Vermont Connection Seriously Considered

based on a news article in the Addison County Independent

The Trail Around Middlebury, Vermont, the "TAM" as it is known locally, is a major project of the Middlebury Area Land Trust. It is a 16-mile footpath, encircling the village of Middlebury and linking several hundred acres of town land, conserved properties, schools, and other local landmarks.

In the revived effort to connect the North Country Trail eastward to connect with the Long Trail, and thus the Appalachian Trail, Middlebury may be an important link. All of this connection needs to be created in Addison County, within which Middlebury is located.

“We’re seeing this as an opportunity to connect the TAM to other trail systems, like Moosalamoo, Snake Mountain and Dead Creek,” said Josh Phillips, executive director of the Middlebury Area Land Trust, which maintains the TAM.

When the NCT was authorized in 1980, the original plan was to connect with the Appalachian Trail, but that plan has languished for nearly three decades, and the eastern terminus has been at Crown Point, New York. With so much current interest in trail connections, the time may be right to extend the NCT into Vermont.

This would allow hikers to connect easily to the Atlantic Ocean via the International Appalachian Trail. Such a connection would be one more piece of what is becoming known as the Sea to Sea route, first hiked by Andrew Skurka in 2004-2005.

Middlebury Area Land Trust