$700,000 Burrows Trail overhaul completed on Camel’s Hump

October 9, 2024  |  By Waterbury Roundabout 

Oct. 22 UPDATE: A special ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 10 a.m. to commemorate this project by the Green Mountain Club, the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation, and partners. Gov. Phil Scott and Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore are expected to attend along with other state and Green Mountain Club representatives. 

The public ceremony will take place in the Burrows Trail Parking Lot on Camel’s Hump Road in Huntington. Project coordinators will discuss the project and how it could be a blueprint for future large-scale efforts to upgrade Vermont’s recreation infrastructure to sustainable design standards for the future. Organizers ask that attendees register in advance and they encourage carpooling as space is limited. 

This Green Mountain Club photo shows a section of the Burrows Trail on Camel's Hump before and after recent rehabilitation work.

After 70 weeks of work over the past three years, the Green Mountain Club and Vermont Department of Forests Parks and Recreation have completed a nearly $700,000 top-to-bottom rehabilitation project of the popular Burrows hiking trail on Camel’s Hump. 

This was the largest trail work project of its kind in Vermont’s modern history, according to the Green Mountain Club. 

“As the impacts of climate change become more apparent in Vermont, the Burrows Trail presented the opportunity to invest unprecedented funding and capacity and rebuild the whole trail at once,” said Keegan Tierney, Director of Field Programs at the Green Mountain Club. “Even as repairs were in progress, we saw the improvements in action and how the trail was able to hold up to all three historic flooding events that hit Vermont in 2023 and 2024, with water draining off as intended and causing minimal erosion.”

The Burrows Trail was built more than 100 years ago on the Huntington side of the mountain before modern sustainable trail design standards existed. 

Today, it’s one of the most-traveled hiking trails in the state, due to its proximity to Burlington and its relatively short distance to the summit of Camel’s Hump (tied with Mount Ellen for Vermont’s third-highest peak at 4,083 feet). 

Combined impacts of increased use, especially during the outdoor recreation boom of 2020 early in the COVID-19 pandemic, and erosion caused by more intense and frequent rainstorms exacerbated wear and tear on the trail. The condition prompted the Green Mountain Club and Forests, Parks and Recreation to pursue a unique comprehensive approach to repairing the entire trail. The two stewards of the trail network agreed to tackle the project from end-to-end, rather than patching sections as they have done historically due to limited funding and crew capacity, they explained. 

Planning for the project began in 2018 and crews broke ground on the first of more than 300 identified sites on the 2.1-mile trail in June 2022. 

The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation provided funding through a one-time allocation of state general funds designated specifically for outdoor recreation enhancements along with a grant from the state’s Enhancement of Recreation Stewardship and Access program as well as contributions from donors to the Green Mountain Club, according to the club’s announcement on Tuesday. 

Together the club and the state department coordinated the work among partner organizations including the Vermont State Trail Crew, Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, Northwoods Stewardship Center, National Civilian Conservation Corps, and numerous volunteer groups.

Professionally skilled crews used mostly hand tools to repair and install hundreds of stone structures such as staircases, check steps and waterbars, to improve drainage and keep hikers on the intended path. The large-scale investment is designed to help the trail withstand increasingly frequent and severe precipitation and intensified year-round use.

“The Burrows Trail is visited and enjoyed by thousands of hikers each year and is one of Vermont’s most popular recreational resources in every season. Thanks to our strong partnership with the Green Mountain Club, we were able to undertake such a comprehensive approach to repairing the trail, which will pay off for decades to come,” said Kathryn Wrigley, a state Outdoor Recreation Specialist who led scouting and planning efforts for the project.

The trail remained open to the public throughout the project, and hikers now will find an improved hiking experience from the trailhead to the trail’s intersection with the Long Trail. Crews used extensive revegetation practices to start the process of restoring the trail to its original natural state and maintain the natural feel of Vermont’s only undeveloped 4,000-foot summit. The project improves access to and the experience of hiking the Burrows Trail while helping to preserve the trail’s existence for decades to come.

Hiker advisory

The Green Mountain Club shared a Hiker Advisory with its announcement. The Burrows Trailhead to Long Trail Summit is a 4.8 mi. Roundtrip hike with 2,200 feet of elevation gain and is rated as difficult. 

Important Note: Burrows Trail is found on the Huntington side of the mountain. Another popular trail to Camel’s Hump Summit – the Monroe Trail with its trailhead in North Duxbury – remains closed at this time due to damage to Camel’s Hump Road in Duxbury where there are ongoing repairs. 

Green Mountain Club leaders say they expect the Burrows Trail will be popular and “quite crowded” through foliage season. “If you plan to hike Burrows, consider visiting outside of peak hours. Always drive and park with respect for neighbors and do not block driveways or emergency access,” the club advises. 

And should the parking lot be full, hikers may want to consider a hike on this list of alternative trails that includes Duxbury Window in Duxbury, Stark’s Nest in Waitsfield, and Mt. Philo in Charlotte.