and any hiking partners) while I ramble through some of VT's 100 highest in the coming years!

Have fun!

 

[David Metsky]

The now abandoned Mt Peeling trail (?) off Rt 118 took you past the cellar holes of Peeling NH. You can find the trail description in old guidebooks but the trail was a mess of downed trees when I was there 20 years ago. I don't know if you follow it from the north, but might be able to from the south.

 

[Pamola]

Glastenbury! Isn't that where the sasquatch is supposed to roam? That would explain everything.

There's an extensive ghost town in Little River State Park in Waterbury, VT. It was quite an area up on the hill overlooking what is now the reservoir. There are many trails for biking or walking in the area along with informational pamphlets given out by the park service that describes all the sites. Pretty interesting and beautiful in the fall. Not exactly untouched and unreachable, but a ghost town nonetheless.

 

[jmegillon149]

I don't know that it qualifies as a ghost town - but there is what was once an Indian reservation off of the CT AT. Not sure exactly what is still there, but I have read that there are certainly remnants.

 

[MichaelJ]

Hiking or biking around Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts you can see the remains of the towns of Dana, Prescott, Enfield, and Greenwich.

Actually, I don't think you can get to all 4, but still what's there is pretty cool. An example.

 

[peakbagger]

Not much of a hike but the town of Livermore on the Sawyer River road is preety large. The old ways for the sawmill are real impressive. I find that its better to visit in the winter as the old cellar holes and ground distrubances show up better than in the summer when the undergorwth blocks the views.

 

[funkyfreddy]

If you're interested in this kind of stuff I suggest checking out books by Joseph Citro. He's the resident chronicle-er of the strange and paranormal and creepy in New England (specially VT) Green Mountain Ghosts. He has a book called Curious New England that might give you some ideas too. Maybe not long distance stuff, but off the beaten path for sure.

I'm planning on checking the Joe Citro books out of the library so I'm armed with good frightening stories to freak me out(and any hiking partners) while I ramble through some of VT's 100 highest in the coming years!

Check out "Passing Strange" By Joseph Citro. That's a great book about weird things in new England and a real fun read!

Dudleytown is a legendary haunted ghost town in CT that gets a lot of press. The NY section of the AT between Fahenstock State Park and Bear Mountain Bridge has a lot of cellar holes, stone walls, and chambers near by with interesting history as well. Ninham Mt. is also close by Fahenstock as well, and it has a lot of stone walls, a firetower, cellar holes, and a stone chamber..... it is also reputedly haunted by either aliens or the ghost of Wappinger chief Daniel Ninham.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

I grew up in a tiny town in central VT and there were a few 'ghost towns' around in the hills. I remember one called NoTown in particular. The hills and woods are filled with old, long-abandoned settlements, often as a result of mining or logging activities. There's a particularly fascinating cemetary high on South Hill just south of the town of Pittsfield, with lots of old, slate headstones dating back hundreds of years. But, if you're hoping for a town with recognizable buildings - I think you'll be disappointed for the most part. At best, there are cellar holes and maybe a stone wall, and sometimes the cellar holes are hard to distinguish. With the amount of rain and freeze/thaw cycles, structures simply deteriorate and vanish rather quickly.

 

[rocket21]

If you hike Pocumtuck Mountain in Massachusetts (the 1.872 foot one, not the Pocumtuck Range in Deerfield) via Colrain, you'll go through the old Catamount area (they had the first schoolhouse in the country to fly the American flag). No buildings stand, but there are still old roads, foundations, and cemetaries throughout. It's been abandoned for almost a century now.

http://www.franklinsites.com/catamount/

It used to be travelled frequently by Jeeps, however since the ban about a decade ago, it's a pretty remote area - no trail blazes, etc. Nice view from Pocumtuck's southern ledge.

 

[Jay H]

In NY, there is Doodletown in Harriman SP. Not exactly a "ghost"town but it is an abandoned town with a really good book written on it by a person who lived there... It's in Orange/Rockland county...

Jay

 

[jrichard]

Monson

Monson is a southern NH ghost town with trails around and through it. The hike itself is tame, perhaps a couple miles if you walk all the trails.


http://www.oldnh.com/monsongt.html

 

[dr_wu002]

This thread had a lot of info last year, I believe:

http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=8511

-Dr. Wu

 

[dr_wu002]

Speaking of Ghost Towns, this one isn't even in the US but this account is pretty interesting:

http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter1.html

I'm pretty sure it's been posted here before but it's worth rementioning.

-Dr. Wu

 

[Jazzbo]

Dogtown on Cape Ann might be good place to hike

Towns have come and gone in many many places in New England probably more than can be counted. Quabbin Reservoir reservation has quite a few abandoned towns under and above water. In particular areas where there was mines that got played out or logging exhausting the forest (Think Livermore on Sawyer River). One spot of interest would be Dogtown on Cape Ann near Gloucester and Rockport MA. The town was located in a boulder field. One enterprising stone cutter carved numerous messages and mottoes on the sides of boulders and they remain today for the curious hiker to discover. See this website for story of Dogtown and collection of photos of the Babson Boulders.

Babson Boulders and Dogtown

 

[marchowes]

Glastenbury VT is one of the best ghost town examples in VT. The old route of the LT used to pass by an old village which was once the home of several kilns and toward the end of the villages lifetime a casino. The corridor up to the old village (on the south fringe of the town above harbour rd in Woodford VT) once was the home of the steepest friction base railroad ever (so they say). And yes, Sasquatch is supposed to live there, not to mention Glastenbury is the centerpiece of the infamous Bennington Triangle:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennington_Triangle
http://www.xprojectmagazine.com/archives/paranormal/benningtontriangle.html
http://bennington-triangle.blogspot.com/2006/01/beast-of-bennington.html

Sadly when I hiked the mountain I did not see sasquatch (or maybe thats a good thing?). Getting to the old Ghost town section is a bit tricky too as parking at the end of the road is restricted. The town was abandoned after a sever washout in the 20s or 30s (I forget which). There was also an interesting settlement on the north side of Glastenbury called (I think) Fayeville but its a bit more out of the way and not nearly as interesting as the south settlement! I believe one of the early "Bennington monster" stores comes from there (frightened hunter hide in a cellarhole from -something-)

-----

Also, Somerset VT (next town east of Glastenbury) is chock full of goodies, including dozens of abandoned logging camps, old logging rail grades, and a big Reservoir with nice views of Stratton! There are a few summer homes along the main road. There used to be a decent sized town near where the graveyard is presently. Lots of hidden goodies in those hills!
http://www.hoosactunnel.net/HTW/images/DeerfieldR.GIF (note everything north of the Searsburg reservoir is basically gone).

 

[TDawg]

I've heard of one (probably on this board??) between Mt. Cilley and Grandview Mtn. SSW of North Woodstock, NH.
Anyone know details? If that Mt. Cilley trail is still discernable? Maybe the best access is via 118 and Elbow Pond, bushwack to the site?Topozone

 

[Artex]

Not really ghost towns per say, but there are quite a few old abandoned houses within Harriman State Park in southern NY that I've come across when I used to live in that area. Nothing left but stone walls, and if I were to guess they were from the 1800s (but what do I know). Neat to see and always left me wondering what the story was behind them.

 

[SkierSteve]

If you hike the Bigelow Range in Maine, from any of the summits, you look down on Flagstaff Lake. There are a number of ghost towns flooded under this man made lake. The really neat thing is, if you canoe or kayak the lake on a very still day, you can look down and still see some of the structures.

 

[David Metsky]

I've heard of one (probably on this board??) between Mt. Cilley and Grandview Mtn. SSW of North Woodstock, NH.
Anyone know details? If that Mt. Cilley trail is still discernable? Maybe the best access is via 118 and Elbow Pond, bushwack to the site?Topozone

Change my earlier post mentioning Peeling to the Mt Cilley trail. The trail from 118 is gone, but it can be followed from the other side. It was a pretty neat place 20 years ago; all that's left is cellar holes and stone culverts.