Overlanding

Vermont

Why Vermont has more dirt road than pavement, and who decides when you may use it

Vermont is 8 percent federal. The Congressional Research Service counts 474,866 federal acres of 5,936,640, with no Bureau of Land Management ground at all, and the Forest Service holds 414,099 of that total in a single national forest. Our build of the federal recreation database finds seven federal campgrounds a vehicle can reach in the whole state. On those numbers this should be a thin guide, and it is not, because the figure that decides a trip here is a state one.

The Agency of Transportation counts 8,517 miles of dirt road in Vermont against 7,239 miles of pavement, out of 15,756 miles of public road statewide. More of this state is unpaved than paved. Danville alone carries 102 unpaved miles, Barnard 94, Chester 89, Bethel 88 and Washington 83. Those are town roads, open to anyone, with no gate, no checkpoint and no permit between you and most of them.

What does stand in the way is the classification. The same agency counts 1,576.045 miles of class 4 town highway, and 19 V.S.A. 310 says a town may maintain those to the extent its own necessity and convenience require, or not at all. A class 4 road is a public highway that nobody has promised to keep passable. Some are graded gravel, some are a pair of ruts through a hardwood stand, and the difference is decided in a selectboard meeting rather than on a map.

Above that sits the Green Mountain National Forest, more than 400,000 acres in the southwest and centre of the state, with eight designated wilderness areas and 900 miles of trail. Its own road policy is short: motorised travel is restricted to designated roads and trails, cross-country travel is not allowed for any reason, and most forest roads are closed from 15 December to 1 May. Learn those three systems and Vermont opens up. Guess at them and you are either stuck or trespassing.

Vermont by the numbers

of Vermont is federal land 1: 8%; 474,866 of 5,936,640 acres, and none of it Bureau of Land Management
of Vermont road is dirt 24: 8,517 mi; Against 7,239 miles paved, of 15,756 miles of public road statewide
of class 4 town highway 24: 1,576 mi; The class no town is obliged to keep passable, by 19 V.S.A. 310
acres of Green Mountain National Forest 5: 400K+; The forest’s own figure. The Congressional Research Service puts Forest Service land in Vermont at 414,099 acres
Mount Mansfield, the state high point 2: 4,393 ft; USGS. The low point is Lake Champlain at 95 feet. Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point gives 4,381
most forest roads are shut 7: Dec 15 to May 1; The Green Mountain National Forest states the dates plainly, with some exceptions
federal campgrounds a vehicle can reach 4: 7; 6 Forest Service and 1 Corps of Engineers; our build of the federal recreation database
the limit through Smugglers Notch 25: 40 ft; 45 feet for a combination. Fines begin at 1,000 dollars and pass 4,000 for a second offence
acres of state land in 200 towns 27: 360K; Managed together for timber, trails, roads, habitat and prescribed fire
developed state parks 36: 55; The parks division’s own count, welcoming over a million visitors a year
Burlington’s mean seasonal snowfall 44: 72.7 in; The Weather Service’s own table, running from the winter of 1892-1893 to the present
of Appalachian Trail in Vermont 42: 150 mi; Managed by the Park Service, the Forest Service, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, state agencies and volunteers

Class 4, and why a line on the map is not permission

Vermont sorts its town roads into four classes by statute. Class 1 highways carry a state route number through a town. Class 2 are the ones each town picks as its most important. Class 3 are all the other travelled town highways, and the standard for that class is a road passable year round by a standard vehicle, with adequate surface, drainage and width. Class 4 is the remainder: everything that is a town highway and is none of those.

The consequence is written in 19 V.S.A. 310. A town shall keep its class 1, 2 and 3 highways in good and sufficient repair during all seasons. Class 4 highways may be maintained to the extent required by the necessity of the town, the public good and the convenience of the inhabitants, which is the statute saying the town decides. That is 1,576.045 miles of legally public road with no promise attached to any of it.

Below class 4 there is a further step down. The statute says trails shall not be considered highways, and that a town shall not be liable for the construction, maintenance, repair or safety of a trail. Many old roads have been formally turned into trails. They still show as lines on old maps and still look like roads on the ground, and they are not roads any more.

Source 19

The Green Mountain National Forest, and its three rules

One national forest covers the spine of the state, more than 400,000 acres in southwestern and central Vermont, split between the Manchester District, which runs from the Massachusetts border north to State Route 103 in Clarendon, and the Middlebury and Rochester District above it. It holds eight designated wilderness areas, named Aiken, Big Branch, Breadloaf, Bristol Cliffs, Joseph Battell, Glastenbury, Lye Brook and Peru Peak, and 900 miles of trail.

The driving rules are unusually easy to remember. Motorised travel is restricted to designated roads and trails. Cross-country travel with motorised vehicles, off designated roads or trails, is not allowed for any reason. And most forest roads are closed during the winter months from 15 December to 1 May, with some exceptions. The Motor Vehicle Use Map is the document that settles which road is which, and it carries the seasonal designations too.

The forest also tells you how to read a road before you commit to it. Roads with horizontal sign markers are generally suitable for passenger cars; roads with vertical markers are not recommended for passenger cars or general travel. Many are low standard, gravel surfaced and single lane, built from native soils, infrequently maintained, with rocks, ruts, washouts, downed trees and encroaching brush. Logging trucks use them, including at weekends.

Source 8

Mud season, and the way Vermont handles it

There is no statewide spring closure order and no published weight number to plan against. What there is instead is a filing requirement. Every Vermont municipality must file a report of special weight limits for highways and bridges with the Department of Motor Vehicles, and a municipal limit is unenforceable unless that report reached the department within three working days of the posting going up. So the limits are real, they are local, and they appear at short notice.

That places the burden on the traveller rather than on a calendar. A gravel class 3 road that carried a loaded truck in October can be a trench in April, and the town that has to rebuild it is the one that posted the sign. The Green Mountain National Forest sidesteps the argument by gating most of its roads until 1 May, which is as close to an official mud season date as Vermont publishes.

Source 26

What Vermont asks of a vehicle

The one hard size limit on a Vermont public road is at Smugglers Notch. Single vehicles longer than 40 feet, and combinations longer than 45, are prohibited on that segment of VT Route 108. The Agency of Transportation is blunt about why: there is no physical way for large vehicles to fit through the tight, windy turns. Fines begin at 1,000 dollars and can pass 4,000 for a second offence, and a navigation app routing you through is not a defence.

Elsewhere the limits sit at the campground gate rather than on the road. Chittenden Brook Campground cannot accommodate trailers over 18 feet. State park campsites allow a maximum of two vehicles, counting self-propelled sleeping units, and no part of any sleeping unit or vehicle may sit outside the cleared area of the site. The forest orders cap a developed campsite at two motor vehicles and eight people.

Tyres are the traveller’s own call. Vermont law says plainly that it does not restrict the right of any person to use tires equipped with studs or cleats of a type designed for general use to facilitate travel in winter, and it attaches no seasonal window to that. The state publishes no chain law either. What it does publish is a road network where over half the mileage is unpaved, which argues for sidewall strength and a full-size spare.

Source 25

Where a vehicle may sleep, and where it may not

On the national forest, dispersed camping runs to a maximum of 14 days in any 30-day period, campsites are located at least 200 feet from trails, roads, developed recreation sites or waterbodies, and camping is not allowed in alpine or sub-alpine areas where trees are eight feet tall or less. Car camping is permitted on Forest Service roads and spurs as long as the vehicle does not impede traffic, and is not permitted on those roads when they are closed, nor at trailheads or designated day use areas.

On state land the rules run the other way. Primitive camping is allowed for up to three consecutive nights in the same area, at least 100 feet from any stream or water body, at least 200 feet from any trail or property line, and 1,000 feet from any travelled road. That last figure is the one that matters here: it is a backpacking rule, not a vehicle rule. Camping above 2,500 feet is prohibited unless otherwise designated, and a group of eleven or more needs a permit from the district office.

Vermont State Parks take the rest. Camping is allowed only on designated sites, every camper registers with park staff, a site holds no more than eight people and two vehicles, quiet hours run from 10pm to 7am, generators may not run during them, and gray water may not be discharged on the ground. The maximum stay is up to 21 consecutive nights, after which a camper must vacate and may not take any site in that campground for at least seven days.

Source 6

The motorised network here runs on snow, not dirt

Vermont has a large, organised, statewide motorised trail system and it is a winter one. The Vermont Association of Snow Travelers, a private non-profit mandated by the legislature in 1978 to administer the Statewide Snowmobile Trails Program, describes a network of over 4,000 miles of interconnected trail, built and maintained by more than 100 local clubs in fourteen county associations, with roughly 80 percent of it on private property and over 9,000 landowners supporting it. The organisation gives the season as 16 December to 15 April.

Riding it takes a current registration, a Trails Maintenance Assessment decal issued by the organisation, liability insurance, club membership, and a safety course for anyone born after 1 July 1983. None of that is a state permit and none of it applies to a licensed truck. It is quoted here because it explains why so many Vermont back roads have signed trail crossings and why some class 4 roads are groomed in winter and impassable to anything else.

The summer equivalent is much smaller and much more restricted, which is the sharpest difference between Vermont and the states around it. Under 23 V.S.A. 3506 an all-terrain vehicle may not be operated on any state lands, public water or natural area unless the Secretary has designated it by rule, nor on municipal land unless the municipality has opened it, nor along a public highway unless that highway has been opened to such travel. Vermont Fish and Wildlife goes further on its own ground.

Source 46

The state forests, and the roads that cross them

Mt. Mansfield State Forest is the largest contiguous landholding the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation owns: 44,444 acres spread over Bolton, Underhill, Cambridge, Johnson, Morristown, Stowe and Waterbury, in Chittenden, Lamoille and Washington counties. It holds the 880-acre Waterbury Reservoir, the 3,850-acre Mt. Mansfield Natural Area and the 100-acre Daniels Notch Natural Area, and the department notes that Smugglers Notch proper is listed as a National Natural Landmark.

Route 108 runs through it as a federally designated scenic byway, which is the pattern across the state forests: the state owns the block, a public highway crosses it, and the highway rather than the forest is what a vehicle uses. Groton and Camel’s Hump work the same way. There is no state forest road network here in the sense a western state means it.

The department partners with the Green Mountain Club, a private organisation, to manage the Long Trail and its shelters on this ground. That partnership is worth knowing about before you plan a night: the trail corridor has rules of its own that are not the campground rules.

Source 29

Eight wilderness areas, and what they close off

The Green Mountain National Forest holds 900 miles of trail and eight designated wilderness areas: Aiken, Big Branch, Breadloaf, Bristol Cliffs, Joseph Battell, Glastenbury, Lye Brook and Peru Peak.

For a driver the practical effect is simple, because the forest has already confined motor vehicles to designated roads and trails everywhere. Wilderness removes the roads themselves rather than adding a new rule, so the wilderness boundary tends to be where a road ends and a trailhead begins.

Source 12

White Rocks, and the district south of Clarendon

The Manchester District runs from the Massachusetts border north to State Route 103 in Clarendon, and inside it sits the Robert T. Stafford White Rocks National Recreation Area, 22,624 acres. The Appalachian Trail and the Long Trail, which the forest names together in this district, cross the Big Branch Wilderness for approximately five miles.

Lye Brook Wilderness in the same district ranges from 900 feet to 2,900 feet in elevation and is roughly 80 percent northern hardwood. Those two numbers say more about Vermont than any summit figure does: this is a low, wooded state where the interest is in the roads rather than the altitude.

Source 13

Byways here are designated, not measured

A Vermont Byway is a highway or other public road with special scenic, historic, recreational, cultural, archeological or natural qualities that has been formally designated by the Vermont Transportation Board. The programme manual is explicit that a wide range of road types qualify: village streets, country lanes, gravel roads in the Green Mountain National Forest, state roads and interstate highways.

That last detail is the useful one, because it means a designated byway in Vermont is not a promise of pavement. It also explains why this guide gives no mileage for any of them: the programme designates corridors and publishes no length for individual byways, so there is no official figure to quote.

Source 48

Passes and routes

Kelley Stand Road

West Wardsboro to Arlington

The forest’s own unpaved scenic drive, running east and west through the Green Mountain range and following and crossing the Roaring Branch River repeatedly near the Arlington side. It and the Bingo Road are the only two drives the forest lists as unpaved; the rest of its scenic drives it groups as paved. The Forest Service publishes no length, grade or vehicle class for it, so none is stated here. 9

Season
Closed in winter
Bingo Road, Forest Service Road 42

The only other drive the forest lists as unpaved: a dead-end country road that meanders along a stream, signed 4.5 miles west of Rochester off State Route 73. Dead-end means what it says, and the road carries no through route to anywhere. 9
Danby-Mount Tabor Road, Forest Road 10

Danby and Mount Tabor east over the Green Mountains

A 1930s-built road east from Danby and Mount Tabor across the range, with vistas and the Big Branch Day Use Area along it. The Forest Service lists it among the roads suitable for a standard vehicle and publishes no length for it. 9

Season
Closed in winter
Lincoln Gap Road

2,419 ft

Warren and Lincoln

The crossing west of Warren that the forest describes as showing the traveller scenes of rural Vermont as it climbs over the Green Mountain range. It is the one road on this list that the agency singles out to warn about, and the trailer advice is the agency’s own wording rather than a size limit. Our own reading of the elevation surface at the gap gives 2,419 feet. 9

Vehicle
The Forest Service says it is not recommended for trailers, being steep and winding

Season
Closed in winter
Mad Tom Notch Road, Forest Road 58

2,439 ft

A forest road from Peru with views over the Manchester valley, listed by the Forest Service among its paved scenic drives. Our own reading of the elevation surface at the notch gives 2,439 feet, the highest of the seven Vermont gaps measured for this guide. 9
Somerset Road, Forest Road 71

State Route 9 north to Somerset Reservoir

The forest’s access road to Somerset Reservoir, leaving Route 9 and meandering along the Deerfield River. It runs north towards Kelley Stand Road. No length or season is published for it. 9
Nulhegan Basin gravel roads

Forty miles of gravel roads

The largest drivable gravel network on federal land in Vermont, inside the Nulhegan Basin Division of the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge: more than 26,600 acres of conifer and deciduous forest in Brunswick, Ferdinand, Bloomfield and Lewis, holding three of the four tributaries of the Nulhegan River. In winter the roads go unplowed and the snowmobile network takes over. 40

Vehicle
The Fish and Wildlife Service says they accommodate passenger vehicles

Season
Open generally between Memorial Day and mid-December; not plowed in winter
VT Route 108 through Smugglers NotchPaved

2,160 ft

The one Vermont road with a hard size limit and a four-figure penalty behind it. Fines begin at 1,000 dollars and can pass 4,000 for a second offence. The notch itself is a National Natural Landmark inside Mount Mansfield State Forest, and Route 108 through it is a federally designated scenic byway. Our own reading of the elevation surface at the notch gives 2,160 feet. 25

Vehicle
Single vehicles over 40 feet and combinations over 45 feet are prohibited
Brandon Gap, VT Route 73Paved

2,184 ft

Brandon and Rochester

An east to west crossing the Forest Service lists among its scenic drives, with the Mount Horrid observation site and its cliff views partway up. Our own reading of the elevation surface at the gap gives 2,184 feet. 9
Middlebury Gap, VT Route 125Paved

2,133 ft

Hancock and East Middlebury

The forest road over the gap, carrying the stretch signed as the Robert Frost Memorial Drive and passing the Robert Frost Wayside. It is the paved counterpart to the Moosalamoo roads on the west side. Our own reading of the elevation surface at the gap gives 2,133 feet. 9
Molly Stark Scenic Byway, VT Route 9Paved

Bennington and Wilmington

The southern crossing of the state, bordered on both sides by national forest for much of its length, and the road Somerset Road leaves to reach the reservoir. Vermont designates its own byways through the Transportation Board and publishes no mileage for them, so none is given. 9
Mount Ascutney Parkway

2,800 ft 3.7 miles

The one summit road in the Vermont state park system that a vehicle can drive: 3.7 miles from the park up to a parking lot at 2,800 feet, with a hike of nearly a mile from there to the 3,144-foot summit. Day use and camping fees apply. Our own reading of the elevation surface at the summit point gives 3,143 feet. 37

Season
Third weekend in May through the third weekend in October
Scenic Route 100 BywayPaved

The north and south road along the eastern edge of the Green Mountains, which the Forest Service calls a stretch of Vermont’s skiers’ highway. It is the spine every gap road in this guide hangs off, and the approach to Grout Pond from West Wardsboro leaves it. 9
Forest Roads 32 and 24 into Moosalamoo

The way a vehicle reaches the 15,857-acre Moosalamoo National Recreation Area and its campground, on the Middlebury and Rochester District. The district also signs Forest Roads 264, 201, 25, 54 and 233, and runs the Rochester Ranger Station at 99 Ranger Road. The recreation area holds hiking, mountain bike, cross country ski and snowmobile trails, the Robert Frost Trail, and the Silver Lake and Moosalamoo campgrounds. 14
Forest Road 45 to Chittenden Brook

The access road to a 17-site campground at 15 dollars a site per night, and the clearest published size limit on the forest. Anything towing beyond 18 feet is turned away at the end of this road rather than at the start of it, which is worth knowing before the drive in. 17

Vehicle
The campground cannot accommodate trailers over 18 feet

Season
Open Memorial Day weekend through Columbus Day
Grout Pond Road

Kelley Stand Road to the pond

The turn off Kelley Stand Road to an 80-acre pond with year-round camping at 16 dollars a site per night, paid at a self-service station, with a maximum of eight campers per site. The hand pump for drinking water is available mid-May to October only. From the east it is reached from Route 100 at West Wardsboro by the Stratton-Arlington Road, six miles west; from Arlington it is Route 313, South Road, Kansas Road and then about 10.2 miles of Kelley Stand Road. 15

Season
Open year-round; day use areas 6am to 10pm
Hapgood Pond, Peru

A 28-site campground in a wooded setting at 20 dollars a night, with day use charged at five dollars per vehicle per day. It sits near the Peru end of Mad Tom Notch Road and is the easiest forest camping in the south of the state to reach in a large vehicle. 16

Season
Memorial Day to Columbus Day
Winhall Brook and Ball Mountain Lake

The only Corps of Engineers campground in Vermont, and the only federal one here that is not Forest Service: 111 campsites in North and South areas on either side of the Winhall River, with three restroom buildings offering flush toilets, showers, drinking water and dish washing. It lies along Winhall Brook and the West River, seven miles north of Ball Mountain Lake, by Jamaica. 45
Groton State Forest and Route 232

The paved road through 26,164 acres in Danville, Groton, Marshfield, Orange, Peacham, Plainfield and Topsham, across Caledonia, Orange and Washington counties. Seven state parks sit inside that one block. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the roads, a converted railroad bed now carries a multi-use trail, and snowmobiling is allowed on designated VAST trails. 32
The roads to the Camels Hump trailheads

Narrow town roads climbing to the trailheads of a 21,258-acre state park in Duxbury, Bolton, Huntington, Fayston and Buel’s Gore. The state asks visitors to obey local traffic laws and to drive slowly and safely because children and families live on these roads, which is the plainest description anywhere of what a Vermont approach road actually is. 31
Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge

A refuge of 6,729 acres, mostly wetland habitats, on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain near the Canadian border in Franklin County. The visitor centre is on Tabor Road, six miles west of Swanton, and trail heads sit off state route 78 and Tabor Road. Five public use trails are open year round from dawn to dusk, except the Jeep Trail, which closes from April to August to protect migratory birds. 41
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller carriage roads

The approach at Woodstock to a national historical park holding more than 25 miles of carriage roads and trails, and the Mount Tom Forest, which the Park Service calls the oldest continuously managed scientific forest in the United States. The Park Service publishes no acreage for it on that page, so none is stated here. 43

Rules worth knowing

Dispersed camping on the forest: 14 days, 200 feet, and nothing in the alpine: The Green Mountain National Forest sets a maximum stay of 14 days in any 30-day period and asks that campsites be located at least 200 feet from trails, roads, developed recreation sites or waterbodies. Camping is prohibited in alpine or sub-alpine areas where trees are eight feet tall or less. Its standing forest order, signed 26 June 2024 and running five years, puts the same 14 days in 30 in enforceable form and adds that a developed campsite may hold no more than eight persons and no more than two motor vehicles besides motorcycles and bicycles. 10
Sleeping in the vehicle is allowed on forest roads, with conditions: Car camping is permitted in developed campgrounds where parking is permitted at the site, and permitted on Forest Service roads and spurs so long as the vehicle does not impede traffic. It is not permitted on those roads when the roads are closed, which covers most of them from 15 December to 1 May, and it is not permitted at trailheads or at designated day use areas. Dispersed sites are first come and first served, with no information board, no numbered post and no fee envelope. 6
Designated roads only, and no cross-country travel for any reason: Motorised travel is restricted to designated roads and trails throughout the Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests, and the forest states that cross-country travel with motorised vehicles, off designated roads or trails, is not allowed for any reason. The Motor Vehicle Use Map carries the list of seasonal and special vehicle designations. A separate standing order, R9-20-24-02, makes it an offence to operate a vehicle on a forest development road in violation of the Vermont motor vehicle code or carelessly or recklessly, punishable as a Class B misdemeanour with a fine to 5,000 dollars for an individual. 11
A class 4 road is public, and nobody has promised to maintain it: Class 4 town highways are all town highways that are not class 1, 2 or 3 and are not unidentified corridors, and 19 V.S.A. 310 leaves their upkeep to the town: they may be maintained to the extent required by the necessity of the town, the public good and the convenience of the inhabitants. Class 1, 2 and 3 highways must be kept in good and sufficient repair during all seasons, subject to a selectboard rule on winter plowing for class 2 and 3. Trails are a further step down: the statute says they are not highways and that a town is not liable for their construction, maintenance, repair or safety. 20
Weight postings are local, and they go up at short notice: Every Vermont municipality is required to file a report of special weight limits for highways and bridges with the Department of Motor Vehicles, and a special municipal limit is unenforceable unless that report reached the department within three working days of the posting. The authority sits in 23 V.S.A. chapter 13, subchapter 15, at sections 1400b and 1400c. Neither the department nor the Agency of Transportation publishes a statewide spring weight figure or a mud season date, so this guide states none. 26
Primitive camping on state land is a backpacking rule, not a vehicle rule: On selected state lands, primitive camping is allowed for up to three consecutive nights in the same area, at least 100 feet from any stream or body of water, at least 200 feet from any trail or property line, and 1,000 feet from any travelled road. Camping above 2,500 feet in elevation is prohibited unless otherwise designated. Groups of eleven or more must obtain a permit from the district office, and only dead and down trees or branches may be used for firewood. The 1,000-foot distance means the site is reached on foot. 28
State park camping: designated sites, two vehicles, 21 nights: Camping is allowed only on designated sites, and off-season camping only by permission of a regional manager. Not more than eight people may occupy one campsite, no part of any sleeping unit or vehicle may sit outside the cleared area of the site, and the maximum number of vehicles per site including self-propelled sleeping units is two. Quiet hours run from 10pm to 7am and generators may not run during them. Gray water may not be discharged on the ground. The maximum stay is up to 21 consecutive nights, after which the camper must vacate and may take no site in that campground for at least seven days. 35
Remote camping is a separate system with its own fee and its own week: Vermont distinguishes remote camping from primitive camping: remote areas are specific locations in a large forest complex, on an island or along a shoreline, and may have pit toilets, fireplaces, lean-tos or tables. They are named in the rules, among them the Groton, Coolidge, Victory and Darling state forest Civilian Conservation Corps campsites, the Waterbury Reservoir and Molly’s Falls shorelines, Woods and Knight Islands and parts of Kingsland Bay and Jamaica state parks. Remote camping is by reservation or permit and payment of a fee only, and the maximum stay per camper is seven consecutive nights. 35
On wildlife management areas, an unregistered vehicle is banned outright: Vermont Fish and Wildlife manages more than 130,000 acres of wildlife management area, and its rule prohibits the operation of any ATV, UTV, or any wheeled or tracked motorised vehicle not registered for public highway use, except under a special permit for a qualified disability. Motor vehicles are confined to roads specifically designated for such use, and parking is prohibited except while engaged in an authorised activity. Primitive camping for the purposes of hunting, fishing or trapping is allowed on designated areas for no more than three consecutive nights, at least 200 feet from any water body, property line or road. 38
An all-terrain vehicle is defined narrowly, and kept off state land: Vermont defines an all-terrain vehicle as a non-highway recreational vehicle other than a snowmobile, with at least two low pressure tires of 10 psi or less, no wider than 72 inches and under 2,500 pounds dry. Under 23 V.S.A. 3506 it may not be operated on any state lands, public water or natural area unless the Secretary designates them by rule, on municipal land unless the municipality opens it, or along a public highway unless that highway has been opened. A plated, insured truck or van is a highway vehicle and not an all-terrain vehicle under that definition, so the chapter is not about it. That is our reading of the statute rather than a quotation; Vermont publishes no exemption sentence. 22
A fire needs the town fire warden, and the danger rating is a daily map: Open burning is regulated in every town in Vermont by a permit to kindle a fire, and the town forest fire warden issues it when fuel and weather conditions are safe for outdoor burning. In developed state park areas, fires are allowed only in fire rings, fireplaces or charcoal grills at designated picnic and camping areas. Vermont publishes no numbered fire restriction stages. It runs the National Fire Danger Rating System instead, in five colours from Green for low through Blue, Yellow and Orange to Red for extreme, forecast daily on a map updated each morning during non-snow periods of the year. 33
Studs are allowed with no calendar, and there is no chain law: Vermont law states that the restriction on objects that damage a road surface does not restrict the right of any person to use tires equipped with studs or cleats of a type designed for general use to facilitate travel in winter. The statute attaches no dates to that, and Vermont publishes no traction or chain requirement of the kind the mountain west uses. The practical limit is the one the Agency of Transportation sets at Smugglers Notch: single vehicles over 40 feet and combinations over 45 feet are prohibited on that segment of Route 108. 23
What Vermont counts as an all-terrain vehicle: The definition in 23 V.S.A. 3501 is a non-highway recreational vehicle other than a snowmobile, with not less than two low pressure tires of 10 pounds per square inch or less, not wider than 72 inches, with two-wheel machines having permanent full-time power to both wheels, and with a dry weight of less than 2,500 pounds, used for cross-country travel on land, water, snow, ice, marsh, swampland or natural terrain. Electric personal assistive mobility devices, motor-assisted bicycles and electric bicycles are excluded. The width and weight are the test, and a full-size truck fails both. 21
Snowmobiles need a registration, a trail pass and a club: Under 23 V.S.A. chapter 29 a snowmobile is a self-propelled vehicle for off-road travel primarily on snow, with a curb weight of not more than 1,750 pounds, driven by track or tracks and steered by a ski or skis. A person may not operate one unless it is registered by Vermont or another state or province and displays a valid Vermont trails maintenance assessment decal beside the registration decal on the left side. The assessment is a permit issued by the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers, Inc., a private organisation, granting use of Vermont snowmobile trails on public and private land, in three classes: resident, non-resident and commercial. 47
Camping on a wildlife management area is three nights, for three reasons: Primitive camping on Vermont wildlife management areas is allowed for the purposes of hunting, fishing or trapping only, for no more than three consecutive nights, on designated areas. Twenty-seven areas are named, several with their own limits: Buck Lake is closed to camping from June to August, and Atherton Meadows is restricted to ground south or east of Route 100. Camp sites must be at least 200 feet from any water body, property line or road. Separately, non-primitive camping with a portable shelter and sanitary toilet is allowed on designated sites for a maximum of 16 days, in the windows 1 to 31 May and 1 September to 15 December. 39
Fire danger here is a colour checked daily, not a numbered stage: Vermont runs the National Fire Danger Rating System and publishes a daily forecast map, updated each morning, in five classes: Green for low, Blue for moderate, Yellow for high, Orange for very high and Red for extreme. The department monitors it daily during non-snow periods of the year. There is no Stage One or Stage Two here and no statewide restriction order to look up, so check the colour for the day and then check with the town, because the fire warden can ban open burning locally when conditions warrant. 34
Not every federal campground in Vermont is drive-in: Silver Lake Campground is Forest Service ground with 15 campsites spaced along a wooded road at 10 dollars a night, and it is reached only by hiking 0.6 miles down the Goshen Trail or along the Service Road. Hosts are typically on site from Memorial Day through Columbus Day. It is worth naming because a federal campground listing will show it beside the drive-in ones, and arriving with a loaded vehicle and nowhere to put it is a wasted evening. 18
The Long Trail corridor is state forest, and the state’s rules apply: Long Trail State Forest is 9,529.44 acres across Belvidere, Eden, Lowell, Johnson, Montgomery, Waterville and Westfield, in Franklin, Lamoille and Orleans counties, established in 1996 through a partnership between the State of Vermont and the Green Mountain Club, and it carries over 27 miles of the Long Trail. It exists to protect the footpath rather than to open ground to vehicles. Where a road touches it, the state land rules govern: primitive camping only, three consecutive nights, 1,000 feet from a travelled road, and nothing above 2,500 feet unless designated. 30

How high is Vermont?

From Burlington at 195 feet to Mount Mansfield at 4,393. Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.

Towns

Wilmington The east end of the Molly Stark byway, near Somerset Reservoir 1,496 ft
Danville More unpaved road than any other town in Vermont 1,412 ft
Island Pond The last real services before the Nulhegan Basin gravel 1,187 ft
Lincoln The west foot of the gap that carries its name 973 ft
Warren The east foot of Lincoln Gap, in the Mad River valley 923 ft
Rochester A ranger station, and the turn for the Bingo Road 875 ft
Manchester Center Services beside the Manchester Ranger District and Lye Brook 750 ft
Stowe The south side of Smugglers Notch and Mount Mansfield State Forest 720 ft
Jamaica The village by Ball Mountain Lake and the state’s only Corps campground 720 ft
Bennington The southwest corner, and the west end of the Molly Stark byway 679 ft
Rutland The largest services in central Vermont, near the forest headquarters at Mendon 648 ft
Arlington The western approach to Kelley Stand Road 645 ft
Waterbury Interstate services, Waterbury Reservoir and the Camels Hump trailheads 441 ft
Brandon The west foot of Brandon Gap on Route 73 430 ft
Middlebury The west end of Middlebury Gap and the way in to Moosalamoo 390 ft
Burlington The largest city, on the lake that is the state low point 195 ft

Passes, high roads and summits

Mount Mansfield The state high point, as USGS publishes it. Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point gives 4,381 4,393 ft
Killington Peak Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, in Rutland County 4,206 ft
Mount Ellen Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, above the Mad River valley 4,080 ft
Camels Hump Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, in the 21,258-acre state park of the same name 4,076 ft
Stratton Mountain Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, north of Kelley Stand Road 3,940 ft
Jay Peak Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, near the Canadian border 3,848 ft
Glastenbury Mountain Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, inside the Glastenbury Wilderness 3,750 ft
Mount Ascutney Parkway lot Mount Ascutney Parkway 2,800 ft
Mad Tom Notch Mad Tom Notch Road, Forest Road 58 2,439 ft
Lincoln Gap Lincoln Gap Road: Warren and Lincoln 2,419 ft
Roxbury Gap Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, on a gravel town road east of Warren 2,397 ft
Appalachian Gap Our own reading of the elevation surface at its map point, on Route 17 between Fayston and Buels Gore 2,371 ft
Brandon Gap Brandon Gap, VT Route 73: Brandon and Rochester 2,184 ft
Smugglers Notch VT Route 108 through Smugglers Notch 2,160 ft
Middlebury Gap Middlebury Gap, VT Route 125: Hancock and East Middlebury 2,133 ft

Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates), retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.

Sources for this page

Congressional Research Service. Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), Tables 1 and 2, data as of September 30, 2024. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
U.S. Geological Survey. Elevations and Distances in the United States, online edition. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
U.S. Geological Survey. Geographic Names Information System and 3D Elevation Program point query. Elevation of the 3DEP surface at the GNIS coordinates of the named place, rounded to the nearest foot. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Recreation.gov. Recreation Information Database (RIDB) full export, the site’s own build of it. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service. About the Area, Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service. Camping and Cabins, Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service. Current Conditions, Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service. Driving on Forest Roads, Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service. Scenic Drives, Green Mountain and Finger Lakes National Forests. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service. Forest-wide Occupancy and Use Restrictions, Order R9-20-24-01, Green Mountain National Forest. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service. Forest-wide Development Roads Restrictions, Order R9-20-24-02, Green Mountain National Forest. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service. Hiking, and the eight wilderness areas of the Green Mountain National Forest. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service. Green Mountain, Manchester District. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service. Green Mountain, Middlebury and Rochester District. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service. Grout Pond Recreation Area. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service. Hapgood Pond Recreation Area. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service. Chittenden Brook Campground. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
USDA Forest Service. Silver Lake Campground. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont General Assembly. 19 V.S.A. 302, Classification of town highways. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont General Assembly. 19 V.S.A. 310, Maintenance of highways, bridges and trails. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont General Assembly. 23 V.S.A. 3501, definitions, including all-terrain vehicle. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont General Assembly. 23 V.S.A. 3506, operation of all-terrain vehicles. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont General Assembly. 23 V.S.A. 1092, injury to highway surface, with the proviso on studs and cleats. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Agency of Transportation. General Statistics: paved and dirt road totals statewide, mileage by highway class, and the towns with the most unpaved road. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Agency of Transportation. Scenic VT Route 108, the Smugglers Notch length restriction. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles. Municipal Weight Limits. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. State Lands Management. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Primitive Camping on state lands. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Mt. Mansfield State Forest. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Long Trail State Forest. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Camel’s Hump State Park. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Groton State Forest. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Do I need a permit to open burn outdoors, and Monitoring Fire Danger. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Monitoring Fire Danger, the five-class National Fire Danger Rating System in Vermont. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Rules and Regulations: Visitor Conduct and Fees and Charges for State Park Services and Commercial Activities on Department Lands, effective 08/24/2022. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Who We Are, Vermont State Parks. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. Mount Ascutney State Park, and the Mount Ascutney Parkway. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. Authorized and Prohibited Activities on Fish and Wildlife Lands. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. Primitive Camping on Wildlife Management Areas. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Vermont Divisions and Units, Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
National Park Service. Appalachian National Scenic Trail. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
National Park Service. Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
National Weather Service, Burlington. Historical Monthly Snowfall, Burlington, Vermont, period of record 1892-1893 to present. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, on Recreation.gov. Winhall Brook Camping Area, Ball Mountain Lake, Jamaica, Vermont. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont General Assembly. The Vermont Association of Snow Travelers, Inc., overview updated January 2026, published to the House Committee on Transportation. VAST is a private non-profit, not an agency. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont General Assembly. 23 V.S.A. chapter 29, snowmobiles, including the trails maintenance assessment. Retrieved September 25, 2026.
Vermont Agency of Transportation. The Vermont Byways Program, Program Manual. Retrieved September 25, 2026.

Reviewed September 25, 2026. Conditions, closures and rules change; check with the managing agency before you travel.

Who manages Vermont

The agency on the sign decides where you can drive and where you can sleep. Choose one to see how much of the state it holds and what that means for a trip.

Vermont
8.0% 474,866 acres

Source: Congressional Research Service, Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (R42346), Table 2, data as of September 30, 2024. Federal land here means the five agencies shown; state, tribal and private land make up the rest of each bar.

The public land map of Vermont

Agency boundaries, the BLM and Forest Service roads and trails open to vehicles, wilderness, and BLM campgrounds. Select any point for who manages it.

Map layers

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Layers

Federal land Who manages the ground, by agency

State and local land State forests, parks and wildlife areas, county and city land, nationwide

BLM roads and trails Routes managed for public motorized use

Forest roads and trails Forest Service Motor Vehicle Use Map

Wilderness BLM Wilderness and study areas, closed to vehicles

Camping and trailheads BLM campgrounds, OHV areas and trailheads

Base map

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Legend

Federal land, by managing agency

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
US Forest Service (USFS)
National Park Service (NPS)
US Fish and Wildlife (USFW)
Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
Department Of Defense (DOD)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Other Federal
State
Local
Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
Alaska Native Allotment

State and local land (USGS PAD-US)

State land
County and city land
Regional agency or district
Land trust or conservancy

Gaps with no tint inside public land are private parcels, often old mining claims and homesteads. They are not open to the public.

Dashed clay lines on the base map are unpaved tracks from OpenStreetMap. They show what exists on the ground, not what is legal to drive.

Select any point to see who manages the land.

Boundaries are approximate and land status changes. This map is a planning aid, not a survey or a statement of access. Confirm routes, closures and camping rules with the managing office.

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