Skiing Burke Mountain (Day 27/Indy Day 22)

Skiing Burke Moutnain

Sunday, February 22nd, 2026

Runs: 13

Distance: 14.52 miles

Elevation: 14,301 feet

Max Speed: 36.7 mph

Avg. Speed: 14.0 mph

Moving Time: 1 hour, 6 minutes

Total Time: 4 hours, 26 minutes, 13 seconds

And now it was the final day of February break... Sad! Thankfully, we had plans to go to Burke Mountain for the day. It was going to be Emma, Sarah, Me, Emma's Dad, and Emma's Mom would be lodge mom for the moring. Emma's parents were planning on staying just a half day because another massive snow storm was coming to southern New England (the Snowology report said I was fine to take my time, thankfully). I was running ahead of the game, per usual. I got to the lodge and booted up quietly and slowly by myself and planned to lap the Sherburne Express until everyone else had landed. I ran into Sarah and Emma right as I was heading out for my first run du jour. It was a cold morning, but it was supposed to heat up througout the day to the upper 20s, and no wind (again!). 

Mountain Conditions

Sunday, February 22

Winter is still clearly winning the game up here! Yesterday's 6 inches of fresh snow gave the mountain a fun little refresh, and today we're cashing in on the leftovers. Expect packed powder groomers with pockets of the goods tucked away in the woods. Clouds will be on the increase but temps will hang out in the sweet spot around 30 degrees. It's a Sunday Funday in the Bear Den today - check out live music 2:30-5:30.

Runs 1-3

Run 1: Sherburne Express - Binney Lane

[0.75 mi; 2:18; 607 ft; 32.1 mph max; 19.7 mph avg]

Run 2: Sherburne Express - Bunker Hill

[0.79 mi; 2:49; 614 ft; 29.8 mph max; 16.9 mph avg]

Run 3: Sherburne Express - Midway - High Meadow Pass

[1.04 mi; 4:31; 607 ft; 23.6 mph max 13.8 mph avg]

Man, I just love this mountain! I hit the three non-park green runs during my solo jaunt. Binney Lane is more or less the lift line and had wonderfully soft corduroy. I tried to hug the looker's left side of the run so I could see my tracks (and how well I'm using my edges), but I did not succeed. Run #2 was down my favorite - Bunker Hill. It has a nice, steeper pitch towards the end! Run #3 was down Midway to High Meadow Pass, past many wonderful properties that I would personally love to own (and went over one bridge that's always super fun). After these runs, I went in to pee, and I saw the Emma, Sarah, and her Dad were all ready to go!

Runs 4-6

Run 4: Sherburne Express - Midway

[0.36 mi; 1:59; 154 ft; 24.5 mph max; 10.8 mph avg]

Run 5: Mid-Burke Express - Upper Willoughby - Lower Willoughby

[1.12 mi; 3:50; 1,683 ft; 36.7 mph max; 17.5 mph avg]

Run 6: Mid-Burke Express - East Bowl - Dipper Doodle

[2.15 mi; 9:38; 1,686 ft; 30.7 mph max; 13.4 mph avg]

It was fun to be all together - I hadn't skied with Emma's Dad since Jay's closing day last year (I'm better now, I swear!). Run #4 was down Midway and apparently you can scootch through a small tree island to get a little more speed on Midway.

Run #5 brought us to the top for pole and potato pictures, and then we skied down Upper and Lower Willoughby - such a fun trail. I'm getting better at carving on steeper slopes at higher speeds, but I'm nowhere near "there" yet. 

Emma suggested we hit East Bowl for Run #6 while our legs were still fresh - I was down! I had so much fun on East Bowl last time, I was more than excited to get back to it! We skated across the traverse, gawked at the partial view of the Whites, and then... skied? We were waiting for the bumps and drops and... they never came? The WHOLE run was groomed! It was a fun run, don't get me wrong, and would be categorized as a blue in my opinion, but where was the challenge! I will say, a groomed runout is nice. Maybe they were trying to preserve snowpack? We kept saying "it got Upper Milked!" At least I got a Strava PR! A whole 12 minutes faster than my last time!

Mountain Conditions

THE SHERBURNE EXPRESS IS ON HOLD. 

We will communicate any updates here.

Runs 7-10

Run 7: Mid-Burke Express - Upper Dipper - Wilderness - Dixiland - East Bowl - Deer Run - Big Dipper

[1.59 mi; 12:34; 1,680 ft; 31.9 mph max; 7.6 mph avg]

Run 8: Mid-Burke Express - Upper Dipper - Big Dipper

[1.32 mi; 4:47; 1,683 ft; 31.7 mph max; 16.5 mph avg]

Run 9: Mid-Burke Express - Upper Fox's Folly - Upper Bear Den - Ledges - Lower Bear Den - Graham Slam

[1.15 mi; 6:09; 1,670 ft; 35.2 mph max; 11.2 mph avg]

Run 10: Mid-Burke Express - Deer Run - Big Dipper

[2.16 mi; 9:06; 1,677 ft; 30.5 mph max; 14.3 mph avg]

Once we got back to the Mid-Burke Express we noticed that the Sherburne Express was down - bummer! We got back on the Mid-Burke. Lines were getting longer, but we never waited more than five minutes. Lines also go faster with friends! We skied Upper Dipper to Wilderness and then went into the trees at Dixiland - my first double black at Burke! The glade started off pretty steep, and then got steeper with a few reprives. The snow was low tide on the steeper spots and we all took turns hitting rocks. I felt validated becuase both Emma and Sarah said that this was a difficult run (Emma's Dad was flying). Sarah was my biggest cheerleader here - after one impressively steep spot she said "look - you did that!" which was very nice! We had a few small traverse sections, and eventually we came to a wonderful, mellower, open area where I could make some decent turns, and soon enough we were back on the East Bowl runout. Sarah and Emma led us onto Deer Run and Big Dipper, which has a short uphill stretch that nearly took us all out!

Run #8 was another cruiser - we took Upper Dipper to Big Dipper, and it was just lovely! Such a fun, wide, steep trail with a few reprives. It reminds me of Ullr's Dream at Jay, but bigger, mightier, and truly, better. 

Run #9 was down Upper Fox's Folly - the old lift line. It was fun! Felt like a spooky abandoned land. We then continued onto Upper Bear Den, which was scrapey between bumps. I will 20% blame my skis lack of tuning for my poor skiing on the scrapy stuff recently. We then hit Ledges, which split partway down. Sarah and Dad took the main ledges and Emma and I took a narrower chute that had better snow. Once back on the main Ledges trail, I hit a patch of ice, lost my edge, and slammed into the trail. Ouch! We wrapped this run up with Grahahm Slam (great name), which was a fantastic cruiser. Emma was also having some problems, but the opposite of mine. She was saying her skis were over tuned, or something, and the shop tuned her tips and tails so it's hard for her to get out of a turn. I have no idea what that means, but I support her!

Run #10 was Emma's Dad's two more skip the last, as we were meeting her Mom at The Bear Den for lunch before they headed back to Rhode Island. We decided to follow all of Deer Run, which let me just say is such a delight! It's a little tricky to follow at times, but we corrected any mistakes and successfull connected all the dots, finishing up on Big Dipper!

The Bear Den is a phenominal, cozy little dive at the Mid-Mountain lodge. There was one bartender (and she was STUNNING) who was preparing drinks and serving up either soup or chili, and in the main Mid-Mountain Lodge there was a hot dog stand that was equally as wonderful. We had a nice lunch, enjoyed a pendant-ski drink, and then said goodbye to the parents!

Runs 11-13

Run 11: Mid-Burke Express - Upper Willoughby - Lower Willoughby - High Meadow Pass

[1.93 mi; 7:15; 2,110 ft; 35.4 mph max; 15.9 mph avg]

Run 12: Carpet - Learning Area

Run 13: J-Bar - Carter Country

[0.17 mi; 1:04; 131 ft; 18.7 mph max; 9.8 mph avg]

We were also ready to put a bow on things for the day, so the three of us got back on the Mid-Burke Express and took Willoughby down to High Meadow Pass. I did eyeball the magic carpet and I proposed a baby run, and they reluctantly agreed (of course they had fun). Emma, pretending she didn't want to do this, then said "does that mean we also need to hit the J-Bar?" This was somehow also Sarah's first J-Bar! We rode up (Sarah got stuck after we got off... again), and hit the XS/S Park "Carter Country" to wrap things up, and this was truly my favorite run of the day. We held hands the whole time, went over the rollers going "whee" on each one, hit the banked turn, and attempted a sharp turn back to the lodge (we had to let go for that one). What a DREAM.

We all quickly wrapped up and I decided to blast off from there to get home before dark and the snow (they had talked about going to beloved Parker Pie). I did stop in Littleton to hunt for a new snow shovel (no luck), and made it home around 7:00pm - just in time to get another 18" of snow!

Map of Burke Mountain

Skiing Burke Mountain (Day 11/Indy Pass Day 9)

Skiing Burke Mountain

Sunday, January 11th, 2026

Runs: 13

Distance: 16.25 miles

Elevation: 16,247 feet

Max Speed: 35.5 mph

Avg. Speed: 11.8 mph

Moving Time: 1 hour, 31 minutes, 12 seconds

Total Time: 6 hours, 27 minutes, 10 seconds (lunch break)

After a busy, but super fun day at Jay, I was up at 5:45am to get up and out and drive over to Burke for the first time! I had hoped Emma would be joining us, but she opted to sleep in and stay home instead. I got my Indy redemption, which took no time at 8:00am, and got ready with Sarah and Mom in the lodge upstairs before stashing our bags downstairs. It was truly a delightfully quiet morning! Once chores were done, we were outside just after 8:45am to get our first run on the Sherburne Express!

Mountain Conditions

Sunday, January 18.

Rise and shine! Or don't... Either way, the snow showed up and it's shaping up to be a great day. Snowfall continued until the lifts stopped spinning yesterday, and we picked up 5 inches in the last 24 hours. Today, look for more snow showers in the morning with a high of 29. A solid Sunday all around.

When the skiing wraps up, settle in for classic apres with Kyle Fickeisen playing live in The Bear Den from 2:30-5:30pm.

Sherburne Express, J-Bar, Magic Carpet will start spinning at 8:45am followed by the Mid Burke Express at 9am. Last chair for all lifts is 4pm.

PACKED POWDER.

Runs 1-2

Run 1: Sherburne Express - Bunker Hill

[0.80 mi; 3:03; 604 feet; 29.4 mph max; 15.7 mph avg]

Run 2: Sherburne Express - Midway

[0.38 mi; 2:34; 164 feet; 19.2 mph max; 8.9 mph avg]

Since we got on the Sherburne right when it opened, we didn't want to be waiting for the Mid-Burke to open, so we got a nice easy green lap in to start our day down Bunker Hill, which was a DREAM. Fresh corduroy the whole way down and nobody else around us. There was a little steep section near the end of it, which was surprising for a green, but super fun to ski! As we each got back to the lift we, like clockwork, all went "that was WONDERFUL!" Our second run was up the Sherburne again and down Midway to the Mid-Burke Express. We didn't know we needed to get speed on this run, so we had some skating to do. There was a small crowd at the lift, but nothing too bad!

Runs 3-6

Run 3: Mid-Burke Express - Upper Willoughby - Lower Willoughby

[1.12 mi; 4:31; 1,637 feet; 30.3 mph max; 14.9 mph avg]

Run 4: Mid-Burke Express - Upper Bear Den - Ledges - Lower Bear Den

[1.18 mi; 7:23; 1,683 feet; 30.9 mph max; 9.6 mph avg]

Run 5: Mid-Burke Express - Upper Fox's Folly - Deer Run - Big Dipper

[1.36 mi; 6:12; 1,677 feet; 35.5 mph max; 13.1 mph avg]

Run 6: Mid-Burke Express - Upper Dipper - Wilderness - Powderhorn - Cavemen - East Bowl - Dipper Doodle - High Meadow Pass

[2.19 mi; 15:11; 2,096 feet; 26.3 mph max; 8.6 mph avg]

Our first run off the Mid-Burke was delayed becuase we couldn't stop talking about how beautiful it was up top! Snow-covered trees in a wide area for everyone to get their bearings (it was extra fun for me because I knew this unload area was the top of the auto road that I had drive up years ago). We decided to work our way across the map, starting with Upper and Lower Willoughby. They were both a little busy, as it seemed many others also started with this run, but it was fun! Surprisingly steep (which would become a theme for the day). The snow felt GOOD, too!

We got adventerous for Run #4 - first following Upper Bear Den from rfthe top, which was ungroomed and very fun with soft snow, and then down the first black run of the day, Ledges, which was also ungroomed and bumpy. There was, to no surprise, a steep series of ledges that were bumped up and a little icy, but nothing too wildly out of my comfort zone. Sarah and Mom did a great job being my cheerleaders! We followed Lower Bear Den, which was groomed, back to the lift.

The lift line was now getting LONG, so we started hitting the singles line, which was definitetly the faster move for the day. We followed Upper Fox's Folly (the old lift line) to Deer Run (the auto road), eventually landing on Big Dipper, which was a wildly wide run with a series of steep sections split up by flat ones - similar to upper Ullr's Dream up at Jay. It was FAST and FUN! We were all really loving this mountain!

We did a quick stop at the Mid-Mountain Lodge for water and a potty break before heading back up for Run #6. We were feeling good and warmed up and were on the hunt for some trees. We followed Upper Dipper to Wilderness, which was a mix of soft bumps and icy troughs, to Powderhorn and then into the Caveman woods, which were just beautiful! A little icy, not too soft, but simply beautiful. Sarah and Mom both continued to be excellent cheerleaders. We hit a hiccup at the end of the glade, though. Sarah exited the run and turned right, crashing into another skier (a man in his 50s-60s not wearing a helmet). Neither of them were hurt, but she was super frazzled about it. The man was super kind and they both kept checking in on each other and Sarah apologized a bunch of times - I think they handled it really well and accidents happen! He was in a blind spot and had some speed because of the East Bowl runout - we didn't know! Once everyone was back on their feet we essentially cross-country skied out of the East Bowl runout, which was a doozy! Sarah's Mom was more frazzled than Sarah, so she gently nudged us to head back to the Sherburne Lodge for a break and some lunch! Our run ended with Dipper Doodle (incredible name) to High Meadow Pass, which passed many condos and homes that looked beautiful (most featuring hot tubs!). 

Runs 7-10

Run 7: Sherburne Express - Midway

[0.36 mi; 2:22; 167 feet; 19.9 mph max; 9.1 mph avg]

Run 8: Mid-Burke Express - Upper Dipper - Carriage Road - Deer Run - Big Dipper - Deer Run - Mountain Marsh - Little Dipper

[1.33 mi; 7:23; 1,670 feet; 28.8 mpph max; 10.8 mph avg]

Run 9: Mid-Burke Express - East Bowl - Deer Run - Big Dipper

[1.93 mi; 16:49; 1,655 feet; 29.8 mph max; 6.9 mph avg]

Run 10: Mid-Burke Express - Upper Dipper - Deer Run - Flaming Eddie's - Deer Run - Little Dipper

[1.29 mi; 7:42; 1,654 feet; 29.6 mph max; 10.0 mph avg]

After a nice lunch we hopped back on the Sherburne Express and were shocked at how extreme the lift line had become! We all took a deep breath, reminded ourselves that it was a holiday weekend, and got back in teh singles line. Run #8 was more or less just a wiggle down the mountain. Carriage Road was a little scrapey, but super pretty. Deer Run was lovely. Big Dipper was fast and fun, and a little scrapey now. Deer Run pt. 2 was also lovely, and passed an intermediate glade called "Flaming Eddie's" that we pinned for later. We cut through the woods and popped out on Mountain Marsh - an ungroomed blue run that was, to no surprise, a little scrapey, but still fun! We ended on the groomed Little Dipper, which had some of the best groomed snow we'd skied all day! We did another quick bathroom break at the Mid-Mountain Lodge before getting back in line.

Run #9 was our adventure run - we went to tackle the East Bowl, which started with a little hike/skate through the woods (it reminded me of getting to Tight Line at Saddleback) before a long series of drops and flats, all bumpy and super fun! Some were icier than others, some were trickier than others. Sarah and Mom continued to be the best cheerleaders and coaches, and we all had a really great time! With fresh fresh snow, this would be an insanely fun run - even still, I think it was my favorite run of the day just for the variety of terrain, the challenge, and the sense of accomplishment. It was also SO quiet, which was in contrast to the busy rest of the mountain. I had to take off my balaclava, mittens, and shell by the runout because I was SWEATY.

Run #10 was much more calm. We decided to connect the dots with the dippers by hitting all of Upper Dipper before checking out the Flaming Eddie's glades. Sarah and Mom went in first and a bunch of ~13 year old kids came right up to the entrance after them. I told them that I was going to be super slow and they said "oh we're not going in, but we are going to watch you now!" I jokingly said "we'll you're allowed to boo if you need to!" and they said "No way! We're going to cheer you on!" - and they did. I made one turn and they all started hooting and hollering - it was genuinely one of most wonderful moment and maybe the kids are going to be alright?!

Anyway, the glade was pretty skied out at this point, and exiting the glade was tough - either a jump off a rock or a narrow, scrapey chute - fun!

Runs 11-13

Run 11: Mid-Burke Express - Deer Run - Big Dipper - High Meadow Pass

[2.84 mi; 12:29; 2,106 feet; 25.8 mph max; 13.7 mph avg]

Run 12: Sherburne Express - Binney Lane

[0.72 mi; 2:35; 551 feet; 24.0 mph max; 16.8 mph avg]

Run 13: Sherbune Express - Bunker Hill

[0.76 mi; 2:57; 597 feet; 29.0 mpph max; 15.4 mph avg]

At this point, we were all beat. We decided to start our victory tour of the mountain with one last ride up the Mid-Burke Express and following Deer Run all the way down, and then High Meadow Pass ALL the way down. This was a DELIGHTFUL run. Deer Run was in good shape the whole way and just a pleasure to ski through the tree tunnel. It did get a little busy at times, but no complaints! High Meadow Pass was wonderful again, and after a nice long time skiing, we were back on the Sherburne Express. 

We hit Binney Lane, which was mostly the lift line, since we had not skied it yet, and then our final lap was down Bunker Hill to put a nice book-end on the day. We all LOVED skiing at Burke and are hungry to come back for more on a non-holiday day!

We were going to apres upstairs, but they had no food and we were all a little hungry. We ended up at Estella's Bar & Grille in Lyndonville, and it was perfect! Reasonably priced, good food, easy in and out. Afterwards, I drove to the Gale River Motel in Franconia to spend the night while Sarah and Mom had a long drive home.

Map of Burke Mountain

Burke Mountain (Darling State Park)

Burke Mountain (Darling State Park)

"Do it for the views!... I guess..."

Hike Type: Double Lollipop Loop (Stem, Pop, Stem, Pop)
Distance: 5.83 miles
Elevation: 2123 feet
Time: 4 hours, 0 minutes

Hiking Challenges: Northeast Kingdom Mountain Challenge, Operation Alaska Benchmark Challenge, Summit Beer Society

Trail sign from the upper toll road parking lot.

The Hike 

This hike can be filed under "I did it because I'm already in Vermont and I should do something" because I was tired and still feeling some of that soreness from the lovely Belknaps, but regardless I left my friends place at 7:15am and made it to the trailhead at 8:00am with only one other car on a Saturday! I don't know how crowded it gets here, but I always lean early just in case. I'm sure the fog and clouds had something to do with the lack of crowds. The trailhead was tucked away in a back corner of the parking lot, but still easy to find. Into the woods I go!

 

The kiosk had some nice information about the mountain and Darling State Park, and then I began my hike on the Red Trail (appropriately, with red blazes too). This first section of trail gently climbs up a snowmobile trail with a clear footpath the whole way (i.e., not an overgrown mess). A few streams cross underneath, but overall it's very gentle, uneventful hiking. The Red Trail then turns left into the woods while the snowmobile trail continues straight. The trail continues to gently climb through some nice, open forest, and then turns right to join the Kibby mountain biking trail. I was grateful to not run into any mountain bikers. The Kibby Trail turns right, and the Red Trail turns left at a T-intersection, and right in between is a trail register for hikers.

 

I signed in, and then really got to climbing! The trail is pretty relentlessly steep from here on out, minus a few well-timed walking breaks. There were some excellent, very old trees, lots of fungi, and a shocking lack of birds and small mammals - a very still morning. There were periods of the sun poking through the dense cloud cover, but then quickly going back away. The trail begins to pick up steepness further into the hike, but thankfully it was mostly dirt so I was not slipping and falling on any wet rocks. 

 

The first major milestone after the trail register is the CCC road, which the red trail crosses and leads immediately to a shelter (there is a sign indicating another shelter down 0.75 miles the CCC road, the one I am speaking of is right on the red trail). Behind the shelter is where the blue-blazed West Peak Trail begins. I had read that the blue trail is the steeper and rockier of the two, and at this point of the day everything was soaked from the fog and clouds, so I definitely wanted to ascend blue, and I stand by my choice! Also during this time I was keeping an eye out for a privy at the shelter (I did not find one), because the pizza from last night was sitting interestingly (spoiler alert, I did not have to christen Burke Mountain on this morning). 

 

The blue trail was steep, but manageable, through a variety of forest types. I could tell that people definitely take red more often, as I was now back in the land of 1,000 spider webs. Thankfully, the clouds made the webs visible. I would not recommend going down the blue trail, especially in wet weather. The trail continues to climb into the clouds, which definitely created a spooky, beautiful ambiance. It was about halfway up that I finally ran into a mountain chicken that scared the living daylights out of me - it waited until I was maybe 10 feet away before taking flight. 

 

The highlight of the blue trail is the peak of West Burke... which was completely socked in, but cool nonetheless. Just after the summit, the trail splits. The shorter way goes through the woods and the longer way hits up another view. I took the longer one (and by longer, maybe 50 feet longer?) on right to see more views of dense cloud cover. The two trails rejoin just above the terminus of the Red Trail. At this grand intersection, the summit trail (blue-blazes still) continues through some wet meadow-y sections to the auto road parking lot, another clouded-in vista, and then the final junction. At the final junction, there is a short summit trail and a longer profile trail. I took the summit trail which was short and steep. On the right was the fire tower and on the left was the true summit with the USGS marker.

 

The firetower was tall and sturdy. The cabin was open, but all the glass was broken so it didn't provide any shelter. I took just a few photos because... clouds... and then dropped back down. The true summit would have very obstructed views on a clear day. I took a break at the summit marker, enjoyed the leftover pizza from yesterday, and had a "White Mountain Lemonade" which is just a hard lemonade, but delicious! The clouds did part for literally 10 seconds to show a window into the valley below and a small patch of blue sky, but then I was back in the clouds. Either way, it was a nice break.

 

To speed things up, I followed the access road back to the parking lot by going back to the fire tower and following the wide path toward the communication towers. The upper auto road parking lot was now filled with 20-30 mountain bikers all testing out their bikes? I stayed to myself and quicky got back into the woods. The blue trail from the parking lot back to the big junction was super quick on the return trip, and this time I took the Red Trail down - the final new section of trail for me for the day.

 

The Red Trail was still steep and wet, but not rocky, which I was incredibly grateful for. I had a couple small slips, but no falls. The trail follows the ski slopes for a little bit, giving one side-trail view (which was cloudy... but there were hints that the clouds were finally starting to clear up) before dipping back into the woods for good. I began to pass people who were headed up the mountain - almost all of whom were very friendly and not annoying, which was shocking to me, someone who is almost always cranky on the way down. 

 

The rest of the hike was quick and easy - I picked up the pace to get some lunch sooner (typical). Passed a few more hikers, enjoyed the less-humid air, signed out at the register, complained that the snowmobile trail was longer than I remembered, and made it back to the car in no time! Overall, even with no views and my ever-present crankiness, this was a great hike, great workout, and I cannot wait to eventually drive up the auto road to see that view I missed, because I have no desire to climb it again anytime soon!

Step-by-Step

• Start hike from Burke Mountain Trailhead (kiosk).
• Follow Red Trail on snowmobile paths.
• Red Trail turns into woods leaving snowmobile path, follow blazes.
• Red Trail joins mountain biking Kibby Trail, follow blazes.
• Kibby Trail leaves Red Trail, sign in at trail register and follow blazes (begins to get steep).
• At junction with CCC Road, cross road, follow Red Blazes to shelter.
• At shelter, follow blue blazes along West Peak Trail.
• Blue-blazed West Peak Trail continues to steeply climb and open up to views.
• Summit West Peak, continue on blue-blazed West Peak Trail.
• Just after the summit, there is a confusing junction, both blue-blazed. Both directions are correst, but following the trail on right will lead to another viewpoint.
• Trail intersects with Red Trail, follow blue-blazed trail toward summit (labeled as Profile Trail on AllTrails).
• Continue to follow blue blazes past parking area to the summit area. There will be a junction with summit trail and profile trail, both go to the summit. Summit trail is direct, profile trail goes around.
• Summit Burke Mountain and climb the fire tower!
• Follow access road down from fire tower, past communication towers, and to parking lot. 
• Rejoin blue-blazed trail and retrace steps to next junction.
• At junction with Red Trail, follow Red Trail down the mountain.
• At the shelter near the CCC road, retrace steps back to car.

"Darling State Park" from Vermont Department of Forests

"The fire tower erected on the summit of Burke Mountain in 1912 is reported to be the first fire tower in the state of Vermont. From this vantage point, forest fires could be located and the proper authorities notified. The Darling Family donated a large parcel of land to the State in the 1930s, which became Darling State Park and, sometime in the 1930s, Burke Mountain was identified by local residents as a potential recreation site. The early plan for this “forest park” included an auto road, ski trails, hiking trails, picnic facilities and running water. A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) crew was employed to build the auto road to the summit and completed it in 1935. Interest in downhill skiing grew over the years with the first ski lift installed in 1953. A portion of Darling State Park has been leased to various entities over the years as part of the Burke Mountain Ski Area."

Photo Album