The Green Mountain Club (GMC) maintains Vermont's Long Trail (LT), a 270 mile trail from the Massachusetts state line to the Canadian border. The LT was begun in 1910; it is the nation's first long distance hiking trail. GMC has fourteen sections; GMC members can belong to a section or can be At Large.

The Montpelier Section of the GMC maintains two portions of the Long Trail - Bamforth Ridge (Gorham Spring to Jonesville) and Smugglers' Notch (Picnic area to Chilcoot Pass), including the overnight sites Bamforth Ridge Shelter and Sterling Pond Shelter. The section also maintains the Sterling Pond Trail (former LT). See the Tour page.

Our outdoor events are open to everyone, and we charge no fee. Our outings are almost always day trips, but do extend to portions of New York and New Hampshire, as well as Vermont. Please talk with the trip leader about a hike if you have any questions.

The section's quarterly newsletter is at current issue and index provides access to past issues. The link for the new issue is sent out to members when it is posted. A print version may be requested by contacting the newsletter editor. The web site listings can show updates made after Trail Talk is printed.

Our Smugglers' Notch work hikes (fall and spring) concentrate on the LT from the picnic area to Sterling Pond, and the Sterling Pond Trail. The Bamforth work hikes concentrate on the trail from River Road to the Bamforth Ridge shelter. We hit other portions of our trail as needed. The work hikes are suitable for everyone able to walk the trail, especially those able to wield a leaf rake.

The Young Adventurers' Club () was established in 2006 as a new group within the Montpelier Section to get parents and kids 0-6 years old outdoors, to hike, play, learn, and make friends. The age range may change as the founding toddlers grow older.

The Trekkers () are no longer active.

We are volunteers. Our officers and trip leaders receive no reimbursement for their time, energy, or travel. The section does pay actual costs for producing and mailing Trail Talk, for this web site, for renting meetings halls (e.g. annual meeting), for trail maintenance tools, and for training programs. Our income is from donations and membership dues.

You can help by joining the GMC (if you are not already a member), leading a event (you don't need special training or skills), serving as an officer (let our nominating committee know of your availability in January or February), or by helping with the web site.

  Dues for membership in the Green Mountain Club are independent of section membership -- you pay the same dues whether or not you are a section member. If you are a section member, the section receives a portion (currently 25%) of those dues. If you are a GMC member but not a section member, you are an At-Large GMC member. Some questions about GMC membership are answered on the GMC Overview and Benefits page. To Join (or Renew) click on the Join/Renew button at the top of that page. -- We hope you will select Montpelier as you Section, under the "Choose Your Membership Section:" pull-down.

Our annual meeting is held in the spring, at the start of our fiscal year.

At the top of every page is a horizontal row of links to other sections of this website. Moving your cursor over a section displays subsections.

Photographs

The top of this page includes a row of photos from our website. These are selected at random from 3210 photos on our website. Moving your cursor over any of these photos allows you to view the report the photo illustrates. You may also view the original photo and whatever information we have about the photo. Reloading this page fetches a new batch of photos.

  Look here for current and historic GMC publications, including Long Trail News, Long Trail Guides, and Leader Handbooks.