Join the Adventure
www.greenmountainclub.org
The Long Trail is a 272-mile hiking trail that runs the length of Vermont continuously from the Massachusetts border to the Canadian border. The Green Mountain Club built it more than 100 years ago and maintains it to this day, along with the Appalachian Trail in Vermont and the Kingdom Heritage Trails in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, totaling nearly 500 miles of hiking trails. GMC is the go-to source for hiking information in Vermont; with maps, guidebooks, and expert advice to help you plan your next adventure, whether it’s an easy afternoon jaunt or an “End-to-End" thru-hike of the entire trail. Hiking season officially starts the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend; during “mud season” in April and May all hikers are encouraged to avoid high-elevation trails as they need time to dry out from the snowmelt.
VERMONT'S FIFTH SEASON
As the ground thaws and snow melts in late March, April, and May, the trails get waterlogged and muddy. Hiking on high-elevation trails during this time causes soil compaction, erosion, trail widening, and damage to the trail and the surrounding vegetation. Help do your part in protecting Vermont’s trails and fragile alpine plants and flowers by only hiking at low elevations or on durable surfaces.