The West Windsor Conservation Commission, together with the West Windsor Selectboard and the Upper Valley Trails Alliance, officially opened the relocated Bicentennial Trail last Saturday at the Town Forest Parking Lot, located at 701 Coaching Ln in Brownsville.
According to Upper Valley Trails Alliance (UVTA) development director Randy Richardson, much of the old trail was heavily eroded and needed extensive work. Over the past several years, under the supervision of the Conservation Commission, UVTA has redesigned, relocated, and reconstructed the new trail. This trail now travels first to the upper ski area, where it joins with the Ascutney Outdoors trail, and then connects to the Brownsville Trail to the summit at North Peak.
Ted Seigler, chair of the Conservation Commission in West Windsor, commented on the construction process and how this was a town passion project, twelve years in the making. “We made the decision over a decade ago to try and make this central trail that connects the town to Mount Ascutney more usable. The trail was very eroded and went straight up the mountain with little to no connection. In working through reconstruction plans, we found that an old logging road could be used to connect the old trail to the ski area, and then we began constructing a proper loop. We contracted with the UVTA about four years ago to begin the actual construction. They worked tirelessly and dedicated a lot of manpower to this project. We are beyond grateful to have this trail open and accessible to the public.”
Dozens of people showed up last Saturday for the trail opening, in spite of the cold weather, with half of the attendees ascending the summit. The opening event was held in collaboration with the annual Ascutney Trails Association picnic. The Bicentennial Trail is now open to all.
For more on this, please see our May 29 edition of the Vermont Standard.
