As the weather turns warm and the first flush of color starts to turn the mountains green, many of us start thinking about lacing up our hiking boots and heading to our latest trail to take in the view.
But wait!
Spring hiking, while tempting, can cause alot of damage to our public trails, as visitors struggle up steep, saturated ground, walk around mud patches onto protected vegetation, and generally tear up soft, wet trails that our crews have worked hard to improve. While you may think ‘I’m just one person, I won’t hurt anything’ the fact is that many such decisions each day on our public trails can lead to expensive long term damage, and ecosystem degradation.
In fact, the State of Vermont officially closes most trails for the duration of mud-season in order to preserve them for the rest of the season, only opening them once conditions dry out, with May 15th typically the earliest re-open date in the Northeast Kingdom.
For official guidelines hiking in mud season and open dates, please visit this page maintained by VT State Parks and click ‘View Trail Status’ for the current week.
Thanks for helping keep our trails in shape!