The Long Trail is a hiking

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. ...

located in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...

, running the length of the state. It is the oldest

long-distance trail A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exc ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, constructed between 1910 and 1930 by the

Green Mountain Club The Green Mountain Club is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to preserving and protecting Vermont's Long Trail. The Long Trail is the oldest long-distance hiking trail in America and stretches from the Massachusetts state line to the ...

. The club remains the primary organization responsible for the trail, and is recognized by the

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

as "the founder, sponsor, defender, and protector" of the Long Trail System.

History

The Long Trail was conceived in 1909 by James P. Taylor who was at the time the assistant headmaster of Vermont Academy in Saxtons River, Vermont. Taylor lobbied other Vermont residents who shared his dream of a mission to "make the Vermont mountains play a larger part in the life of the people by protecting and maintaining the Long Trail system and fostering, through education, the stewardship of Vermont's hiking trails and mountains". In 1910, work began on the construction of America's first long-distance hiking path. The GMC completed the Long Trail in 1930.

Geography

The Long Trail runs 273 miles (439 km) through the state of Vermont. It starts at the

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

state line (at Clarksburg, Massachusetts), and runs north to the Canada–US border (in

Jay, Vermont Jay is one of the northernmost towns in Orleans County, Vermont, United States, located on the Canada–US border. The population was 551 at the 2020 census. Jay is named for John Jay, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The US ...

). It runs along the main ridge of the

Green Mountains The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont. The range runs primarily south to north and extends approximately from the border with Massachusetts to the border with Quebec, Canada. The part of the same range that is i ...

, coinciding with the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian ...

(for which it served as the inspiration) for roughly in the southern third of the state. Additionally, over of side trails complete the Long Trail System. The Long Trail passes through six of the eight

wilderness areas Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

in the

Green Mountain National Forest Green Mountain National Forest is a national forest located in Vermont, a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest typical of the New England/Acadian forests ecoregion. The forest supports a variety of wildlife, including beaver, moose, coyote, bl ...

, including (from south to north)

Glastenbury Wilderness The Glastenbury Wilderness is one of eight wilderness areas in the Green Mountain National Forest in the U.S. state of Vermont. The area, located northeast of Bennington, Vermont, is managed by the U.S. Forest Service. With a total of , the wilder ...

Lye Brook Wilderness The Lye Brook Wilderness is one of eight wilderness areas in the Green Mountain National Forest in the U.S. state of Vermont. It is managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The wilderness area was created by the Eastern Wilderness Areas Act of 1975, wh ...

Peru Peak Wilderness The Peru Peak Wilderness is one of eight wilderness areas in the Green Mountain National Forest in the U.S. state of Vermont. It was created by the Vermont Wilderness Act of 1984 and later expanded by the New England Wilderness Act of 2006. A to ...

Big Branch Wilderness The Big Branch Wilderness is one of eight wilderness areas in the Green Mountain National Forest in the U.S. state of Vermont. It was created by the Vermont Wilderness Act of 1984 and later expanded by the New England Wilderness Act of 2006. A t ...

Joseph Battell Wilderness The Joseph Battell Wilderness is one of eight wilderness areas in the Green Mountain National Forest in the U.S. state of Vermont. The wilderness area, created by the New England Wilderness Act of 2006, is named in honor of Joseph Battell (1839&n ...

, and

Breadloaf Wilderness The Breadloaf Wilderness is one of eight wilderness areas in the Green Mountain National Forest in the U.S. state of Vermont. It was created by the Vermont Wilderness Act of 1984 and later expanded by the New England Wilderness Act of 2006. With ...

. It traverses most of the major summits in the Green Mountains, including (from south to north)

Glastenbury Mountain Glastenbury Mountain is a mountain located in Bennington County, Vermont, in the Green Mountain National Forest. The mountain is part of the Green Mountains. The northeast side of Glastenbury Mountain drains into Deer Lick Brook, thence int ...

, Stratton Mountain,

Killington Peak Killington Peak is the second highest summit in the Green Mountains and in the U.S. state of Vermont. It is located east of Rutland in south-central Vermont. Killington Peak is a stop on the Long Trail, which here shares its route with the App ...

, Mount Abraham, Mount Ellen, Camel's Hump,

Mount Mansfield Mount Mansfield is the highest mountain in Vermont with a summit that peaks at above sea level. The summit is located within the town of Underhill in Chittenden County; the ridgeline, including some secondary peaks, extends into the town of S ...

, and Jay Peak.

Maintenance

The Long Trail is maintained primarily by the Green Mountain Club and its volunteers. Twelve club sections maintain assigned sections of the Long Trail – two other club sections maintain the trails in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom and the Appalachian Trail from Maine Junction in Killington to the Connecticut River. Although roughly 1,000 volunteers perform most of the club's trail work, the club also employs a staff to handle day-to-day operations and a seasonal staff of summit caretakers and the Long Trail Patrol which works on heavy duty projects on the trail. The Green Mountain Club also receives assistance from the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation,

U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and private landowners. During the mud season in late spring, some sections of the trail are closed to hikers, to protect the trail from both erosion and to protect nearby flora from being damaged (especially the higher peaks that possess fragile alpine tundra).

Historical Disappearances

The section of the Long Trail between Woodford (on Vermont State Route 9 just east of Bennington, Vt) and

some farther north has gained notoriety because six people vanished in that area between 1945 and 1950. Only one body was found and the fates of the other missing persons remain a mystery. The case that perhaps gained the most media attention at the time was the disappearance of 18-year-old

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...

sophomore

Paula Jean Welden Paula Jean Welden (born October 19, 1928; disappeared December 1, 1946) was an American college student who disappeared while walking on Vermont's Long Trail hiking route. Local sheriffs were criticized for errors made in the investigation, whic ...

, of

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 202 ...

, (elder daughter of industrial designer William Archibald Welden of the Revere Copper and Brass Company). On the afternoon of Sunday, December 1, 1946, she set out on a hike by herself on the Long Trail from Woodford Hollow heading northbound in the direction of

. Despite repeated and extensive searches of the area by local police, the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

and many volunteers, nothing was ever found. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance.Dooling, Michael C. Clueless in New England: The Unsolved Disappearances of Paula Welden, Connie Smith, and Katherine Hull. The Carrollton Press, 2010. Crime novelist

Hillary Waugh Hillary Baldwin Waugh (June 22, 1920 – December 8, 2008) was a pioneering American mystery novelist. In 1989, he was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. Pseudonyms used by Waugh included Elissa Grandower, Harry Walker and H. ...

based his book '' Last Seen Wearing'' on the Welden case.

Gallery

File:BakerPeakVermont.jpg, Baker Peak in the

White Rocks National Recreation Area Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area is a United States National Recreation Area located in southern Vermont, United States, within the Green Mountain National Forest. Both the Peru Peak Wilderness and the Big Branch Wildern ...

File:LittleRockPond_VT.jpg, Little Rock Pond from the Long Trail File:02chin.jpg, View of

from the Long Trail

References

External links

Journals and photographs from people hiking The Long Trail.
{{coord missing, Vermont Hiking trails in Vermont Long-distance trails in the United States Vermont culture National Recreation Trails in Vermont Protected areas of Addison County, Vermont Protected areas of Bennington County, Vermont Protected areas of Orleans County, Vermont Protected areas of Windham County, Vermont Protected areas of Rutland County, Vermont Protected areas of Chittenden County, Vermont