Ludlow Mountain via Healdville Trail (Okemo State Forest)
Hike Type: Out-and-Back
Distance: 6.25 miles
Elevation: 1,955 feet
My Time: 2 hours, 34 minutes (2 hours, 27 minutes moving)
Book Time: 4 hours, 6 minutes
Parking: Parking for 5-ish cars at trailhead.
Hiking Challenges: Vermont Fire Towers
Hiking Challenges: Vermont Fire Towers
The Hike
The sun was shining and I was excited for my second hike of the day! The drive from Mt. Ascutney to Ludlow Mountain was very pretty. I loved watching all of the people fishing along VT-131. I got gas in Ludlow, which was a super cute mountain/ski town, and I loved driving past the main entrance to Okemo (someday I'm going to have to ski all of these mountains that I've been hiking). The trailhead was at the end of Station Road, just after the railroad tracks, on the left (it was a little unclear).
There was one other car at the trailhead, and they were packing up to leave. My wrist was hurting from wringing out my shirt, which was a solid bummer. The bugs were out as I was getting ready, so I threw some hairspray on my extremities and in my hair. The sunshine was abundant, and I was soon off!
[10:10am - Healdville Trail]
Temps were in the upper 60s now and I started my hike on the Healdville Trail. The trail entered the woods at the trailhead kiosk and immediately crossed a bridge, following blue balzes. The trail was on a super green old road with a decent amount of grass - not enough to be a problem, but enough to cause some high-stepping on my part. The ferns were growing in strong, too. I could see some logging equipment to the right of the trail just before crossing a well-signed very recently used logging road. A sign detailed the logging:
"Why log along the Healdville Trail?
The forest along the Healdville Trail is comprised of many native tree species, including a large composition of White Ash Trees. White ash trees are the preferred host for the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB).
EAB is an introduced, non-native insect which kills up to 99% of ash trees in a stand and has been detected nearby. Once EAB kills ash trees, removing the trees to protect human safety becomes significantly more hazardous and expensive.
To address this risk, white ash trees which will succumb to the EAB in the next few years are being preemptively harvested along the trail corridor to reduce future hazards to hikers and avoid potential trail closures if many dead trees are left standing.
By harvesting these trees before they die, they can be felled much more safely, and utilized for wood products such as flooring, baseball bats, and tool handles.
This action is taken reluctantly. Unfortunately, forest managers don't have many options in the face of the rapidly advancing infestation. There are no other practical options for this stand to reduce the threat to human safety.
Once the harvesting is complete, the trail will be restored and reopened. Expect the forest around the trail to look different after the removals. Over time new native tree saplings will establish and mature into the next generation of this forest.
In the meantime, the young forest habitat created in pockets along the trail through this harvesting will support a diversity of wildlife, from birds using the shrubland habitat to deer and moose browsing on the young sugar maple saplings and bear eating the raspberries."
The Healdville Trail navigated the logged area, crossing over a wide bridge before going back onto the main trail, paralleling a brook in a sea of newly bloomed trout lily. The trail climbed at a reasonable grade before steepening at some cascades. The route was comically well-blazed which did prove helpful in some of the logged areas.
I hiked past some more cascades and a bunch of past-peak red trillium before a little walking break at the 0.75 mile mark, which also featured a life-altering breeze. The trail climbed a bit more afterwards and began to veer away from the stream on what felt like a newer portion of the trail.
[10:33am - Healdville Trail/Catamount Ski Trail Joins]
The Catamount X-C Ski Trail joined in this area, whic was followed by a series of lovely, easy, realtively flat switchbacks. The sky above was turning bluer and bluer and I worked my way up before the Catamount Trail departed on the left.
[10:38am - Healdville Trail/Catamount Ski Trail Departs]
The trail moderated and steepened after the Catamount Trail departed, but some white flowers were cheering me on as I suffered up the side of this sub-peak. I passed some big older red trillium and eventually began to follow the contour line for a nice, long walking break with just a few muddy and grassy sections. This was basically the halfway point in both mileage and elevation. I kept thinking "this is lovely, what a shame there's still another 1,000 feet to climb!"
The terrifying farts started to arrive as the trail began to gently gain elevation again. Really nothing on this hike was overly challenging so far, but my legs were tired from Ascutney and the first part of this climb.
[11:02am - Healdville Trail/Sign]
There was a seemingly random sign right at the two mile mark (turns out it used to be a junction with an older trail according to the Vermont Fire Towers book, published in 2005) and then the trail descended a little to two rocky stream crossings before ascending again.
[11:13am - Healdville Trail/View]
The trail flattened one more time before starting to climb more intensely - the kind of grade that sneaks up on you. On the plus, there was a surprise little view on the way up! Someone had left non-wild flowers there, maybe as a memorial of sorts?
The trillium were still alive up here and the trail soon turned to climb right up the contour. I could see the sky! I was worried that I might die before I got there, but I could sure see it! The trail neared a false summit and flattened again before another push that almost took my life from me (in fairness, I was hiking quickly). I caught some tree views on the left and painted trillium on the right as the trail rounded a knob before the final final push.
[11:31am - Healdville Trail/CCC Cabin]
[11:32am - Ludlow Mountain Summit & Tower]
After seeing God, the trail descended slightly to the ruins of an old CCC Cabin, which was cool to see! On the right was the remainder of the trail to the tower, and on the left was a spur to the ski area. There was a baby snake on the final trail to the tower that nearly scared the life out of me, and when I didn't die (again), I was at the tower!
There was no disc at the summit area, but the tower was in wonderful shape and looked recently repainted with a reflective silver. There was a great view to the backside of Killington. I loved seeing Ascutney, Stratton, and Equinox! I especially loved just getting familiar with this area of mountains - the "video game"-style map in my head is becoming clearer and clearer! I looked down into the town of Ludlow, but didn't stay up there for long as it was SUPER windy, which made me cool down rapidly with my soaking wet shirt. I decided I'd hike the little spur to the ski area for funsies.
[11:39am - Spur to Ski Area]
The spur was... lackluster. Wet, muddy, buggy, and short. It ended at a ski trail and I simply did not feel inspired enough to wander to the end terminals. I'm sure I could have gotten a nice view if I had, but oh well! I turned around and got back onto the Headldville Trail at the CCC Cabin to start my trip down.
[11:41am - Return to Healdville Trail]
I started my blast-off on the Healdville Trail feeling good! I zoned out in the upper portion and passed my first person of the hike near the viewpoint, and we both spooked each other! I descended to cross those two rocky streams and then rose up to the sign.
[12:04pm - Healdville Trail/Sign]
A child later came barreling down the trail, which in turn also scared the life out of me. His father was a minute after him and asked me how far the top was, the conversation went like this:
Me: "Hey how's it going."
Dad: "How far to the top [in a British accent]?"
Me: "Just about over a mile?"
Dad: "But how far?"
Me: "Yeah there's a sign a little that way and it's a mile from there."
Dad: "So like 20, 30 minutes?"
Me: "That depends on your pace, it's flat for a bit but then gets steep."
Dad: "So 30 minutes?"
Me: "Again I don't know it depends on your pace, could be 30-45 or even an hour."
Dad: "Hmm."
...and then I walked away. They were in soccer jersey t-shirts and the dad was wearing his phone on a lanyard. Hope they had fun! I also realized later that he probably had no idea how far a mile was based on his accent and tourist-like appearance.
A few minutes later I passed a woman and her wonderful dog as I followed the contour on the wonderfully flat trail. Slowly, I began to descend again, eventually landing where the Catamount Ski Trail joined at the delightful switchbacks.
[12:23pm - Healdville Trail/Catamount Ski Trail Joins]
I saw the littlest toad that ever lived and then managed to step on a stick with one foot, kick it with the side of my other foot, which twisted my knee in a truly heinous-feeling way. Thankfully, no injuries, but it sure felt horrible!
[12:28pm - Healdville Trail/Catamount Ski Trail Departs]
The Catamount Trail left the Healdville Trail at the last switchback and then descended a little more moderately to the land of logging, which was sunny and warm! I was back to dripping sweat. I made my way across the logging roads, through the grassy bit, and then I was back at the car!
[12:44pm - End of Hike]
I did a quick change into dry clothes at the car and then started a bit of a longer drive to the amazingly-named Taconic Mountains Ramble State Park for my final hike of the day! I almost forgot that the main purpose of this mini hiking trip was to finish my Taconic list!
Step-by-Step
- Start hike on Healdville Trail.
- At jct. near top, turn right to summit Ludlow Mountain.
- At summit, turn around and follow path to ski area.
- At ski slope, turn around.
- At jct., turn right onto Healdville Trail.
- Return to car.
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