Best Trails in Green Mountain National Forest

Great hike!! Not for the weak though! Beautiful views!

This was such a fun and great hike. The woods are enchanting. I loved the big boulders, blue lichen and falls!

The first 2 miles are a stroll through the woods, the next mile and a half to summit is a pretty steep incline. Good workout, did it under 3 hours but didnt spend much time on summit.

Lovely hike on rolling terrain. Would disagree with some others opinions about how difficult the ascent was. Yes, climb was steady but not grueling or too taxing. Scramble at the top wasn’t long enough to get you winded before emerging into an open summit. Good amount of friendly people up there today. Enjoyable hike. 4:05 with stop for waterfall, summit pictures and my hiking partners asthma attack.

Excellent, well-maintained trail with amazing views. I purposely hiked it on a day the gondola was not running, so I had the summit to myself for a (very windy) 5-10 minutes. The first 2 1/4 miles is basically a walk in the woods. The next 1 1/4 mile is a steep climb up to the Long/Appalachian Trails, gaining roughly 1,800 feet. The climb moderates along the short Long Trail stretch, but the final 0.2 miles along the Killington Peak Spur is a near-vertical scramble, the upper part of which is exposed. The round trip took me about 4.5 hours, including half an hour at the summit. 2.5 hours of that was going up, 1.5 hours of THAT in the last 1.8 miles. The round-trip distance as measured by my GPS is 8 miles (4 each way).

This trail was DIFFICULT, not moderate. The last 0.2 miles to the summit is a near-vertical scramble, though it is supposedly possible to avoid this by using a ski trail from the Cooper Shelter. The bypass may make it the upper end of moderate. You will want a jacket for the summit, as it was VERY windy and cool at 4,230 feet even though it was nearly 80 degrees at the base. If one desires, this could be an overnight trip as the Cooper Shelter is close to the summit.

Had a great time hiking all the way up to the summit. Loving Vermont so far! Took us about 2.5 hrs at a brisk pace. The other reviews aren’t kidding, it gets steep at the end.

Took us 5 hours, this is including a long break at the mini waterfalls and a long lunch at the top. A walk in the woods for the first half of the trail which was a nice warm-up. The last quarter mile was a steep rock scramble, essentially climbing stairs. The rock scrambles were in the shade which was nice. The bare summit on a clear day made for amazing views. A few other people were at the summit enjoying the weather and view. A quiet, polite, and friendly group. My calves and glutes were very sore the day after. Hiked in trail runners. Be careful on the way down.

Overgrown, undermarked and poorly maintained, and limited views at the top. Traverses a variety of ecosystems, including deciduous forest, swamp, and evergreen.

Great easy hike. Stunning views from the top. Well worth it!

We travelled up the Rattlesnake Cliffs trail and down the Aunt Jenny.
Both seemed equivalent to me and moderate difficulty seems accurate.
We went on a pleasant June morning about 70F 20C.
Of course you cannot get to the scenic overlook between April and September because of the peregrine falcons nesting.
I would like to do it again when it is open.
Enjoyed the falls at the bottom.
The path at the top has been re-routed but will still take you to the overlook.
Follow the signs not the all trails map.

This was a beautiful trail.
We climbed it on a June morning in pleasant sunshine.
Started relatively flat for the first half then progressively steeper.
The last couple of hundred feet were a rock scramble and was too steep for us (58 & 63) particularly as the peak was by now above the cloud-line, so with no prospect of views and some regrets we turned back.
Rained most of the way back but we still felt elated by the hike.
Definitely recommended.
Aching cheek muscles from smiling so much!
Did not realise there was a cafe at the top. Should have researched better.

Amended to add.... Having done a few more trails now (this was my first) - it is NOT moderate. It is HARD.
Anything as steep as this was in the final stages (a near vertical rock scramble) is HARD (Particularly taking into account the length of the trail - 4 miles each way)
Up until then moderate was a fair rating.

This is a good trail if you want a non-technical climb with a lot of elevation gain. Great for trail running up if you have the ability, and down if you just want to flow with the trail not worrying about boulders everywhere. I've climbed all 46 peaks, and while this packs in the elevation gain, it is nowhere near as technical as any of the high peaks. I did it 2x yesterday as a trail run and ended with 13 miles, 5000' gain. I took the right that goes to the old fire tower peak first on both climbs. It's worth mentioning there are a few trails here that might get you lost if you don't map it out first. I just used Strava "heatmap" in the route builder to see where everyone else climbs it and followed that route. There seemed to be an older route parallel to the trail that was overgrown, but it's not like you can get lost if they are both going to the same place, the top of the mountain.

Steep over the last mile or so before Emily Proctor shelter. A few downed trees detracted from the experience.

Nice hike with a lot of interesting things to see in the woods. Very wooded until the very top. It was a little hard to tell when you reached the very top, I think we made it. A few stream crossings to navigate.

This hike was a bit more difficult than I had imagined, lots of rocks! Wet at the end before the fall. Keep going the view is amazing from the very top! Long hike but worth it. Would say for a more experienced than medium but I also had a 56 yer old climbing with me :)

I loved this trail! Trailhead was easily found on Jim Dwire road in Bristol, parking on side of street. The beginning of the hike is fun and isn’t too steep, it’s pretty gradual, and the trail was relatively dry, but a good amount of bugs this time of year (as you ascend the bugs are not a problem). When you reach the LT go right and continue to the summit. The beginning section of the LT did have plenty of blow downs but not difficult to go over or under them, but it was fun and rugged. 2 hours up, and just under 2 down. Definitely will become a favorite of mine

Not an easy hike up but once you get to the overlook, all of it is worth it! Amazing views makes you forget everything bad

Great day hike up to the Emily Proctor shelter and back down. We saw 3 people on the trail and 2 people at the shelter that were taking other trails onto continue the loop. Our GPS tracked this as 6.9 miles from the parking lot to the shelter and back. The last 1.25 miles are a steep climb. We saw lots and lots of moose poop but no actual animals. We also had our dog with us and she had bear bells on so that accounts for part of it. The beginning of the trail is very narrow and has lots of overgrowth. There are also a lot of creeks to cross (probably as many as 25 each way) so wear water proof boots and long pants. The shelter had a fire pit, wash pit, and was about 10 ft from a creek that we saw a backpacker pumping water out of. Also, the road in is a bit rough so I would definitely recommend having an AWD/higher clearance car to get in.

Amazing views.

Very tough hike, with almost no relief from uphill madness! I have hiked several high peaks in VT, and this hike was on of the the most strenuous. It was a great challenge and recommend to anyone looking for a rewarding and awesome workout.

One side note was the summit, which is also the top of a long road to the top. Sort of takes away some of the glory seeing people who just drove up a road enjoying the same views, without the hard work!

Nice steady hike to top. Great views of surrounding mountains. Wild flowers coming in. Trail in best condition I’ve seen it. Black flies not bad with steady breeze

Sentier assez pénible au début, une route en pierre qui ne cesse pas de monter. De Plus le chemin à prendre était très flou, nous ne somme pas sur d'être aller au bon endroit ou si le sentier continuait. Nous avons croiser d'autres randonneurs aussi perdu que nous.

No indication whatsoever... we met a couple of hikers who told us they missed the entrance of the trail (where it leaves the boring sand road). So we went right as soon as we could. We reached a viewpoint that was ok but maybe not worth the climb. We did not see what we were supposed to see, so I guess we didn’t take the right trail !

We were dropped off grout pond road and hiked our way back to Mont Snow. It was almost 12 miles and grout pond was the first part of the hike. Amazing day!!! Lots of unbelievable views! We saw tons of moose tracks and moose poop but no moose. I am sure there are many sightings on this trail. The catamount trail is what we took all the way down to the dam and then we hiked a snowmobile trail back to mont snow. My biggest knock on the AllTrails app is it kills your phone battery.

The walk in is beautiful & we enjoyed the well-kept, wide trail (including some very interesting rock features). I do not agree with the last post about the trails being well marked, though. There's one map at the trailhead but no markers throughout the walk (and there are some other side trails off the main trail, which aren't included in that trailhead map).

the falls a definite reward at the end. steady climb but not too difficult.

Great hike very pretty view but with many gnats. Amazing time.

Quick one mile loop with varied scenery and enjoyable stops to read poetry along the way.

We went up the Rattlesnake Cliffs trail and back down the Aunt Jenny Trail. Great view of the lake from the cliff vista.

The beginning is steep, rain made it harder than usual, good boots or hiking shores are a must. Once up on the ridge, the hike is easy, the views are nice. If you have packed some sandwiches, the top is a good place to eat and enjoy the vistas.