Great Hikes in the Pitts North of Rt. 4
By Chip Dwyer
Two weeks ago I explored and wrote about easy-moderate hikes along
Rt. 4 and I promised to find out about hikes north and south of that
area. The idea came to me when I talked to the publisher of the Mountain
Times about what towns their distribution covered. I wrote about my
motivation to hike (getting ready for ski season) and speculated about
the many reasons other people get out and hike but I realized this week
I left out one. Hiking is just an excuse to get out and eat wild
berries. The unusually wet summer has produced a bumper crop of
raspberries. The apple growers will undoubtedly benefit from the wet
summer we’ve put up with but now hikers can get out and enjoy the berry
harvest. Raspberries in this region come in red or black varieties and
the black raspberries are just starting to become ripe. There may be a
little more seeds in the black raspberry than the red but the abundance
of the berries per plant makes it a plant to seek out in late August.
As the title of the article suggests I discovered some
great hiking trails in the towns of Pittsfield and Pittsford.
The Town of Pittsford
is on Rt. 7 north of Rutland;
it has three different loops along the Sugar Hollow Brook, the Furnace
Brook, and Otter Creek River.
Northeast of Rt. 7 is the first of the three loops, called the
Recreation Area Trails designated by six different colors. The primary
trail heads are accessible off
Furnace Road
through the main gate of the Recreation Area and behind the Municipal
Offices off Plains Road.
The Orange
and Green trails go along the Sugar Hollow Brook while the others cut
through woodlands, open meadows, and Pine groves. Next is the Meadow
Loop which has its trail head on the south side of
Arch Street near the fire station. Its 1.6
miles cuts through open fields and woods along side Sugar Hollow Brook
and the Furnace Brook. A link to the third loop called the Cadwell Trail
is possible by a bridge over Sugar Hollow Brook and can turn this hike
into a 4 mile excursion. The Cadwell Trail has its trail head off of Elm Street near the Cooley Covered Bridge.
At 2.4 miles this trail offers many opportunities to see a lagoon plus
the Furnace Brook and
Otter
Creek River.
With great views of meadows and fields on top of these rivers you have
the chance to see beaver, otters, turtles, fish, ducks, birds, wild
flowers and possibly some berry bushes.
Pittsfield
town is bisected by Rt. 100 North and has surprisingly good multi-use
trails that I needed to explore multiple times to really appreciate.
With the land owners opening this area up to non-motorized public
access, the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps has recently received a
grant to improve the trails while the Pittsfield Biking Club has
improved and managed this area for years. Hikers and mountain bikers
seem to co-exist beautifully because of the hard work of many people.
There is two trail heads: one off Tweed River Drive and the other just
north of town at the Amee Farm (recommended). The big sign that says
hiking and biking lets you know you are in the right place; the trail
head starts at the huge wooden mountain biking tire up on a pole but you
should stop in and ask about the new trail map that is due out any day
now. After five minutes hiking you will cross the Tweed River
via a small bridge and the 30 plus miles of trails start to split off.
I would recommend turning right after the bridge and follow the white
arrows to the trails called Stairs and Escalator which leads you to the
Lookout. I’m not sure of the mileage but the round trip is about two
hours if you do not enjoy the berries or the great view of the town too
long. On my third trip to the trail system I felt oriented to the area
and explored enough to find the meadow at the peak of the mountain. It
has great views of Wilcox
Peak
and the hills and meadows off Liberty Hill which contains another
hiking-mountain biking trail called “the Contest Trail”.
As you can see from the picture below on my last hike
in this area I came upon the second stage of the Red-Spotted Newt which
was about to feed on a tasty spider. Upon further research I found that
once this Newt completes this second stage of its life and metamorphoses
into becoming aquatic adults, their skin changes from orange to
yellowish-green. Nonetheless, they retain small red spots within black
halos found in rows along the sides. These spots, and the coloration,
are warnings of toxic skin secretions. Because of this chemical defense,
newts can coexist with fish, which often eat other salamanders.
Now, I understand why I have seen these yellowish-green Newts suspended
in the clear water of the lakes I kayak without a care in the world.
By Chip Dwyer: Killington Ski School & Golf
School Pro © Chip Dwyer 2009
