Trail News from the Mad River Path Association

The trails committee has several major projects on their agenda for summer of 2008.

The Village Path in Irasville is gaining a new trail that will connect the Big Picture Theatre to the Skatium, providing a safe and scenic route through the wetlands and connecting two key centers of commerce, including the Waitsfield Post Office, Evergreen Housing, Couples Club Recreation Field and the existing Village Path that goes behind the Irasville cemetery to the laundramat.

Thanks to a grant from the Mad River Valley Recreation District, and a commitment from the Mad River Valley Rotary (they will be building a bridge) our project has the resources to get off the ground (so to speak!), but our job of constructing many feet of elevated, wooden boardwalk and an additional bridge will require further fundraising efforts. A training team from the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps will be on hand the week of August 11th, so stop by and watch the trail as it goes through the construction process. Keep an eye on Irasville and let us know if you would like to help out with this project.

The Mill Brook Trail in Fayston is one of our longest, oldest trails (c. 1995). One section of this trail (including the bridge that was destroyed by ice this spring) is shared by the Catamount Trail Association, and another part of it has been adopted by the Fayston Elementary School. Beginning at Tucker Hill Road and ending before the Mad River Barn, paralleling Route 17, many parts of this four mile long trail were first developed as part of the old ski touring center at Tucker Hill Lodge, managed by Rob Center many years ago.

There are many difficult aspects of the Mill Brook Trail. The terrain is wet, steep, uneven and has a substrate of solid clay. The bridges do not see much sun, so they can get slippery and are prone to rot. The MRPA has spent many hours and a lot of funds on keeping this trail in good condition. We recently completed a trail assessment with Dave Hardy of the Green Mountain Club. His recommendation, based on the difficult walking conditions and instability of the slope, was to turn the trail into a winter-only trail, similar to the Catamount Trail. After a good amount of discussion with board members and landowners, the MRPA has decided to keep the trail open year-round with the understanding that it is a woods trail and conditions will vary.

The MRPA has recently become connected with the Mad River Byway, part of a federal program (www.byways.org) establishing the corridor from Middlesex to Granville as well as Route 17 to the top of Appalacian Gap in Buells’ Gore as “The Mad River Byway”. Hopefully this collaboration between the Path and the Byway will allow us to purchase easements, be eligible for grants for signage and help us by providing better access to networking with other trail organizations.

And that’s the latest from the Mad River Path!

Carol Thompson
Executive Director