Northern Vermont Hike Advice

[Dave Bourque]

I have the good fortune of a place to stay near Jay Peak that I can use as a base for day hikes. Having done most of my hiking in the Whites and the Adirondacks, my experience in Vermont is limited to the five 4000' peaks and several lesser peaks. So, I'm looking for advice. I certainly plan on hiking the Jay Range. I also plan on climbing Gilpin and Domeys Dome. I'll gladly drive an hour or more for other challenging and/or rewarding hikes so I will also be re-climbing Mansfield. I own the GMC Day Hiker's Guidebook, the GMC Long Trail Guidebook and the GMC Northeast Kingdom Trail Map. I also have the Map Adventures Northern Vermont Hiking Trails map. I seek advice on hiking destinations near or within a 1+ hour drive of the Jay Peak area. Once the border is open, crossing over into Canada would not an issue. I am experienced so herd paths, bushwhacks or strenuous hikes are a bonus. Also, does anyone recommend any other guidebooks or maps?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[TEO]

I have the good fortune of a place to stay near Jay Peak that I can use as a base for day hikes. Having done most of my hiking in the Whites and the Adirondacks, my experience in Vermont is limited to the five 4000' peaks and several lesser peaks. So, I'm looking for advice. I certainly plan on hiking the Jay Range. I also plan on climbing Gilpin and Domeys Dome. I'll gladly drive an hour or more for other challenging and/or rewarding hikes so I will also be re-climbing Mansfield. I own the GMC Day Hiker's Guidebook, the GMC Long Trail Guidebook and the GMC Northeast Kingdom Trail Map. I also have the Map Adventures Northern Vermont Hiking Trails map. I seek advice on hiking destinations near or within a 1+ hour drive of the Jay Peak area. Once the border is open, crossing over into Canada would not an issue. I am experienced so herd paths, bushwhacks or strenuous hikes are a bonus. Also, does anyone recommend any other guidebooks or maps?

Thanks,
Dave

Have you thought about the Vermont 3k'ers?

Gore Mountain in Averys Gore is a gorgeous hike in the fall, though it is a wooded summit. East Mountain in East Haven is a cool, cool place, well worth exploring even if the hike is easy. With a car drop on Worcester/Elmore side, the Worcester Range is a nice traverse.

 

[Puma concolor]

I second the recommendation for the Worcester Range, which lies across the valley east of Mansfield. Did Putnam last year and Mount Hunger awhile back. Have not done the traverse. Stowe Pinnacle is a very popular spot with views west to Mount Mansfield. Very worthy area.

East Mountain is an interesting one for sure.

Don’t know what your timeframe is but I’m pondering a bushwhack attempt of Cold Hollow Mountain near Belvidere Center on Thursday. Wouldn’t be opposed to company.

https://quincykoetz.com/2014/08/hikingbushwhacking-cold-hollow-mountain/

 

[peakbagger]

The Lake Willoughby area has several nice hikes.

 

[mirabela]

Belvedere Mountain is another great hike. You don't indicate time of year, but the loop you can make with the Forester's Trail, LT, and Frank Post Trail is a good one in summer or fall. In winter the road isn't plowed to the trailhead and it gets little to no use. Over in the Lake Willoughby area, Bald Mountain is a peak a lot like Belvedere with a fire tower; Wheeler Mountain is a great scrambly hike with a lot of open rock on a nice little peak with good views. If you want to get deep out in the middle of nowhere where it's just you and the mooses, Gore Mountain near Norton is pretty cool, though it doesn't seem like it would have much for views once the trees leaf out.

+1 for the suggestion of the Worcester range, too -- Worcester, Hunger, White Rock, and the Stowe Pinnacle are all highly worthwhile.

 

[Grey J]

A good reference that was posted here by Spencer I think.

https://www.thevermont110.com/

 

[briarpatch]

The Belvedere Loop (Frank Post, Forester and Long Trail) is nice. Little use in the winter. A couple of weeks ago no activity on Forester and what appeared to be a single snowshoe track on Frank Post at Tillotson Camp. Long Trail no activity. It took me over an hour to push through the spruce/fir forest for the first mile north of Belvedere. Lots of Moose activity south of Tillotson. I did come up on a Moose the day I was out.

Laraway Mtn can also be done as a loop. Continue north on Long Trail after summit to Corliss Camp. Then turn south on Daniels Neighborhood trail to Codding Hill Rd. Codding Hill become a class 4 road (no maintenance) and will take you back to Laraway trail head and parking lot.

 

[Dave Bourque]

Thanks everyone for some incredible suggestions. This is exactly what I was looking for. I spent a couple of hours on the typical climbing and map sites researching your recommendations. Lots of fun just reading about these peaks so I certainly can't wait to climb them. There are enough climbs here to keep me busy for several visits.

Other than USGS topo maps and the maps I mentioned above, are there any other good hiking maps available for any of these areas?

My only previous visit to northern Vermont was to climb Mansfield, now I get to stay for a few days at a time and will have time to explore. Thoughts about roadside attractions, places of interest, or good eats would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again,
Dave

 

[TEO]

Other than USGS topo maps and the maps I mentioned above, are there any other good hiking maps available for any of these areas?

My only previous visit to northern Vermont was to climb Mansfield, now I get to stay for a few days at a time and will have time to explore. Thoughts about roadside attractions, places of interest, or good eats would also be greatly appreciated.

If you are not already familiar with it,Caltopo is a great source for printing maps. In addition to the USGS topos, which they call "scanned topos," the Forest Service maps for National Forest land and MapBuilder topos can be helpful for locating newer trails and roads. The Aerial Imagery can be helpful, too, for navigating logging roads.

Don't be shy about returning to hike Mansfield, it has many interesting trails.

Once the COVID is no longer an issue, the Cold Hollow Cider Mill and the Cabot Outlet, both on Rt. 100 between Waterbury and Stowe, are must visits for free grazing. April's Maples on Rt. 114 in Canaan is a good source for a bite to eat and Maple creemees. The Essex House Inn and Tavern in Island Pond is a decent place for a bite. If you're a fan of beer the Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend is worth a stop once they reopen, which is currently scheduled for April 2021. The Cupboard Deli & Bakery, née Jana's Cupboard, on Rt. 15 in Jeffersonville, has long been a go-to fueling spot north of Smugglers Notch. Or, just stop in at the traditional local general store. Rule of thumb: if you see a place advertising fresh cider donuts and/or Maple creemees, take advantage of it, regardless of any other considerations.

If you ever need an auto mechanic in the Northeast Kingdon, Dan's Auto in Derby is as good as it gets. I cannot recommend them highly enough. They bent over backward, while understaffed, to get a part and replace it as quickly as possible, staying late to get the job done in a day. They followed up with a call after the weekend to make sure we got home OK, and then followed up several months later to see how the car was doing.

 

[Dave Bourque]

Update: The Mountain Wanderer bookstore has an excellent selection of Vermont guidebooks and maps. I just ordered the following guidebook and maps;

-AMC Day Hikes in Vermont
-GMC Camel's Hump and Monroe Skyline Map
-National Geographic AT Trail: East Mtn to Hanover Map
-GMC Mansfield & Worcester Range Map
-GMC Long Trail Map
-Trails Illustrated Mansfield/Stowe Map

With these maps I now have many of the areas I want to climb covered. And between the 3 guidebooks I'm hoping many of your suggestions are detailed. Thanks again everyone, I truly appreciate your help. Watch for trip reports this fall.

 

[Dave Bourque]

Thanks again everyone. I've been to the Jay area twice now. Unfortunately the weather has not cooperated. In spring I went up Jay and Big Jay in 90° heat and last week did the Mt. Mansfield summit ridge traverse with snow along the top. We have also been up Stowe's Pinnacle. All were excellent hikes. Next trip I hope to do Belvidere, Bald and Wheeler.

 

[Dave Bourque]

Add Belvidere, Hor, Bald and Pisgah to my done list. All great destinations. Really enjoyed the Pisgah traverse. Next up is Wheeler.

Any info or advice about East Mountain would be appreciated.

Thanks everyone!

 

[NHClimber]

East Mountain was an old abandoned strategic air command radar installation. See https://vtdigger.org/2013/08/08/a-cold-war-relic-the-east-haven-radar-station-closed-50-years-ago/

I visited many years back by approaching from the south (Granby side) but I am pretty sure you can also approach from the west (114). The road to the summit is Radar Rd. and was maintained due to there being wind turbines on the summit to the north of the abandoned radar installation (not sure of the current status of the turbines). The summit road, however, was gated at the time but you could fit a dirt bike or a bicycle around the gate, which is how most folks accessed the summit in the non-snow months. In the winter, the gate was sometimes left open for snowmachine access to the summit. You can of course hoof it up the road as well. I visited in the summer years ago. Along the way you will pass the remains of the old living quarters for the base personnel, most of which has been torn down. The summit is super creepy, as it tends to be extremely windy on most days and there are pieces of metal from the various dilapidated structures blowing in the wind. Additionally, there was a very large storage tank rolling slightly back and forth because of the wind. It was huge and you wouldn't want to get crushed by it. Might be gone now. The buildings were sketchy and probably full of asbestos. Some folks climb onto the roof of the main radar platform. Not sure if that is still possible or advisable. I stayed out of the buildings. If you search the web I'm sure you'll find lots of footage from the urban explorers crowd (ironically, many of the things they explore are not in urban environments). You can also see the various structures on Google maps.

 

[Ken MacGray]

I would try and double check on access to East Mtn. I was looking into it and this NETC report from last year suggests that the approach via Radar Rd. has changed:

https://www.newenglandtrailconditions.com/vt/viewreport.php?entryid=55422

 

[NHClimber]

As noted, when I went there years ago I approached from the south. Once at the gate to the mountain road itself, it's about 4 miles to the summit going up the road. I poked around a little on the web and it appears that folks are still getting up there. Looks like the wind project fell through and the land is still in private hands with nothing much happening with it.