Table of Contents
Like most hikers who live in New Hampshire I do not hike often enough in Vermont. There are some great hikes in our neighboring state, but the drive is long, often longer than the hike. So I was delighted when, at the start of my county highpointing quest, I discovered that I had to do a few hikes in Vermont.The first one I did was to Adam's Apple, a subsidiary peak of Mt. Mansfield which I had not visited on my two previous trips up that mountain. On both of my previous trips I had ascended Mt. Mansfield from the east, so I decided to explore the western routes. I had heard about the Sunset Ridge Trail, about which Jared Gange writes in Hiker's Guide to the Mountains of Vermont:
Obviously such a trip deserved good visibility, and when the weather forecast for June 20th (2003) looked good I decided to go.Because the ridge offers sweeping views of the Champlain Valley and the Adirondacks, this route is considered one of the finest hikes in Vermont -- many would say the finest.
Trip Report
I started out from home (Thornton, NH) a bit before 7 AM and headed towards Underhill State Park, going quite a distance to the west of Mount Mansfield. I reached the park a bit after 10 AM having taken an unnecessarily long route (see Directions for a better route) and payed my fee ($2.50) at the ranger station. I was directed to the hiker's parking lot a bit beyond the station. There I put on bug spray, put on my pack and looked around.The directions say "Follow the CCC Road ...", but there was a marked trail leaving the parking lot, as I recall it was called the "Eagle Cut Trail". In any case it was the only trail, with blue blazes. It cut through several of the switchbacks in the CCC Road, eventually rejoining it about 0.3 miles from the start of the Sunset Ridge Trail. That trail started, as advertised, where the road turns quite sharply to the right, the trail is very clearly signed.
The trail crossed a stream several times over bridges, then started rising through pleasant hardwoods. It soon reached the point where the Laura Cowles Trail branches off to the right. It reaches the Long Trail on the ridge a little to the south of the main summit of Mount Mansfield (the Chin). At about 0.7 miles there is a side trail to Cantilever Rock, described in the Long Trail Guide as:
Definitely worth the short side trip!Cantilever Rock is horizontal blade of rock 60 ft. above the ground wedged into the vertical face of a 100 ft. cliff, as if thrust there by some angry stone-age Goliath. It is 40 ft. long, 31 of which extend beyond the cliff.
The trail starts breaking out of the trees about a mile from the summit, it is clearly marked by rock cairns in addition to numerous paint blazes. There are outstanding views to the west across the Champlain Valley to the Adirondacks. I stopped frequently to observe them opening up as I got higher.
Eventually I reached the summit ridge. My objective was to get to Adam's Apple, which lies north of the Chin (the true summit). The trail down from the Chin into the col is very steep and has several unpleasantly exposed "difficult" sections, I will describe them when I describe my ascent back to the Chin. I hate going down "scary stuff", so instead I descended by the aptly named Profanity Trail. It is very steep, but it is a real trail, rarely requiring the use of hands (occasionally I sat down for the bigger drops!). It has excellent views to the east, though I spent more time looking at where I was putting my feet than admiring the views.
The Profanity Trail reached Taft Lodge quite a bit below the col, but as I am trying to get in shape for my planned week long backpack to Whitney later this summer I did not complain. From the Lodge to the col, and then to Adam's Apple, the trail is good if occasionally steep. Adam's Apple has excellent views, and I had a late lunch there.
When I first climbed from the col to the Chin (in 1998, early in my hiking career) the exposure made me very uncomfortable. This time I found the climbing to be fun. There were several places where hands were needed to provide power (not just for balance), but there were many excellent hand and foot holds in all cases. Also these "climbing" sections never involved more than a couple of steps before reaching an area where hands were no longer needed. Though many people go down it (some with dogs) I was glad that I had bypassed it on the way down.
By the time I reached the summit the time was approaching 2 PM, so I scrapped my plans for a walk along the ridge and returned the way I had come. The walk down the ridge was even pleasanter than the walk up, I was facing the views and did not have to make the effort of going uphill.
I reached the trailhead around 3:30 PM, having hiked a bit over five hours. This time I carefully studied my DeLorme's Vermont Atlas and Gazetteer and plotted a better route home, getting there around 6:30. A very enjoyable, if somewhat tiring, day.
Directions to Trailhead
Official Directions
From the Underhill State Park web page:The problem is that Essex Junction is substantially west of the park.From Essex Jct.: Go 9 mi E on Vt. 15, 4 mi E on paved Town Rd, 4 mi E on gravel Town Rd. (steep entrance, no trailers).
My Directions
The following directions (no odometer readings) are reconstructed from my return trip plus DeLorme's Vermont Atlas and Gazetteer. Use them at your own risk!Take Exit 11 off I89 onto Rt 117. Almost immediately take a right on Governor Peck Road. Follow it (NE) to its end on Brown's Trace Road, take a left (N) on that road. Follow this to its end on Rt 15, and turn right (E) on Rt 15. Go a short distance to a fork, take the right fork (River Road) to Underhill Center. There the road continues with a new name, Pleasant Valley Road. After about a mile (give or take!) Mountain Road forks off to the right, follow it to the park. Mountain road is partly paved, partly gravel, and is steep in parts.
Other Routes to Mount Mansfield
My peakbagging site describes the most common routes up Mount Mansfield, including distances and elevation gains. Here I want to comment on them briefly to help you choose.Up and down by the Long Trail, maybe using the Profanity Trail bypass, is a short but stiff climb. No real views while hiking, but of course you get the great views on the summit.
Long Trail-Haselton Trail Loop. The scenic route from the east, with over a mile of ridge walking. A bit longer but well worth it if the weather is good.
Hell's Brook-Long Trail Loop. A sporting ascent for those who want it! There is a short (about a mile) road walk between the two trailheads.
Sunset Ridge may be done as an up and down or combined with the Laura Cowles Trail for a loop. Using the Laura Cowles Trail shortens the trip, but you lose the views on one leg! If doing the loop I would suggest going up by the Laura Cowles Trail, as you will enjoy the views more on the way down.
Resources
The official guidebook is the Long Trail Guide published by the Green Mountain Club (GMC).Map Adventures publishes a map that is a very useful supplement to the guide: Northern Vermont Hiking Trails, which covers Mt. Mansfield, Camel's Hump and more. A nice feature of all their maps is that the distances between major intersections are shown on the map.
In addition to the official guidebook there are a large number of other books, the one I use is the Hiker's Guide to the Mountains of Vermont by Jared Gange, a slim volume that covers the routes described here.
For driving down the back roads I use DeLorme's Vermont Atlas and
Gazetteer.