My wife and I will be hiking a couple days on the AT in VT. Any suggestions on some nice parts with secure parking for a truck. A loop of 15 miles would be nice.
Rocky65
AT in Vermont - Appalachian Trail
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#2
You could do some hikes around Stratton mountain… Park your car on the dirt road (stratton-arlington) Hike up stratton and loop around to stratton pond and then back to your car… There are a million trails off stratton arlington road… I go up there about every week. Excellent car camping options that are no pay. Good Luck! I was there last weekend and it was in the 40’s at night but in the 70’s in the day… beautiful fall colors… even though they are on the decline side of foliage…
Aswah
aswah
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#3
I have hiked the entire AT in Vermont and I agree with Aswah. This is really the only good area to do a loop hike in the Green Mountain State. There are a bunch of trails that interconnect throughout Stratton Pond and the Lye Brook Area. It is very interesting terrain! Have fun!
Jacob
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#4
I might be wrong but I thought there was loop trails around killington peak the shelter ontop would be a great place to spend the night.
youngndum
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#5
Stratton Mountain it is, I have the AT Maps and all I need is order a better sleeping bag LOL.
I belive I went a boy scout camp around their in the 1950’s
Rocky65
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#6
I have parked my car at the AT trailhead thousands of times… never seen evidence of cars getting broken into… I mean the one on Stratton Arlington road… if you car camp (want to pull into a spot and set yer tent up) drive a little further west from the trailhead… about five miles… then take the road to the pond going to the right (i think Lye Brook Pond or something like that…) It is a gravel road and it is marked and it is the only one between there and Arlington… down that road there are two great pull offs… one on the right and the one on the left. Both have firepits and are awesome… also down the road to Grout pond, just east of the trailhead, there is a pull off with fire ring on a dirt road going off to the rightpretty soon after you turn off Stratton Arlington road… If you drive further to Arlington… or at least two miles before there are great spots right on a small stream on the left side of the road… I have a VW westfalia so car camping with sounds of water flowing is great… If you see a burgundy VW westy with suns all over it come and say hi and grab a micro brew… speaking of miucrobrews… if you like them you got three breweries within driving distance… The one in Wilmington is pretty good (Maple Leaf Brewing?); Madison Brewing in Bennington is ok… beer a little watery and McNeils in Brattleboro is great… The one in Bennington has good food.
Also… lots of alsos… also… forest road (i think 71)… It is the first major dirt road leading south (left) if going west from the AT trailhead has numerous KICK ASS camp spots and trails off of it… though I think it is hunting season so I would prance around the campsite dressed like one of santa’s helpers… you might end up on a drunken hunter’s table with an apple shoved in your mouth!
ASWAH
aswah
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#8
Rocky,
I always check the Appalachian Trail Parking Database when I section hike. Dave and Cyndi Rohland take in parking and other data from hikers and put it in a fantastic database form for the rest of us. Here’s their page on the Stratton Mt area. Hope this helps.
Strategic
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#9
I hiked the Stratton Pond/ Summit Loop using the A.T. and Stratton Pond trail and a 1 mile road walk on Arlington-West Wardsboro Rd. this afternoon. I started at the Stratton Pond Trailhead and walked the 3.7 miles to Stratton Pond & then looped the pond on the North Shore Trail (1.3 miles) and then hiked up to the summint fire-tower on Stratton (3.2 miles) @ sunset and then down to Arlington Road (3.8 miles) in the nearly full-moon light after dark and finally the mile from the A.T. parking lot to the Stratton Pond Trail parking lot. The total distance for this hike is 13 miles and it is a very pleasant mix of flat and moderately steep trail, beaver ponds, Stratton Pond (largest pond on A.T. in VT) and of course the great summit views from Stratton.
It was un-seasonably warm today (mid 70’s!!!) and beautifully sunny. Most of the leaves are on the ground, but there is still a bit of Fall foliage.
Another excellent area to loop around on the Long Trail/A.T. is about 20 miles north of here from Mad Tom Notch to Little Rock Pond. Utilizing the Long Trail, the Old Job trail (original A.T. route), the Green Mountain trail, and Forest Service roads you can create at least 3 different fun loop hikes.
Happy trails!
freebird