June 2, 2018
National Trails Day

Bald Mountain Trail – Bennington, Woodford (moderate/hard)
Join the Green Mountain Club for some healthy hiking and light trail work hiking from Trailhead-to-Trailhead**, or take a self-guided hike to White Rocks at your own pace for great views. Leaders will be available before 9:30 for questions for those doing self-guided hike. Cars will be shuttled for Trailhead-to-Trailhead hike.
When: 9:30 AM-2:30PM, June 2, 2018
Where: 449 N.Branch Street trailhead
Length: 6 miles total from Woodford to N.Branch St
5.6 miles roundtrip, N. Branch St to White Rocks.
Difficulty: Moderate pace; moderate/steep terrain. Moderate length.
Leaders: Silvia Cassano and Tim Marr, Green Mountain Club – Bennington Section
*RSVP Required as group size limited. Call 802-673-6990 or email [email protected].
**GMC provides tools, but bring loppers if you have some. Bring plenty of water, bag lunch, and wear appropriate shoes/layers.

Bennington Museum – Bennington (easy, family/stroller friendly)
Take a break anytime from dawn to dusk and enjoy the George Aiken Wildflower Trail at the Bennington Museum. The trail showcases the native wildflowers and ferns that George Aiken loved, propagated, and wrote about in his book, Pioneering with Wildflowers.
When: Dawn to dusk, June 2, 2018. Tours available before 1pm.
Where: Bennington Museum, 75 Main St. Bennington
Length: 1/3 mile
Difficulty: Easy. Children and strollers welcome.
Leaders: Jackie Marro, [email protected]; Sara Bonthius, [email protected]

Robert Frost Trail – North Bennington (moderate)
Hike two miles from Lake Paran to the Robert Frost Stone House Museum and back, through woods where Frost lived and wrote ” Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”
When: 10AM, June 2, 2018
Where: Lake Paran, Lake Paran Entrance Rd off Paran Rd in North Bennington
Length: 2 miles out and back. 4 mikes total. You can hike one way by arranging your own transportation or pickup from the trail parking lot off route 7A near the Robert Frost Stone House Museum, 121 Route 7A
Difficulty: Leisurely pace; easy to moderate terrain; easy to moderate length
Leader: Rob Woolmington, Fund for North Bennington
[email protected]

Family Friendly Farm & Forest Adventure (easy)
When: 1pm, June 2, 2018
Where: Merck Forest & Farmland Welcome Center, 3270 Route 315, Rupert, VT
Length: 1 – 1.5 miles
Difficulty: Leisurely pace, easy terrain (moderate with an all-terain stroller), easy length.
Leader: Chris Hubbard, Education Director, 802.394.7836

Shaftsbury SP – Shaftsbury (moderate)
Shaftsbury Tree Warden Jim White will lead a mile long interpretive hike around the lake, including history of the park and tree identification.
When: 10am, June 2, 2018
Where: Shaftsbury State Park, 6605 Route 7A
Length: 0.8 mile
Difficutly: Leisurely pace; easy to moderate terrain (careful stepping over the tree roots); easy length
Leader: Tim Scoggins, [email protected]
Free park entry to first 25 participants (courtesy Tim Scoggins, Shaftsbury Selectboard) then $4 Adults, $2 Children

Ninja Path – Bennington (easy)
Discover the Ninja Path. Created and maintained by the Ninja Trail Builders, a group of volunteers who couldn’t wait for government to build the trail they wanted, so they did it themselves.
9:30AM, June 2, 2018 – Hampton Inn (67A) parking lot.
Leaders: Zirwat Chowdhury, [email protected]; Mark Anders, [email protected].
1 mile (round trip 2 miles).
Difficulty: Leisurely pace; easy terrain, pavement and soft ground

and because one Trails day is not enough:
BATS – Bennington (mountain biking)
Trail Work – Bennington Area Trail System
Sunday, June 3rd
9:30 AM-12:30 PM
Meeting location TBD. Check BATS Facebook.com/batsvt or batsvt.org/events for final meeting location.
RSVP suggested: [email protected]
Digging tools will be provided, but you may wish to bring your shovel, loppers or small hand saw.