Vermont Offroad / Overlanding

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toyoda428

Rank I
Launch Member

Contributor III

154
Essex Junction, Essex, VT, USA
First Name
Devin
Last Name
Martin
I've noticed that there is a vacuum for useful information about overlanding and offroading in the great green state. I will be putting together a map over the next few months to log good spots for remote camping and NFS-type roads for those looking to get out in VT. Any input is appreciated!
 

NolanDick

Rank III
Launch Member

Enthusiast III

646
Boston, MA, USA
First Name
Nolan
Last Name
Dick
Member #

20683

I've noticed that there is a vacuum for useful information about overlanding and offroading in the great green state. I will be putting together a map over the next few months to log good spots for remote camping and NFS-type roads for those looking to get out in VT. Any input is appreciated!
I'm living down in Boston and I would love to see what you put together. As of now, I've only really explored Green Mountain and White Mountain National Forests. I've found that even in them remote overland and camping opportunities are limited. I very much appreciate any help you can lend in this region.

Nolan
 

Lugnut

Rank I
Launch Member

Off-Road Ranger I

263
NJ/VT
First Name
Adam
Last Name
Seidel
Member #

20100

Ham/GMRS Callsign
WB2FCC
I attempted to try and do some of the Puppy Dog Trail this past weekend. I found an old GPX file on AllTrails, but it was just straight line connections of various Lat/Lon waypoints, so I used Gaia to overlay and try and make some sense of it. I want to say that 75-80% of what we ended up with were paved roads, a couple actual off road trails, about 20% class 3/fire roads, and 1 wooden bridge that I wouldn't trust a full size vehicle to cross. I was hoping to take the Cheney Brook Trail to the Frost Hollow Trail, and use that to go over Cooper HIll (looks like these are basically UTV/ADV/Sled trails on the VAST system), however the right turn onto the Frost Hollow Trail was the wooden bridge that I certainly wasn't gonna take my Expedition MAX over. There were some fresh ATV/UTV tracks in the mud on both sides of the bridge...maybe a 2 door Wrangler could make it across....

Looks like there was a decent trail at the end of Cushing Flats Road (a little west of Newfane), but we were short on time by then. We made it up to Hwy 121 just north of Windham before we ran out of time and had to head back to our place in Arlington (felt bad leaving the 8 month old with Grandma & Grandpa for so long with no notice). Cheney Brook and Frost Hill are passable for any OEM 4x4 vehicle from what we saw. FYI - the turn onto Frost Hollow is actually about half a mile further north than it appears on Gaia.

If anyone knows of anything more, feel free to share!
 

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ThundahBeagle

Rank V

Advocate I

1,548
Massachusetts
First Name
Andrew
Last Name
Beagle
Member #

0

I attempted to try and do some of the Puppy Dog Trail this past weekend. I found an old GPX file on AllTrails, but it was just straight line connections of various Lat/Lon waypoints, so I used Gaia to overlay and try and make some sense of it. I want to say that 75-80% of what we ended up with were paved roads, a couple actual off road trails, about 20% class 3/fire roads, and 1 wooden bridge that I wouldn't trust a full size vehicle to cross. I was hoping to take the Cheney Brook Trail to the Frost Hollow Trail, and use that to go over Cooper HIll (looks like these are basically UTV/ADV/Sled trails on the VAST system), however the right turn onto the Frost Hollow Trail was the wooden bridge that I certainly wasn't gonna take my Expedition MAX over. There were some fresh ATV/UTV tracks in the mud on both sides of the bridge...maybe a 2 door Wrangler could make it across....

Looks like there was a decent trail at the end of Cushing Flats Road (a little west of Newfane), but we were short on time by then. We made it up to Hwy 121 just north of Windham before we ran out of time and had to head back to our place in Arlington (felt bad leaving the 8 month old with Grandma & Grandpa for so long with no notice). Cheney Brook and Frost Hill are passable for any OEM 4x4 vehicle from what we saw. FYI - the turn onto Frost Hollow is actually about half a mile further north than it appears on Gaia.

If anyone knows of anything more, feel free to share!
Hi Lugnut
@ NolanDick , I'm around Boston as well.

Regarding Puppy Dog Trail, and certainly VT rt 100(?)...ive not done them myself, but from video I've seen, there are, as you have noticed, actually a lot of paved roads throughout., so I'm not surprised.

Sure, they keep saying how these trails have been "put together" by the motorcycle riders, but I think we should remember that these were old logging trails from way way back before the motorcycle as we know it was even conceived. Horse and drag, horse and wagon, then trucks. THEN, after logging fell out of necessity for some years, THEN the motorcycles found them. Even though snowmobiles have been using them the whole time. So they can keep trying to sat that they "made" these trails, but they really only "rediscovered" them.

We ought to try and get some of us together and run through this together.