Mount Ascutney
Mountain Peak · Windsor, Vermont
A lump of granite standing three thousand one hundred and forty-four feet clear of the Connecticut River valley with nothing else near it - a monadnock, an isolated mountain of rock hard enough to have outlasted everything that once surrounded it, which is what makes it unlike every other Vermont summit. The others sit in ranges. This one sits alone, and you can see it from a very long way off. A 3.7-mile parkway climbs to a car park at 2,800 feet, from which a mile of trail reaches an observation tower and a view over four states. Hang-glider pilots have used it for decades and rate it among the best launches in New England.
1826 Back Mountain Road, Windsor, Vermont, 05089, United States
⚠ SEASONAL - the MOUNT ASCUTNEY PARKWAY and the state park are open roughly late May to mid October, and the road is GATED outside the season, which turns an hour's outing into a 2,500-foot climb if you have not checked. A modest Vermont State Parks day-use fee plus a per-vehicle toll for the auto road; hiking from the trailheads outside the park is free. THE PARKWAY IS 3.7 MILES OF NARROW, WINDING, STEEP ROAD to a car park at 2,800 feet, fifteen to twenty minutes each way, with restrooms and a picnic area at the top. From there it is about a mile of unpaved trail to the OBSERVATION TOWER - ⚠ THE SUMMIT IS PARTLY WOODED AND THE TOWER IS THE FULL VIEW, though there are open ledges too. Four hiking trails climb the mountain from the bottom, each 2,000 to 2,500 feet; the Weathersfield trail passes Crystal Cascade and is the best. The campground has showers. ⚠ HANG GLIDER LAUNCH AREAS ARE FOR RATED PILOTS - keep clear.