Start in Vermont and end in North Dakota on the North Country National Scenic Trail

Dan D'Ambrosio, Burlington Free Press
·2 min read
The North Country National Scenic Trail stretches 4,800 miles from Vermont to North Dakota and is the longest scenic trail in the National Park Service system.
The North Country National Scenic Trail stretches 4,800 miles from Vermont to North Dakota and is the longest scenic trail in the National Park Service system.

Vermont has a second National Scenic Trail in addition to the Appalachian Trail, called the North Country National Scenic Trail, which stretches 4,800 miles from the Green Mountain National Forest to Lake Sakakawea State Park in North Dakota, known for its "premier fishing," according to its website.

The North Country Trail is the longest in the National Trails System administered by the National Park Service, traversing seven states − New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota − in addition to Vermont. You can download and print out PDFs of the trail in Vermont with details including points of interest, camping sites and water stops.

Chittenden Reservoir outside of Rutland, as seen from the North Country National Scenic Trail.
Chittenden Reservoir outside of Rutland, as seen from the North Country National Scenic Trail.

Stephanie Campbell, regional trail coordinator for New York and Vermont for the North Country Trail Association, said Friday the trail's route through Vermont was finalized this summer, but that it will always be a work in progress. The trail was first extended into Vermont in 2019, but work on the route was interrupted, as so many things were, by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"These things are seldom ever finished," Campbell said. "The Appalachian Trail is still being moved and put on better locations."

North Country Trail utilizes some existing trails as it traverses Vermont

The North Country Trail begins, or ends, in Vermont at Maine Junction in Green Mountain National Forest, where it overlaps with the Long Trail, maintained by the Green Mountain Club. At Maine Junction, the Appalachian Trail and Long Trail split after overlapping for 100 miles in southern Vermont. Campbell said as the North Country Trail heads westward from Maine Junction it passes through the Moosalamoo National Recreation Area within Green Mountain National Forest.

A North Country National Scenic Trail sign in the Champlain Valley.
A North Country National Scenic Trail sign in the Champlain Valley.

Continuing westward, the North Country Trail traverses some private land, before passing through East Middlebury using road walks, then linking with the Trail Around Middlebury, which is maintained by the Middlebury Area Land Trust.

The route exits Vermont and enters New York with a walk across Champlain Bridge from Chimney Point State Park in Vermont to Crown Point State Historic Site in New York.

Maine Junction in Green Mountain National Forest, where the North Country National Scenic Trail begins and ends in Vermont.
Maine Junction in Green Mountain National Forest, where the North Country National Scenic Trail begins and ends in Vermont.

Campbell said the North Country Trail Association and its partners are working on signage to memorialize the fact that the trail includes "the only point we know of where you can stand on one location and be on three nationally significant trails at the same time."

Those trails are the Appalachian Trail, the Long Trail, and the North Country Trail.

"You can head north to the end of the Long Trail and Canada, you can head northeast to Mount Katahdin, you can head southeast to Georgia or you can head west to North Dakota," Campbell said. "It's a pretty unique location that I think people will want to go and see."

Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosi@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDambrosioVT.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont's North Country Trail starts here and ends in North Dakota