Bradford, Vt.
Flagged about five years ago by Bradford Conservation Commission members, the 1.58-mile Wilderness Trail was built this summer thanks to the efforts of Upper Valley Trails Alliance’s Summer Odyssey program, a Tuck School of Business summer program and Hyperthem’s community service team. Featuring relatively steep terrain, a multitude of primitive rock formations and bear-activity markings amid thick forest, the Wilderness Trail more closely resembles a path one might find on a 4,000-foot peak rather than Wright’s modest 1,822-foot scale.
The hike described here requires two vehicles and incorporates the network’s original Wright’s Mountain trail. At 415 feet of elevation gain along 3.2 miles, it’s recommended as a family hike with children or for elderly hikers. For a single-vehicle hike that’s more challenging at 4.8 miles and approximately 1,200 feet of elevation gain, park at the trailhead on Vermont Route 25 and follow Rube’s Route to the Wilderness Trail, continuing on Wright’s Mountain Trail to the summit.
For this hike, spot one vehicle at the small Route 25 trailhead and continue to the network’s main parking lot on Wright’s Mountain Road (see pullout for mileage and directions).
From the Wright’s Mountain trailhead, enter the forest’s former-logging road path and, if you go soon, enjoy the sights and smells contained in the height of autumn all around you. This side of the mountain can be breezy, so take a moment to hear the wind rustling the leaves and watch as orange and yellow maple leaves drift down to cover an otherwise pine needle-covered floor.
Pass a stone wall on the left and arrive at the junction with Appreciation Way, a path built in honor of Wright’s volunteers that meanders in a switchback pattern for a half-mile before connecting back with the Wright’s Mountain Trail near a view of Mount Moosilauke. Utilize Appreciation Way for a more gradual route; otherwise, continue straight.
Stay right at intersections with Sylvia’s Trail and Ernie’s Trail, continuing moderately uphill on rocky, rooty terrain.
After the junction with the end of Appreciation Way (don’t miss the short spur trail on the left for the Moosilauke view at a bench), you’ll come across stakes in the ground with arrows, as if pointing you away from a large slab of granite. The stakes were erected to steer runners away from the potentially slippery rock during the annual Race to the Top of Bradford in June; it’s OK to hike over it in dry conditions.
The trail soon begins to descend, opening up to Wright’s cabin/camping area and its panoramic westerly view that is nothing short of stunning during foliage season. Perch on a rock with lunch to enjoy the expanse of the Waits River valley and well beyond, including Mount Ascutney’s unmistakable facade to the southwest, bumpy Groton State Forest and the Worcester Range to the northwest and the scattered high peaks of the Green Mountains on the distant horizon.
Continue on the Wright’s Mountain Trail, opposite the way you entered the vista, and navigate down some tricky downhill sections that can be slippery with leaves underfoot. Pass several side-facing, lichen-covered boulders and finally arrive at the Wilderness Trail, well-marked with blue signage and yellow blazes.
Zigzag over gray and purplish rock streaked with quartz downhill, eventually reaching a rock staircase built by UVTA program coordinator John Taylor and the Summer Odyssey team. (The group also filled in a nearby crevasse with small rocks to make it traversable as part of the path.)
About a 20-foot section still contains remnants of shrubbery — this is where the Odyssey team didn’t finish raking after encountering ground wasps.
The aforementioned ruggedness of the Wilderness Trail presents itself from here, with dodgy switchback footing alongside boulders and forest oddities such as root systems slithering above ground. Older-growth maple, oak and ash dominate the landscape, along with occasional groves of hemlock and beech. The former logging area also contains some partially open patches, their floors grown in with berry bushes and ferns not high enough to block glimpses of the sky.
Pass rock covered in pale green reindeer moss down another steep switchback section, across old logging skidder marks to a bevy of white birch as the trail flattens. A short distance later, multiple beech trees contain clear bear claw markings, a sign of them climbing the trees to feed on nuts.
Now about a slow-paced two hours into the hike, the trail turns right at a junction and widens, beginning to resemble an old carriage road though it was more likely originally built for logging.
The Wilderness Trail soon ends at a field with deer-hunting stands on privately conserved land, where it connects with Rube’s Route. Turning left here would bring you to the Devil’s Den caves area and Wright’s network of shorter trails on its southeast base; go right instead to descend to where your first car is parked on the Route 25 trailhead.
There are no blazes necessary along this angled road, one that would be a lot more heart-thumping during an ascent. Wildflowers such as bottle gentian were spotted near the end of Rube’s Route, which features a view of prominent Hackett Hill to the south and, eventually, the Waits River across Route 25 as you approach your car.
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.