Green Mountain National Forest Closed Until Further Notice

[Supernovasky]

http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/greenmountain/htm/greenmountain/g_home.htm

:( Poor thru hukers.

GREEN MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST
STATUS REPORT
Hurricane Irene has left extensive damage to the roads, trails, and facilities of the Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF). Forest Service officials are asking the public to be extremely mindful of their surroundings and to refrain from visiting the forest until it is safe to use.
The following roads and facilities have been surveyed -- this is a partial status report that will be updated periodically. Note -- very little damage assessment has been done on the Middlebury and Rochester Ranger Districts.
SOUTHERN HALF OF THE GMNF:
Hapgood Pond Recreation Area in Peru has been closed for the season.
Stratton Road beyond Stratton Mountain Resort has a section with only one lane passable.
Kelley Stand, or the Arlington-Stratton Road has extensive damage; impassable from the East Arlington side. Open from the Stratton side but with many difficult sections.
Forest Road 71 from Kelley Stand to VT Route 9: gated closed just south of intersection with Kelley Stand and gated closed just north of the Landing Strip / Somerset area. Status south of the Landing Strip to Route 9 unknown but most likely impassable.
Forest Road 259 or South End Road from South End to East Dorset: northeast end passable with one lane.
Forest Road 10 between Mt Tabor and Landgrove: has sustained extensive damage. Brooklyn Road in Mt Tabor impassable before Silver Bridge, west end. From east side, barely passable for about five miles in, then closed. Many spur roads off FR 10 impassable.
Wallingford Pond Road (Forest Road 20), one mile up from Sugar Hill Road, is closed by deep gullies.
VT Route 155 impassable at intersection with Route 140.
Forest Road 17, Jenny Coolidge Road, washed out near junction with Greendale Road.
Forest Road 18, Greendale Road open to FR 17, Jenny Coolidge Road; not surveyed beyond that.
　
The entire southern-most portion of the Manchester Ranger District, from the Glastenbury area to Somerset, along and south of VT Route 9 has not been surveyed; most likely has suffered extensive damage.
VT Route 9 is closed at various points between Bennington and Wilmington.
Mad Tom Road, Forest Road 21, closed, impassable.
Forest Road 58 impassable shortly past intersection with Forest Road 21.
Rootville Road in Manchester (access to Lye Brook Wilderness) closed to local traffic only.
Forest Road 12, off of south end of Forest Road 10, impassable.
Forest Road 320, Kendall Farm Road, impassable
Forest Road 29, Moses Pond Road, impassable at point 6 miles from junction of Landgrove /Lawrence Hill Road.
Forest Road 71, south end of Somerset Road, not passable to the reservoir with 2-wheel drive passenger vehicles.
Forest Road 74, Aiken Road, passable up to the last 1/10 mile.
Forest Road 10 closed.
NORTHERN HALF OF THE GMNF:
Furnace Brook Road (FR 57) is closed about 1/10 of a mile north of entrance.
Blue Ridge Road (FR 232) passable but very narrow in several places.
Forest Road 35 – Upper Michigan Road – not passable
Forest Road 229 - Liberty Hill from Rochester to Spike Horn not passable
Forest Road 57 – Furnace Brook for 2.9 miles is passable
Forest Road 99 to New Boston Road is not passable
Lefferts Pond in Peavine needs work – probably not passable
Forest Road 67 – Goshen Brook, needs work
　
Forest Road 119 Satan’s Kingdom is not passable
Forest Road 28, Sucker Brook, needs work
Forest Road 177 – Tunnel Brook is not passable
Forest Road 202 – French Settlement is not passable
Forest 68, Cobb Hill needs work
Forest Road 45 – Chittenden Brook is not passable
Forest Road 39A to Texas Falls and picnic area – not passable – observation area washed out (bridge ok).
Forest Road 91- Facette Hill – not passable
Forest Road 100 – Taylor Brook – not passable
Forest Road 49 – Boyden Brook – not passable
Do not rely on the Green Mountain National Forest web site for information on state and local jurisdiction roads. Every unit is working extremely hard to repair and open roads. Consult other sources as well for updated information.

[Lauriep]

The Green Mountain N.F. closure affects the entire A.T. in Vermont, from the Massachusetts border to the New Hampshire border.

More info later.

Laurie Potteiger
Appalachian Trail Conservancy

[Wobegon]

What a shame... lucky for me I finished my thru-hike last week...

[Bags4266]

I am planning on doing a sobo Long trail trip starting on Sept 18th hope its open by then

[Cosmo]

Here's the latest from GMC (Thurs afternoon):
http://gmc.convio.net/site/MessageViewer?em_id=1881.0&dlv_id=7241

Cosmo

[Lauriep]

Here is some guidance for A.T. hikers we received this afternoon from Alex Sienkiewicz, District Ranger of the Manchester RD of the Green Mountain National Forest:

"As a preface, the closure order is an action made in order to protect public health and safety and to preclude possible incidents on the Forest that may further tax an already maxed-out emergency response infrastructure here in New England.

With that said, my general advice to those on the trail:

Proceed to the nearest trailhead that is convenient to services and exit the National Forest. When off the Forest, ...[hikers] should anticipate that it will take days or weeks until we have an understading on all of the storm-related risks that are out there. In other words, folks should not plan for re-entry to the National Forest in the near future.

My advice to those not presently on the trail:

Postpone ...[your] hikes until more information is known about existing hazards. There is no certainty as to when the closure may be lifted.

Again---there are MANY hazards. Many river and stream crossings are unsafe. Many roads, bridges, and trail sections are washed out. It is in each hiker's best interest to leave/stay off the National Forest not only for personal safety, but also to avoid stress to an over-taxed EMS system here in VT."

Laurie Potteiger
Appalachian Trail Conservancy

[Del Q]

I was planning on a Manchester VT to Hanover 100 mile section hike starting next week, changed the trip to Hanover to Crawford Notch. Going with 2 friends for the 1st 3 days, Vermont would have been a tough way for them to experience backpacking on the AT, will go back to Vermont next Fall.

Would not have been fun to be out there when this Hurricane hit................

[-SEEKER-]

The Green Mountain N.F. closure affects the entire A.T. in Vermont, from the Massachusetts border to the New Hampshire border.

More info later.

Laurie Potteiger
Appalachian Trail Conservancy

Whew! Glad I finished this section this year.

[WingedMonkey]

Small portion of Green Mountain Forest opens. Around Bromley Ski Area. AT still closed.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/greenmountain/htm/greenmountain/links/press/docs/fy2011/GMNF%20OPENS%20SMALL%20SECTION%20OF%20FOREST.pdf

[Hiker8261]

While there is more of the GMNF open as of yesterday, essentially, the Vermont section of the AT is still closed. The link to use for checking is off the GMNF homepage:
http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gjAwhwtDDw9_AI8zPwhQ oY6BdkOyoCAPkATlA!/?ss=110920&navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&cid=FSE_003853&navid=091000000000000&pnavid=null&position=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&ttype=main&pname=Green%20Mountain-%20Home

chris

[Yukon]

They claimed they have 2, 20 person chainsaw teams out clearing blowdowns on the trail. Before they closed the national forest, I hiked from Rt. 103 to Rt. 140 and saw only one blow down. I'm wondering where all these trees are that they have to cut. Just hope they reopen the trail soon, really don't want to miss my annual fall foliage hikes in the southern section...