Owl's Head Mountain (Groton State Forest)

Owl's Head Mountain (Groton State Forest)

Distance: 4.80 miles
Elevation: 679 feet
Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Hike Type: Out-and-Back

Hiking Challenges: Northeast Kingdom Mountain Challenge

The Hike

Last one! I had a sleepy drive from the Spruce Mountain trailhead back to Groton State Forest to bookend this weekend. I decided to take the slightly longer route by parking in the Northern Parking Area instead of paying the $5 to go into New Discovery State Park, mostly just becuase I didn't want to have to talk to anybody. It was officially hot outside, 77 at the trailhead, there was no one else at the parking lot, lots of bugs, and I got all my stuff together to get this last hike!

"Welcome to Groton State Forest. This 26,000+ acre forest is managed as a multiple use forest by the State of Vermont, and offers camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, and winter recreation such as ski touring and snowmobiling. The forest is a "working forest" with timber harvesting on selected tracts producing funds for Vermont's Land and Facilities Trust Fun. Groton is rich in human history. The land was too rugged and the soil too stony to be good for agriculture, so little of the landscape was cleared. But the rich forests brought loggers, railroads, and mills to the region and Lake Groton became a bustling site of activity during the last century. Today, the forest provides a multitude of recreation opportunities in any season. Park facilities are in full operation during the summer, but can be enjoyed year-round. Nature programs are offered throughout the Forest and at the Nature Center, located at the north end of Lake Groton. There are many hiking and multiple-use trails in the Forest that can be accessed from various trail heads and parking areas (see map). The lodging and conference facility at Seyon Ranch is unique in the Vermont State Park system. Here is a seculded year-round facility located on Noyes Pond that offers home-style cuisine and a specialty of fly-fishing for trout only. Hiking and cross-country skiing trails are also available on site. Wildlife viewing is a favorite pursuit at any time of the year. Spring warbler migrations, summer loon watches, fall hawk migrations, or winter tracking opportunities are available at the Forest. Be sure to visit often and search your favorite habitats. If you are lucky you may even see a moose." - trailhead kiosk.

The trail starts on an old road that parrallels the main road, also featuring an impressive amount of horse poop. The trail starts descending (boo) soon after beginning, and bottoms out at the Telephone Line Trail trailhead, which then briefly ascends to cross the main road.

The Telephone Line Trail seems to have had some recent improvements - relatively new blazes and switchbacks! The trail easily ascends while parralleling a recently logged area, with of course, horse poop all over the ground. Higher up, the trail becomes enveloped in ferns, but with a clear footbed. I sadly destroyed many a spider web with my face, and eventually hit the height of land, where the trail began to descend again.

"The Nature of groton Forest... borne of Fire and Ice: Groton State Forest is mainly located in the Connecticut River watershed, with the exception of Marshfield and Peacham Ponds flowing into the Winooski River and eventually Lake Champlain. The bedrock that forms these mountains was created during a continental collision about 360 million years ago, when the sea floor was buried and molten granite intruded, all being pressure-cooked deep below the surface. Over millionsof years, the overlying mountains wore away, leaving the roots exposed at the surface. Most the present landscape at Groton Forest is made of granite, which is similar to the White Mountains of New Hampshire rather than the Green Mountains of Vermont."

"All of this landscape was covered by continental ice sheets in four successive advances during the past 1.5 million years. The ice ground down mountain peaks and gouged out valleys as it moved south. The last advance disappeared from here only about 13,000 years ago. All the lakes, ponds and marshes of Groton were created by glacial dams of sand and gravel as the ice melted away. The large boulders strewn across the landscape are known as "glacial erratics" and were dropped from the ice as it melted."

"Today, we have a rich and diverse forested landscape that hosts a variety of wildlife. Forest fires during the early 1900's resulted in a second-growth forest of today. Logging encourages young growth that harbors a wide variety of plant communities with abundant food and cover for wild creatures. Be sure to visit during spring and fall migration periods to observe songbird movement. If hunting is your interest, most of Groton State Forest is open for pursuit of deer, moose, hare, grouse, turkey, and other game."

"During winter, take to the woods to discover the tracks of wildlife that normally stay hidden during the summer months. Fisher, otters, deer, grouse, turkeys, and moose tracks are often encountered during a ski tour, snowshoe trip or snowmobile excurision. Every season offers new and interesting experiences that will keep you returning year after year." - trailhead kiosk.

Near the junction with the Owl's Head Trail, the footbed turns into crushed gravel, and eventually bottoms out at the junction in nice, open woods. Turning right here, the Owl's Head Trail continues and immedaitely begins to regain the elevation lost. The blazing here also looked recently redone, likely due to the interruption caused by the logging operation (as evidenced by the trail crossing a very open logging road). It also appears that some of this logging is being done by a study, detailed below. I saw at least three of these signs at different points of the hike, all with the same information.

"Adaptive Silviculture Strategies at Groton State Forest"

"Introduction: The maintenance shop sale at Groton State Forest is a collaboration between the VT Forest, Parks, and Recreation Department, Rubenstein School at UVM, and USDA Forest Service Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science. The experiment at this area was designed and established in 2020 with harvests occurring in summer 2022. The goal of this research partnership is to establish large-scale and long-term replicated experiments to examine the success of different silvicultural practices at addressing adaptation to climate change and invasive species, while supporting other values including carbon sequestration and habitat for native biodiversity. A key challenge being addressed at this site is the preponderance of American beech and its impacts on the diversity and vulnerability of VT Forests."

"Patch Clear-cut (No Live-tree Retention): This treatment consisted of removing all the live overstory trees from the unit, leaving only existing snags and cavity trees. In addition, 4 whole trees were pulled to create tip-up mounds. Downed dead wood was increased by felling and leaving 8-10 large, trees of low economic value per acre. To restore historically important species and icnrease climate adaptation, future-adapted northern hardwood species currently found near the site, such as northern red oak, and historically important coniferous species, including red spruce and eastern white pine, will be planted in spring 2023 in these areas."

"Patch Clear-cut with Dispersed Retention: This treatment involved removing 90% of all overstory trees and retaining 10% of overstory trees as reserves. Retained trees were dispersed across the site prioritizing trees that supported biodiversity and adaptation goals, including large, low value individuals, beech displaying resistance to beech bark disease, beech with evidence of bear activity, conifer species, white ash, and yellow birch. These reserve trees will not be harvested and serve as an import source of habitat and future seed. Insecticide treatments to prevent EAB impacts on retained ash will be considered. As with teh no live-tree treatment, 4 whole trees were pulled to create tip-up mounds in the unit. This treatment also includes planting the same species as described above in spring 2023."

"Patch Clear-cut with Aggregated Retention: As with the dispersed retention treatment, this treatment involved removing 90% of all overstory trees and retaining 10% of overstory trees as reserves; however, they were retained as four 1/4-acre retention aggregates. Retention aggregates were spread out across the harvested patch, and where possible, centered on unique ecological features, including include seeps, vernal pools, snags, downed woody materials, resistant beech, and conifer inclusions. As with the other treatments, 4 whole trees were pulled to create tip-up mounts in the unit. This treatment includes planting the same species as described above in spring 2023. Evaluations of forest responses to each retention treatments will help inform best strategies for retaining trees on sites with heavy beech competition."

"Forest Management Goals: The short-term goal of this experiment is to create a structurally complex and compositionally-balanced stand of northern hardwoods by regenerating a diverse mix of species. These clear-cuts and scarification will allow for less-shade tolerant species to compete with and reduce the American beech component. In addition, planted seedlings will be monitored to evaluate success of different species under varying spatial patterns of retention. Long-term goals are to restore the composition of the forest to a greater diversity of canopy species with a low level of forest health issues. The management practices at this site are aimed at regenerating forests with species composition adapted to current and future issues, including beech leaf disease, emerald ash borer, and climate change. In addition, treatments focus on meeting wildlife goals wtihin the management unit. Lastly, communicating with the public to promote understanding of the intent and benefits of these treatments is an important element of forest management with outcomes of these studies helping to inform future management practices."

Continuing along, the trail is in the woods with large, logged fields on either side ~20 off trail. The upper one looked like the iconic Windows XP wallpaper, but instead of grass it was ferns. I couldn't' get a good view of it without going off-trail, so we get to enjoy the imagination now! I passed truly the quietest person on this Earth, and later on passed a responsible dog owner! The dog was leashed, responded well to recall, and the owner asked if I was okay with dogs while stepping off-trail. I'll likely never get over my angst towards irresponsible and lazy dog owners, but it was lovely to meet this one!

The trail continued to gain easily/moderately to a false summit area that featured a cool rock walk over a swamp, which sadly led to a descent. Thankfully there was a pretty boardwalk in the col. The trail skirted around the parking area (which was surprisingly empty) before making a final push to the summit, which involved a couple switchbacks and some lovely stonework on the trail. My quads were beyond dead at this point, but I was thrilled to be almost there!

I caught up with the human race at the top, which I shared with 10-15 others. It was officially hot outside, so I was truly unsightly (and smelled like death). A highlight of the view was being able to see Spruce Mountain - where I just was! There was a cute observation gazebo, but I was cooking in the sun, so I took my photos and started my return!

The return trip was quick and easy minus the fact that I kept kicking rocks by accident. Back at the Telephone Line Trail junction I realized that I was, in fact, starving, but kept pushing on. Ususally I'm a proponent for stopping for a snack, but I just wanted to be in dry clothes in my car. The uphill on the TL trail was easy but still got my heart rate up since I was power hiking, and the uphill to the parking area hurt a bit more, but I was extremely thrilled to be back. Northeast Kingdom Mountain Challenge = Complete! I changed my clothes and dried off and began my long drive home - passing the washed out summit road to Owl's Head (which explains why the parking area was empty). I eventually got food at the Taco Bell off I-89, it was magical.

Step-by-Step

    - Park at Northern Parking Area.

    - Follow Connector Trail from parking area.

    - At junction, turn left onto Telephone Line Trail.

    - Cross road, continue on Telephone Line Trail.

    - At junction, turn right onto Owl's Head Trail.

    - Follow Owl's Head Trail to summit.

    - Retrace steps back to car.

"Welcome to Groton State Forest" from Groton State Forest Summer Trails Guide 

        At more than 26,000 acres, Groton State Forest is the second largest contiguous land holding of the State of Vermont. This scenic and rugged area is known for its developed and dispersed recreation opportunities. Though only a half-hour drive from Barre, Montpelier, or St. Johnsbury, Groton State Forest retains a sense of wildness and supports a variety of wildlife, including black bear, moose, deer, grouse, mink, beaver, otter, fisher, loons, and herons. A variety of fish are found in the clear ponds and streams.

        A year-round trail system connects most major points of interest. Peacham Bog Natural Area (748 acres) contains one of the larget bogs in Vermont, and is home to some interesting and unusual plants and animals. The summit of Owls Head Mountain, accessible by trail, or seasonal road that leads almost ot the top, offers spectacular panoramic views of the surrounding area.

        The exposed bedrock found on mountain peaks here is granite, similar to that found in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The striations in this granite, and the boulders found throughout the forest, are evidence of glacial activity that occured more than 10,000 years ago. The glaciers scattered and scraped the landscape irregularly, leaving a rough topography with generally poor drainage.
        The forest's cultural history is primarily one of intensive logging, beginning in 1873 with the opening of the Montpelier and Wells River Railroad that ran through the forest. By the mid 1920's most of the timber was cut, leading to the decline the railroad. Several forest fires, especially a severe one in 1903, changed the landscape from spruce, fir and pine to red maple and yellow nad white birch common today. The Civilian Conservation Corps, encamped near Osmore Pond in the 1930's, reforested some areas with plantations of pine and spruce. Today, Groton State Forest is being managed for multiple uses by the Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation to provide sustainable recreation, wildlife, water, and wood products.  

"Owl's Head Trail" from Groton State Forest Summer Trails Guide 

        This hike leads to a scenic vista of Lake Groton, Kettle Pond and the Green Mountains. Trail starts off the road from New Discovery to the Osmore Pond scenic area. Bypassing a swampy area, trail first descends and then climbs to a parking lot. The trail tot he top continues to the left, following the rocks steps of a path built by the CCC in the 1930's.

Map of Groton State Forest

Photo Album