Community Work day, Saturday, May 3rd from 9am-12pm. We have several projects we will be working on. Helping Master Gardner’s in the front entrance and the natural fence on Escalator. The natural fence posts have been installed by GE Aerospace volunteers. GE also cut some saplings for us to weave on Saturday, May 3rd.
Many hands make light work hope to see you there.
Bring water, gloves, sunscreen and bug dope.
Conditions were perfect for riding fat bikes on Sunday, March 2nd. It was clear, bright sunny blue skies, no wind so temps were great for riding. Fire pits going at the aid station along with peanut butter chocolate treats, Kate’s Real food, Cabot cheese, Fiddlehead beer and a cool Insane firepit. The parking lot had the fire pit, beer and burritos!
Huge shout out to our sponsors: MTBVT and Ranch Camp. The event would not happen without their energy. Rutland Recreation for their help in all the knick knacks-like picnic tables, plowing the parking lot-it’s the endless the support Pine Hill Partnership receives from them. Kate’s Real Foods, Cabot Cheese and Fiddlehead beer!
Pictures from event can be found here: https://photography.davidjenne.com/Galleries/Rutland-Cold-Rolled-2025
Dave asks ‘My only ask would that if they feel so inclined, a donation to Pine Hill Partnership in return would be really welcome. A 📸 credit to @davidjenne would also be nice.’ Donation page is here: https://pinehillpartnership.org/donate-2/
We were featured on WCAX too! https://www.wcax.com/2025/03/02/marble-city-gears-up-cold-roll/
Stay tuned for our 2026 fat bike event!
December 23, 2024: We do not have enough snow to groom. There is about 2-3″ of light fluffy snow that is riding great. Please use a 3.8″ or wider tire please.
We received two $5,000 checks from two families asking us to match the total. We are on our way to reaching that extra $10,000. Can you help? Any size donation is great. Donate here
Why this contribution match is important is for the deferred trail maintenance we put on the back burner building Maximum Capacity and Milk Run. These two trails took us almost 6 years to build. We did not do any maintenance to speak of during that time frame.
Our trails are showing their age with rolling grade dips diminished so water is running down the trail tread which is not sustainable. It’s not as glorious like a new trail but it’s necessary with the heavier rains and increase number of users the park is experiencing. If we don’t control the water now we won’t have trails 20 years from now.
Our goal for next summer is to work on drainage’s on the pedestrian trails that have been neglected for many years. Svelte Tiger between Seeping Ledge bridge and Watkins Wood Rd will get some serious attention as it’s one of the main trails for mountain bikers of all abilities to reach other parts of the park. Other trails will receive spot treatments to improve the drainage’s.
We hope to build some progression jumps in the park next year. This is in the early planning stages now so stay tuned.
Long term project is a universal accessible trail around the Lower Giorgetti trail. We have a design/concept plan. We are moving through the wetland permitting now. Rutland Recreation and Pine Hill Partnership are collaborating on a grant to pay for this trail. This is all in the very early stages of planning. If you see blue and some orange flagging that will be the new trail that will have a crushed 3/8th’s minus surface.
Pine Hill Partnership had a busy summer in the park with trail refurbishing.
Spring started off with KSA Built reworking Rosey’s Rollover now has nice built in features. Rosey’s Rollover now connects over to Bone Spur and Freefall. KSA Built also reworked Lower Jersey Turnpike that was in dire need of trail tread work. Annex and Sore Elbow both have rock gardens that people were expanding the width of the trail to avoid the rocks. We now have two ride arounds so folks can avoid the rocks if they prefer that option. The rock gardens are still there on both trails.
Killington Mountain School came in one morning and helped move a lot of dirt on Overlook. The turnpiking was raised about a foot, Lichen Rock and the turn just west of Lichen Rock was refurbished so it would drain better.
Yes plan hiking group worked on the lower part of Voldemort to raise the trail tread to prevent the sogginess in the spring and late fall.
Yes plan from Grove St. campus came in and hiked up to near the suspension bridge to help turnpike a section of trail that was too low and holding water.
In May the local community volunteers built a pretty cool feature on Furlough. Thanks to KSA Built for finishing the ride off ramp and rock rider over Nugget!
VYCC came in for 3 days in early July to help start refurbishing the trail tread on PA4J. With their help for 3 days and 4 volunteers for the next bunch of weeks we repaired 1686′ of trail tread. A lot of dirt was moved by Nemo. We spent 815 volunteer hours to improve rolling grade dips, banked corners and generally getting water off the trail tread quickly.
PA4J was built in 2007 and has no trail tread work done in the 17 years. As you can see from this picture how much trail degradation has happened in last 17 years. We have lost about 10″ of mineral soil due to traffic and more frequent heavy rains. We rebuilt the base layer with flat rocks, then moved many loads of Nemo dirt over the top.
It took 4 volunteers most of the summer to finish the last section of PA4J. We managed about 120′ of trail tread work per day. Blew a tire on Nemo and popped a clutch cable that we were able to fix up in the woods. Thanks to GT Power being open the Friday after the 4th of July to fix our tire!
Lost pulaski in 2011 found this year in the dirt pit we were digging in, with part of it’s handle.
Full loads of Nemo dirt on PA4J and pulling the flat tire off Nemo.
Our goal this summer was to install 3 more of our big benches. We were able to get one on Lunch Rock at the top of Broken Handlebar, Rocky Pond and Main St/Meadow Way on Redfield trails. These benches were pre-cut back in July on one of the hottest days and we were ready to move out the 6×6 timbers of the lumber trailer. Thank you maintenance staff at Rutland Rec for helping us level a spot and gather a large rock for the bench at Rocky Pond.
Late August brought an Eagle Scout teeter totter project to fruition. Colton Lapham reached out winter of 2023 about an Eagle Scout project. Nate Netsch drew up the CAD drawing. Colton went and procured all the pieces and parts. Sunday, August 18th Colton’s Scout troop built and installed the new teeter totter. We couldn’t have done it on a wetter day either. It started out dry but by the time we left it was raining quite hard.
Early September brought us a Pro crew from VYCC. These are college age folks who are into working outdoors. They were happy to be digging dirt vs crushing rock like their previous 3 weeks of working on stone stairs in NH.
With the pro crew’s help we rebuilt Underdog from Centrifuge bridge to Rocky Pond. It was in dire need removing water off the trail tread quickly. In the course of week we repaired 917′ of trail with 2 volunteers working with the crew every day. Keith Wight joined us for a day which was great as it was time to shore up a banked corner. The old log stump that was in the ‘S’ turn was rotted enough that we were able to remove it.
Underdog was built in 2006 and has very little trail tread work done to it over the years.
These pictures show how the rocks kept people from riding the original line. We popped the rocks, reclaimed the original trail tread, moved mineral soil to improve out-slope and covered with leaves to keep the new mineral soil on the trail.
Your membership dollars are very important to Pine Hill Park. Pine Hill Partnership who maintains the trails receives very little financial assistance from Rutland City taxpayers. The more financial support we receive from the community the more we can improve trails and features in the park. Please go to our donate page. Any size donations are welcome.
We are looking to hire 3 part time folks to help us in the park next summer. Working with Pine Hill Partnership and Rutland Recreation maintenance team. If you have anyone interested please send us an email at pinehillpartnership@gmail.com.
Thank you for reading and hope to see you on the trails.
Volunteers along with KSA Built have put in two new features on Furlough.
Name this feature by sending pinehillpartnership@gmail.com an email with ‘name that feature’ in the subject line.
Winner gets a choice of Pine Hill Partnership t-shirt or hat.
Updated: April 1, 2024:
Trails are open. Please be smart when you ride. We have more significant snow in the forecast for mid-week.
Don’t be this entitled mountain biker. This occurred after the 2 foot snowstorm on Saturday, March 23rd and March 30th. The rut in top picture had already been repaired.
IS IN THE BOOKS!
The Rutland Cold Rolled Fat bike Festival went off snow-or-no-snow—and as usual, was a HOOT!
Cold Roll Rutland was a blast despite lack of snow for 2024.
The vendor village was full with cool stuff from Green Mountain bikes, Ranch Camp, Base Camp, Down Valley Bikes, Analog bikes, Porcupine bikes. Plus Appalachian Distillery from Middlebury came!
The aid station was at Rocky Pond which provided picturesque views to the north. Complete with Fiddlehead beer, snacks and Shelley’s chocolate peanut butter bars!
Despite the non-winter type weather folks had a good time. Yes, it would have been nice to ride on snow but for the most part trails were dry and in great shape.
More photos of the event can be found here.
Cold Roll for 2025 will be February 9th! Maybe we can conjure up some more winter type weather next year.
COLD ROLLED TIME!
Rutland Cold Rolled Fat bike Festival is back. Presented by Fiddlehead Brewing, and hosted by Mountain Bike Vermont and Pine Hill Partnership in Rutland, Vermont, Cold Rolled offers a day of fatbike stoke on cold-rolled single-track! Join us Sunday February 11th, 2024 as fat bikers from around New England and New York gather in Rutland to lead a charge with Old Man Winter, replete with group rides, demos, and hearty brews around warm fires.
Tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rutland-cold-rolled-fatbike-fest-2024-tickets-775120214427?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
The event will feature a vendor village, rides for all ages and abilities, and groomed trails for your fat biking pleasure. Group rides will begin at 10am at the Giorgetti Athletic Complex at 2 Oak Street Extension (the Pine Hill Trailhead) where we’ll also convene for lunch at 12:00 pm. The remote aid station (aka party central) will be located at the overlook and will feature a bonfire and our favorite mid-ride refreshers. Lunch at Giorgetti will be catered by our friends at Ranch Camp (Stowe, VT).
“We’re beyond excited to bring the Cold Rolled back to Pine Hill – this trail network has some of the best fat biking in the state, and the community rallies to maintain them all winter.” says event co-founder & Killington Valley local Nate Freund of MTBVT. “We’re stoked to bring the party to Rutland and introduce riders from around the northeast to these amazing trails!”
The $50 ticket price ($35 for the under 21 crowd) includes group rides, lunch (with both carnivorous and veggie options), and a signed original Cold Roll Rutland artist print. So air down those tires, break out the extra layers, and get ready to party MTBVT style.
We have closed Exit Strategy, Droopy Muffin steep hill-between Intersection 30 and 30A and Lichen Rock. We have problems with freeze thaw cycles on these particular trails throughout the winter into early spring. Please respect closed trails. Thank you your hard working volunteers.
