Green Mountain Conservancy’s new Shoulder Trail at the Deer Run Nature Preserve in Dummerston is complete!
To celebrate, GMC hosted a grand opening event on Sunday, September 19, 2021, from 1pm to 5pm.
The day began at 1pm with a presentation at the Deer Run Nature Preserve parking lot and trailhead. GMC Board members Roger Haydock, skilled trail builder and naturalist, and Daniel Dubie, ecologist, spoke about the new trail as well as some of the natural elements and features that can be found while exploring the preserve.
Guides were available throughout the afternoon to lead small groups in exploring the Shoulder Trail, or visitors chose to hike on their own.
The 0.4 mile Shoulder Trail (yellow markers) goes off of the popular 2.2 mile Deer Run Trail (blue markers) just below the monument. The out-and-back hike is about 5.2 miles–2.6 miles up a gentle grade meandering through a multitude of natural communities and 2.6 miles back down to the trail head.
All naturalists, environmental enthusiasts, and friends of Deer Run were welcomed, regardless of physical ability or skill level.
Roger Haydock designed and built the trails in the Deer Run Nature Preserve to take hikers from the trailhead on Camp Arden Road, through varied terrain, crossing several streams and hemlock-filled ravines, old stone walls, and areas of red pine and tall hardwoods. The trail climbs gently to a stone monument at the height of land. There are stunning views of the covered bridge, Black Mountain and the West River valley where the trail crosses a power line.
The Deer Run Nature Preserve is located on a 913-acre parcel in Windham County, where the Vermont towns of Brookline, Dummerston, and Newfane meet. It spans both sides of the Putney Mountain Ridge and includes over 2.5 miles of West River shoreline as it curves around the southern terminus of the mountain. It is a designated wildlife corridor, has amazing biodiversity and will provide essential carbon sequestration into the future.
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