News

Accomplishments

Share Your Trail Info Here

We are working to have VTMA become a place for mushers to share trail info, good places to run, the latest on trail conditions. etc. Anyone with information to share may post it on our Message Board. As the amount of information we receive grows, we will collect it and share it via maps, postings on this page, or whatever makes the most sense.

Lamoille Valley Rail Trail

Vermont Mushers Association has been working for a while to help the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail become a reality. The trail, a 96-mile long abandoned railroad bed, runs across Vermont from St. Johnsbury to Swanton.

We expect that when complete (and before, as sections become usable) the LVRT will become much-used by mushers. We have made numerous accomplishments to that end, the latest becoming involved with the Friends of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail.

This newly formed group is working towards completion of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail and charged with representing the non-motorized users of the trail. Here is the mission statement: “To support the development, maintenance, and promotion of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail as a public resource offering a tranquil and scenic year-round multi-use recreation and transportation corridor; and especially to represent the interests of non-motorized trail users.”

We urge all mushers to help support this new group by joining. Dues are $10 for individuals and should be sent with a membership form.

There will be several informative meetings of the Friends of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail with a slide show presentation by Kevin Russell about his walk last October of the entire length of the trail. Dates and places for these presentations are:
July 19, 2006, 7 pm
Sugar Ridge Campground Recreational Hall, US Rte. 2, Danville
July 26, 2006, 7 pm
Abby Restaurant, Route 105, Sheldon

More information from the Friends is available, as is a flyer about the slide shows.

Across Vermont Trail

A group of Vermont mushers gathered for a Dogs Across America fun run at the Ricker Pond Trail head in Groton in November. The trail is part of the Cross Vermont Trail with much of it being old rail bed. The section from Ricker Pond along Groton Lake makes a very nice nice trail for cart or ATV training. The scenery is fantastic and there are no hills being a rail bed. The trail surface is smooth enough for bikejoring of scootering. We ran on a weekend during deer season and had no problems with vehicles. You can run five miles out with only minor road crossings. At around the 5 mile mark you would have to cross Rt.232 but then could continue all the way into Marshfield. I have not clocked this section so I can't provide the distance. I also have not run this in the winter but it is a major VAST corridor trail and will have heavy snowmobile traffic especially on weekends.
There is ample parking at the trail head 2.5 miles from Rt.302 on Rt.232. Watch for it on your right.

Any question related to trails in the state should be sent to:
Ken Haggett, Vice President
P.O. Box 165
Lake Elmore, VT 05657
trails@vtmushers.org

Any general questions about the Vermont Mushers Association should be directed to:
Red Goodman, President
P.O. Box 514
Waitsfield, VT 05673
president@vtmushers.org