Prospect Rock Trail in Flux
Jul 9th, 2009 by Jack
Some readers of this blog who were coming from Maine to Vermont for a hike emailed Hidden Vermont and asked for some maps and info about the Prospect Rock Trail route to Stratton Pond. I provided some help, and I hope they had a great trip, but I realized I hadn’t been on the Prospect Rock Trail in over a year so I decided to hike it myself. I was disappointed and I apologize to the reader that I wasn’t current enough on that trail’s condition to have suggested an alternative. Below is my quick update on the Prospect Rock Trail.
I took a quick after-work hike up Prospect Rock Trail and was disappointed by the amount of roadwork going on. Large sections of the old logging road have recently been widened and graded. It now seems more like a dirt road than a trail. There were several pieces of heavy equipment parked roadside and I could only imagine the racket that must ensue during the daytime. My suggestion is to avoid this trail until the work is finished. It might offer a decent snowshoe trek come winter. If it weren’t for the nice views from Prospect Rock, I’d say avoid it entirely.
If you’re looking for an alternative route into Lye Brook Wilderness, try the Lye Brook Falls trail, or enter via the Stratton Pond or Bourne Pond trails from Kelly Stand Road east of Arlington.