Due to logging on the Proctor Library land the Carriage Trail is closed from Resting Brook to Proctor. Please respect this trail closure by staying off the trail.
Loggers are using heavy mechanized equipment and we do not need to hinder their progress.
Thank you.
Trails are open. Please be kind to the trail tread by not riding when it’s wet or snowing. No skidding, no railing on berms as they’re still wicked soft.
Annual dinner is this Sunday, April 13th, 5pm at the Courcelle Blg 16 North St. Ext. Light fare at 5pm, presentation at 6pm. KMBC, WAMBA and SVT will be there to tell us about their plans for the summer.
Community Work day, Saturday, May 3rd from 9am-12pm. We have several projects we will be working on. Helping Master Gardner’s and natural fence is being replaced so we’ll be working on that too.
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 đŸ“¸ 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!
Tom Estill has a great fall report!
The first day of Fall 2024, was a very quiet day in Pine Hill Park. Very rarely have I taken a hike through the forest and not seen or heard a single bird. Sept. 20th was one of those days. Not only was the forest very quiet, but the only living things I saw were grey squirrels scurrying about.
That all changed a few days later when, on Sept. 22nd, numerous migrating passerines could be seen throughout the forest flying south in front of an approaching cold front from the north. Birds seen included red-eyed vireo, cape may warbler, black and white warbler, black-capped chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, hairy woodpecker, crow, and tufted titmouse, and at Muddy Pond, a few Canada geese, a few wood ducks, and a great blue heron.
On Sept. 27th, Shelley texted to tell me she found 2 chestnut burs on the Svelte Tiger trail near where the 1st wild American Chestnut tree was discovered a few years ago. I immediately headed up to the park, found the burs lying where Shelley had found them, and spent the next couple hours searching the area for the tree that may have produced the burs which contained fertile seeds. To my great disappointment, no such tree was found. So, the mystery as to where those 2 fertile burs came from remains a mystery to this day. By the way, the mature American Chestnut found on Svelte Tiger could not have produced those burs. First, you need two trees to produce FERTILE seeds, and secondly, that tree has been dying the last few years, due to it not only being infected with the blight, but also irreparably damaged by that hard frost in May of 2022, and the infestation of the spongy moth.
On Sept. 29th, both grey squirrels and Eastern chipmunks were out and about collecting various seeds for winter storage. There were only a few plants still in flower including silverrod, blue wood aster, and New England aster being pollinated by a bumblebee. At Muddy Pond I observed about two dozen Canada geese, and a dozen wood ducks, while throughout the forest were seen white-throated sparrows, hairy woodpecker, white-breasted nuthatch, tufted titmouse, blue jay, black-capped chickadee, Carolina Wren, crow, and a brown creeper.
On an Oct. 2nd late afternoon hike, I found, once again, a very quiet forest with the fall foliage nearing its peak. I was surprised to see a yellow-breasted sapsucker so late in the season, drilling another hole in a white birch already covered with hundreds of sapsucker holes.
Black-capped chickadees and hairy woodpeckers were the only other birds seen in the forest, but over a hundred Canada geese were seen at Muddy Pond.
On Oct. 11th, a huge flock of common grackles was seen flying through the forest, Canada geese now numbers in the low hundreds at Muddy Pond along with a few mallards, wood ducks, and an Eastern Kingfisher, and the beaver pond at the West end of Muddy Pond showed signs of recent activity. It’s been getting bigger for the last few months. But what surprised me most that day was the sound of green frogs still calling from both ponds. I collected button bush
seeds from shoreline plants at Rocky Pond and later placed them in a refrigerator for planting in the spring. Beechdrops were in flower along the 2nd Giorgetti trail.
Mid-Oct. saw numerous V-shaped flocks of Canadian geese flying south and the forest was covered in a thick layer of multi-colored leaves. And as late as the third week of October, a Hermit Thrush was seen in the forest along with the usual winter inhabitants, black-capped chickadees and white-breasted nuthatches. Most trees had lost their leaves with the exception of oaks and beech trees, and at Muddy Pond, Canada geese numbered in the hundreds.
The first week of November found a large number of robins flying through the forest, seemingly associated with a passing cold front from the north, most oak trees had lost their leaves after a stormy and windy November 1st, and a couple hundred Canadian geese were still seen at Muddy Pond.
A hike during the second week of November found the forest very quiet with no snow on the forest floor and wood ferns, Christmas ferns and lycopodium providing a green color to the ground.
On November 15th, ice first started to appear on some edges of Rocky Pond, with a few hundred Canada geese at Muddy Pond, and a single winter moth(Operophtera brumata) flying about. Two days later, to my surprise, I saw dragonflies mating at Rocky Pond, along with a single Eastern newt swimming along the shore, and now, hundreds of winter moths flying about.
On November 20th, after a long hike, I was beginning to wonder where all the winter resident birds were. Not a single bird was sighted.
On Nov.24th, for the first time at Pine Hill Park, I saw a snow goose, along with about 50 Canada geese and a single bufflehead duck at Muddy Pond. The next day, the only bird I saw was a pileated woodpecker.
Dec. 13th was a very cold day. Rocky Pond was now completely frozen while Muddy Pond was frozen over with the exception of a small area in the middle of the pond. No snow on the ground, but did have a snow storm the week before. The only birds seen were a white-breasted nuthatch and a murder of crows( that’s what they call a flock of crows!) harassing a red-tailed hawk.
Two days later, both ponds were now completely frozen over, and a loose association of
black-capped chickadees, tufted titmouse, downy woodpecker and white-breasted nuthatches could be seen near the trailhead. Bare ground in the park.
That’s it for this issue. Please stay on the trails and enjoy your wildlife sightings at Pine Hill Park.
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.
By Tom Estill
(Truncated version due to Tom picking up Lyme disease earlier this summer.)
The first day of Summer, 2024, found all of New England in the middle of a week-long heat wave. The soonest I was able to get into the park after a long battle with Lyme Disease was July 20th. By then, blackberries were ripening, button bush was in flower, and gray squirrels were seen feeding on acorns. All these things seemed to be occurring a little earlier than usual, and my notes from previous years seem to support that idea. I’ll be very curious to see what changes will be occurring in the timing of park wildlife activities in the years to come. By this time of year, the forest is becoming increasingly quiet. On July 20th, I saw just a few birds including cedar waxwing, Eastern wood pewee, tufted titmouse, and American goldfinch. Jumpseed, goldenrod, Queen Anne’s lace, wood aster and tick-trefoil were about the only plants flowering.
While on a hike on August 23rd, I saw white-breasted nuthatches, red-bellied woodpeckers, black-capped chickadees, Eastern wood pewee, blue jay, pileated woodpecker, and American goldfinch, while at Muddy Pond could be seen a single Osprey sitting on its nest, a few mallards and a few wood ducks. To my surprise, all the beaver lodges on the west side of Muddy Pond were now gone, and the large old lodge on the Eastern side was completely overgrown, indicating it wasn’t being used for awhile. Still, a single beaver could be seen swimming in the pond, perhaps using the single small lodge at the north end of Muddy. Many green frogs were seen at Muddy Pond and a single Bullfrog could be heard croaking. At Rocky Pond, a black water snake was seen sunning itself on a rock, and a pickerel frog was hopping through the tall grass.
But the highlight of August 23rd is what I observed that evening. Hundreds of nighthawks were flying south in a huge flock that just never seemed to end. For half an hour I watched the birds, all migrating south. It was a sight I had never seen before, and one I will never forget.
A few days later I was back at the park feeling pretty confident that I wouldn’t be bothered by mosquitoes, as they hadn’t bothered me at all during the last few weeks. Boy was I wrong! They were a terrible nuisance on my 8/26 walk.
Chipmunks were out and about in big numbers, the gorgeous and rich blue colored Bottle Gentian was in color and the forest was very quiet. If you want to see the Bottle Gentian, look along Crusher Rd. just north of trail marker #12. That’s the only place in the park I’ve seen them, and then, only in August and Early Sept.
The next day, August 27th, was a delightful day for a walk in the forest. A blue-headed vireo was observed, along with the more commonly seen tufted titmouse, northern flicker, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, and raven, and at Muddy Pond was seen a wood duck and an Osprey sitting on its nest. But the best part of the hike is something I had never seen before- PINK colored Indian Pipe. With sunlight low in the sky filtering through the forest leaves, the light falling on the plant made for one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen in nature. And, of course, it was the only day in 12 years I had left my iPhone at home, so I couldn’t take a picture.
Sept. 1st was the last time I saw an osprey at its nest this season. I know that at least one young osprey was successfully fledged this year. Also seen at Muddy Pond was the rarely seen red-shouldered hawk migrating on its way south, a kingfisher and a painted turtle sunning itself. A red eft was seen crossing the Carriage Trail and goldenrod, touch-me-not, wood aster, common boneset, redshank, Queen Anne’s lace and purple loosestrife were all in flower.
A week later, I was surprised to see a Viceroy butterfly flying through the forest. So similar to the Monarch, but just smaller, and a wing coloring pattern so similar to that of the Monarch that you have to look carefully to distinguish the two. The Viceroy does not feed on milkweed so is protected by its Mimicry.
On Sept. 10th, I checked my Trail Camera which had been set up near the outlet to Rocky Pond 3 weeks earlier and was delighted to see a picture of a doe and its fawn, a big beaver, and a BLACK BEAR. I wasn’t too surprised about the bear because I had picked up its scent in that area a few days prior to picking up the camera.. Many chipmunks scurrying about including very young ones, likely the offspring of a second brood, which is not unusual.
In mid-August I hiked up to Muddy Pond hoping to see hundreds of migrating Canada geese, but only saw a few. I was happy to see that the beaver lodge at the north end of the pond was active with lots of recently chewed branches piled on the lodge. Numerous green frogs were seen at both ponds and a gray tree frog was calling near Trail Marker 24. A great blue heron was seen at Rocky Pond. On a short hike on the last official day of summer, the forest was very quiet, gray squirrels were out and about and a Great Blue Heron was seen at Rocky Pond.
That’s it for this issue. Please stay on the trails and enjoy your time observing the wonderful wildlife of Pine Hill Park.
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.
We are back in person in 2024!
Come join Pine Hill Partnership who is hosting our annual dinner to talk about up coming projects. We will have other organizations joining in the conversation to hear about what is happening in KMBC, WAMBA, SVT, GMT and ROC. Got all those acronyms???? Basically all the trail systems within less than an hour from Rutland.
We are holding on meeting Sunday, March 24th. At the Godnick Ctr, 1 Deer St, Rutland. Start time is 5pm with soup/chili being available for folks.
You do not need to be a current member of Pine Hill Partnership to attend.
Hope to see you there!
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.
