Trails & Trail Work

A good day's work!

Interested in learning about trail work in our Section?

Read our Trail Work Procedures. Our Trails Manager Ellen Cronan will send out email alerts a few weeks prior to each workday. Weather permitting, there are always volunteer opportunities which can be done individually or in a group! If you have questions about trail maintenance in our section or to volunteer, please contact Ellen at ecronana@yahoo.com. There is work for all abilities. Thank you!

2024 Trail Work

Trail crew members: Watch for emails about dates for trail maintenance from our Trail Manager, Ellen Cronan. If you have time and ability to participate on the trail crew and are not currently on the email list, please contact Ellen at ecronana@yahoo.com.  

Special thanks to the Middlebury College students who helped out with our fall trail work just as their semester was getting started! 

As part of new freshman orientation at Middlebury College, Saturday is a day for excursions.  Bread Loaf Section hosted eight new freshmen and a returning sophomore for trail work in the Snow Bowl. The crew helped block an old section of trail to allow it to fade into the woods.  They also used a crosscut saw to cut a piece of dead timber and use the wood to reinforce a newly installed water bar. 

Photos of Trail Work 2023 & earlier

Volunteering for trail work is a rewarding experience and a great way to give back to the trails. For a glimpse of work challenges, take a look at our trail work photos page.

Trail Notes/Updates in the Bread Loaf area

Our section of the Long Trail is an 11.4 mile section from Sucker Brook Shelter northward through Middlebury Gap (Vt. route 125) to Emily Proctor Shelter.

Please check the GMC Headquarters website's Long Trail Updates for notices about trail conditions along the entire Long Trail.

Weather Reports of Vermont Peaks

Mountain Point Forecast gives you real-time weather reports on Vermont Peaks!

Safety Tips & Hunting Seasons

Before heading out to enjoy outdoor treks or paddles, please check:

Click on the above photo to watch and hear a crosscut saw really sing! (5-sec. video)

2022 Trail Work Summary

After having volunteered as Bread Loaf's Trail Manager during the 2015-2021 field seasons, David Morrissey is Bread Loaf Section's president as of January 2022.  Thank you, David!

David's Trail Work reports from 2019 -2021: Scroll down and keep reading! Learn what Bread Loaf Section's dedicated trail work crews' efforts have been focused on in past years.

Trail Work was held on Sat. May 15, 2021.

Thank you to the 20 volunteers who participated! VIEW PHOTOS HERE.

Upcoming trail work days will be announced and posted on our calendar.The Spring 2021 Bread Loaf Section work days were a great success this year.  We had 17 trail crew members out for the day on May 15th and two other trips over the last couple of weeks that brought the total to 20 volunteers and partners getting the trail ready for the summer hiking season.  The trail crew performed maintenance on the sections of trail from the Sucker Brook Trail to the top of Worth Mountain, the Burnt Hill Trail to the Long Trail and down Skylight Pond Trail, and the Long Trail from Route 125 at Middlebury Gap to the top of the Middlebury Snow Bowl.  One group was also able to begin the material haul for the new privy that is going in at Boyce Shelter.  The trail is in great shape with the exception of a couple larger blowdowns that will be removed in the coming weeks. 

The Breadloaf Section has quite a bit of activity this year from privy replacements, shelter rehabilitation projects, and regular maintenance trips so other opportunities to volunteer will be available.  If you are on the trail crew email list, please keep an eye out.  If you are not on the list and would like to be, please email David Morrissey (dfmorrissey117@gmail.com) and we will get you on the list.
Thanks to everyone who participated and Happy Trails!
David  Morrissey, Trails & Shelters Manager (2021)

In 2020, Trail Work was completed by small, experienced teams. 

In order to comply with restrictions due to COVID-19, during the spring, summer and fall this year, small teams of Bread Loaf trail crew and dedicated trail adopters were out to clear trails, brush and clear water bars.

Special thanks to all who kept the trail in great shape! We received many compliments about trail conditions, not in just our section but the entire LT, as more than the usual number of day hikers and End-to-Enders took advantage of unexpected free time and decided to spend it safely outdoors.

October 6, 2019 Trail Work Report by David Morrissey, Trail Manager

The Fall work day had 12 volunteers including some young members of the section who are in elementary and middle school.  It is great to have a variety of experience on these trips and this one really reinforced that as the enthusiasm for both learning and teaching trail work is energizing.  All in, it was over 60 hours of volunteer time for the day.

The group split into three groups.  Two volunteers cleared the water bars up on the Cooley Glen Trail.  A group went south on the Long Trail from Route 125 over the Middlebury Snow Bowl.  Finally a group went south from Sucker Brook to Route 73.   

Sucker Brook to Route 73 was in particularly tough shape.  Over 35 trees were removed from the trail, social trails were brushed in, and a small reroute was established.

Some other notes on trail work:

Photos are from the 10/26/19 crosscut certification class. (photo credit: D. Morrissey)

July 2019 Trail Work by LT Crew

A Green Mountain Club trail crew was hard at work earlier this summer repairing major erosion on the Long Trail in the Breadloaf Wilderness.  They worked for four (4) weeks out of Middlebury Gap installing 22 steps and cutting almost 200 feet of new trail to repair the well used section of the Long Trail between the Gap and the junction to Silent Cliff.  The new section provides a switchback around a steep area creating a more sustainable trail. The crew also spent two weeks just inside the northern boundary of the bread loaf wilderness at Lincoln gap doing gardening work. THANK YOU, LT Crew!

Spring Trail Work on June 1, 2019 completed by "best crew ever" of Bread Loaf Section volunteers!

We had one of the best crews ever and it showed as we tackled almost the whole Bread Loaf section!  A total of 19 people showed up for the June trail work day and cleared more than 15 miles of trails to support the Green Mountain Club and the Long Trail. !

Amazing!  And everyone had fun doing it. A win, win for sure.  Thanks, Trail Crew! 

Photo album of reroute and rock steps (LT to Silent Cliff trail junction.) 


"Remember that anyone who can hike 3-5 miles and wield a rake, hoe or clippers can do trail maintenance. We love to have new folks on the crew. And sometimes there are even cookies! "

Chip Morgan (Trail Manager 2007-2012)

Raking out