Nuzzled against the roof of northeastern Vermont along Route 114, straddling the southern Quebec border, are a couple of short and scenic hikes located just a few miles apart in the small town of Norton.
Not well-known to many hikers, the two routes are not only on different sides of the same roadway but also lead to pretty views from rocky outposts near their summits.
Brousseau Mountain and Averill Mountain don’t look like much from road, but the wooded bulges rise high above area waterways in a town so small, it wouldn’t surprise me if livestock outnumbered people (159 as of 2016).
The plan was for my wife, Jan, and I to hike both mountains in one day. That’s pretty easy to do, since the combined distance is just three miles and the trailheads are very close to each other.
The Northeast Kingdom’s remoteness was on display in this picturesque corner of Vermont with its farms, meadows and mountains. Even the gravel Brousseau Mountain Road on the south side of Route 114 seemed isolated and glorious as it showcased long views before a gate declared it was time to stop driving and start hiking up the 2,756-foot mountain and its lookout ledge. With another car parked there, perhaps the outing wasn’t as distant as I thought.
So we followed the dirt road around the gate on a warm September morning, registering at the sign-in box, and traveled up the narrow, luge-like, wet and initially rooty trail by an apple tree that Jan noticed and through the fragrant balsam fir. About midway along the trek (1.6 miles roundtrip), ferns, spruce, birch and other flora made for a delightful experience. Bog bridges also elevated us over some mud.
Along the tapered path, we met the occupants of that parked car, a New Hampshire couple living not far away, who enjoy traipsing around the NEK’s mountains. They also imparted some local knowledge: From Brousseau Mountain, it’s just over 60 miles to Mount Washington.
The forested mountaintop, with its geodetic summit marker, didn’t afford a chance for a peek at the Rockpile, but after venturing downward slightly, the trail led to the soothing lookout and the peak’s dramatic cliffs. Peregrine falcons have been known to nest on the precarious precipices, and when they do, the lookout may be closed to hikers.
But on this day, as the boreal Northeast Kingdom held forth from the ledge, the distant White Mountains were cloaked in the clouds to the south. Circular 483-acre Little Averill Pond, a fine place to paddle, sat among the spruce, fir and maple. Brousseau Mountain towered over it from the northwest. On the horizon were small sub-3,000-foot mountains like Sable, Black and Green along with Monadnock Mountain and its fire tower. It was a small mountain with a big punch.
When we returned to the trailhead, we weren’t alone. Two other cars were parked there with two hikers preparing to hike Brousseau. Both from outside northern New England, one of the hikers was even planning to climb Averill afterward like we were. Who knew these hikes were so popular?
Over to the Averill Mountain trailhead Jan and I went on the north side of Route 114 by Lake View Road. There’s no trailhead parking, but it’s possible to leave your car by the side of the road.
The trail up the 2,240-foot mountain was first camouflaged by wildflowers. Shorter (1.4 miles roundtrip) and steeper than Brousseau, the pathway started by a short boggy section before drying out and heading virtually straight up a peak noted for its crevices, cliffs and small boulders.
Though the trail passes through private land, the mountain is also part of the Averill Mountain Wildlife Management Area. The 500-plus acre parcel is owned by the state and managed by the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.
According to the department, it is forested with red maple, sugar maple, yellow birch, beech and ash. The ice storm of 1998 caused severe damage to nearly all of the trees, stripping about half of the limbs from most of them and giving them an eerie appearance at times.
Eventually, the trail led to a rocky outlook with a view of 812-acre Great Averill Pond, another pleasant paddling lake. Standing at various spots, it was possible to look across to Brousseau Mountain and the gravel road that led to the starting point on a day that proved two trailheads are better than one.
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Marty Basch can be reached at marty.basch@gmail.com.