Long Trail — Attraction in Stowe

HIGHLY RECOMMEND A SUNNY, CLEAR DAY FOR THIS HIKE. This was NOT an ordinary hike. This was a treacherous, somewhat strenuous, jaw clenching hike that included hiking through a forest, climbing (literally on all fours) boulders, getting rained on, getting rained on WHILE climbing boulders, a ridge hike that would have been amazing if it wasn’t so cloudy and the visibility so little, getting hailed on while on the ridge, 35 mph winds, getting hailed on WHILE on the ridge with 35 mph winds, being completely soaked for more than half the hike down to your underwear, and your phone dying so you have to complete the rest of the hike by memory. In short, would recommend this hike on a sunny day and make sure you bring a portable charger. We parked at the resort and began our hike on the Long Trail South trail. This trail crossed 108 early on and continued on into the forest. Not too strenuous for the first portion, but does involve climbing some rocks and boulders later on till in the hike. We took the Profanity Trail to the ridge since this was labeled as the “Bad Weather Bypass” trail and it was raining. This was still very strenuous and scary especially in the rain. When we reached the ridge we took the Long Trail to the visitors center. I’m sure this trail would have been beautiful had it not been raining, windy with...

We hiked the Long Trail to the Chin of Mount Mansfield today and then hiked back down the same trail. The gondola is closed for the season. Also, of note, there is snow at the top of the mountain which was visible before we started the hike.

What we didn't realize was that the snow at the top was melting quickly (it was 55 degrees out), which caused most of the stone/boulder trails to become endless waterfalls. While it was very beautiful, this hike was NOT easy.

The roughly 3.4 miles up took us 4 hours as the trails were extremely wet or had waterfalls/rivers running down them. It took us 2.5 hours to climb/hike down.

The "trails" after the 1st mile aren't your usual hiking trails. They are just stone boulders for 2 miles that you have to scramble up. This was exhausting on the way up and rather challenging on the way down.

Would not recommend this hike for families or people with hip/knee issues. I am a runner in my 30's and my knees were hurting bad on...

We climbed Mount Mansfield following the Long trail North (2800 feet of elevation from the Notch highway).

Trail is rated as hard...this is an understatement! Although you don't need ropes or climbing gear there are a few sections (especially near the top) which are very exposed and steep.

For two relatively in shape mid-30 year olds, the ascent to the peak took just under 3 hours.

We decided to come down via gondola and therefore took the Cliff trail down. That trail is relatively short (approx 1 hour) but has some rather technical parts. Fortunately there are a few metal hand rails in sections to assist you in...