{"id":4955,"date":"2016-04-19T12:18:18","date_gmt":"2016-04-19T16:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.northwoodscenter.org\/wordpress\/?p=4955"},"modified":"2016-12-13T19:11:47","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T00:11:47","slug":"trail-guidelines-for-mud-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northwoodscenter.org\/wordpress\/trail-guidelines-for-mud-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Trail Guidelines for Mud Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"footprint-254795_960_720\"It is mud season in the Northeast Kingdom and NorthWoods is discouraging hikers from damaging local trail\u00a0during this transitional time of year. In northern Vermont mud season comes early and ends late, often extending\u00a0into June\u2014much later than other parts of the state. The impacts of hiking during mud season are significant and they\u00a0should be minimized during any wet spell, not just in the spring. Fragile soils, plants, loose slopes, access roads and\u00a0parking areas are all more susceptible to rutting, compaction and erosion at this time of year.<\/p>\n

To reduce impacts to fragile environments, hikers should avoid mountain trails during mud season. If possible,\u00a0limit activities to low elevation trails or woods roads with well-drained soils and south-facing slopes. If you\u00a0encounter muddy conditions, please turn around. Walking around muddy areas only increases the impact to\u00a0surrounding vegetation and leads to trail widening, soil compaction and erosion. In general, higher elevation trails\u00a0take longer to dry out than lower routes and it is common for hikers to encounter dry conditions near the trailhead\u00a0and increasingly wet conditions higher up. It is these higher elevation environments that are particularly vulnerable\u00a0to foot traffic.<\/p>\n

While conditions will vary greatly throughout the region, it is common for hiking clubs to discourage trail use until\u00a0Memorial Day Weekend\u2014the unofficial start to the summer hiking season. Alternative activities include road\u00a0walks, bicycling and paddling. The Green Mountain Club posts trail condition updates on its website and offers a\u00a0variety of alternative outings for those who feel the need to get out during spring\/fall mud seasons. For more\u00a0information, visit www.greenmountainclub.org<\/a> or contact NorthWoods at trails@northwoodscenter.org for\u00a0suggested outings in the Northeast Kingdom region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is mud season in the Northeast Kingdom and NorthWoods is discouraging hikers from damaging local trail\u00a0during this transitional time of year. In northern Vermont mud season comes early and ends late, often extending\u00a0into June\u2014much later than other parts of the state. The impacts of hiking during mud season are significant and they\u00a0should be minimized during any wet spell, not just in the spring. Fragile soils, plants, loose slopes, access roads and\u00a0parking areas are all more susceptible to rutting, compaction and erosion at this time of year. To reduce impacts to [Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4956,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,8,420,226,12],"tags":[1258,1259,1260,1063],"class_list":["post-4955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservation-corps","category-education","category-forest-stewardship-institute-2","category-front-page","category-news","tag-hiking","tag-leave-no-trace","tag-mud-season","tag-trails"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTrail Guidelines for Mud Season | NorthWoods Stewardship Center<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.northwoodscenter.org\/wordpress\/trail-guidelines-for-mud-season\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trail Guidelines for Mud Season | NorthWoods Stewardship Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is mud season in the Northeast Kingdom and NorthWoods is discouraging hikers from damaging local trail\u00a0during this transitional time of year. In northern Vermont mud season comes early and ends late, often extending\u00a0into June\u2014much later than other parts of the state. The impacts of hiking during mud season are significant and they\u00a0should be minimized during any wet spell, not just in the spring. Fragile soils, plants, loose slopes, access roads and\u00a0parking areas are all more susceptible to rutting, compaction and erosion at this time of year. 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