Rutland Parks Tour

Dogs Leashed

E-Bikes Unknown

This is a pretty big ride starting in Pine Hill Park, adding Redfield trails and the full Carriage Trail. The trails are a variety of surfaces with rocks, roots, and smooth grassy surfaces. The smooth grassy trails are old logging roads that are being established for a nice network of trails.

This ride includes many of the cool trails in Pine Hill Park along with trail systems adjacent to the park. The tread surface is primarily dirt with some rocks and roots mixed in. An advanced beginner with a good attitude would be ok riding this featured ride. What makes this ride the most challenging is the uphill portion out of the parking lot for the 'unfit' person. If fitness isn't an issue, this ride will be a blast. Your technical skills do not have to be superb to have fun on this ride.

In early summer, Resting Brook on the Carriage Trail could have a little water in it. It's very shallow even if it does have water.

You start climbing immediately from the parking lot of Pine Hill Park. The trails starting out are all singletrack with rocks and roots. However, unless it's wet the rocks and roots are not horrible that an advanced beginner (with an adventurous attitude) would be OK. You'll gain a fair amount of elevation in Pine Hill Park to access the Redfield Trail which are old logging roads in beautiful forest wood lot.

Make connections with the Carriage Trail which will take you over to Proctor and back. This was an old stage road used in the late 1800's to bring grain over to Rutland to be milled. On the Carriage Trail you'll go by Muddy Pond which is home to several blue herons, lots of geese and ducks. There is a beautiful view of the Green Mountains from this vantage point.

Once you cross Resting Brook the trail takes a turn upward (pretty steep) for about 1/4 mile. It seems a lot longer than that while climbing. There is a great descent to Proctor that goes by Reynolds Reservoir which was an old water supply for the town of Proctor.

Descend all the way to the skating rink in Proctor where you can take a break and then turn around and climb back up what you just went down. This is a huge climb on both sides; not for the faint of heart. The trail tread is primarily an old skid road that has rocks and water bars on it.

You can opt to turn around at Reynolds Reservoir and save about 1/2 of the descent and climb back out of Proctor or turn around at the top of the first climb labeled Library Pass.

After this climb, you can noodle your way back to Pine Hill Park and ride more singletrack or head out the Pond Rd for the quickest way back. Pine Hill has some very cool singletrack. Sore Elbow was recently rerouted (2015) and has a cloverleaf in it. Exit Strategy was built in 2013 that has 11 banked corners and is one-way, downhill.

Pine Hill Park was an active quarry in the late 1920's, early 1930's. The stone was crushed right on site then moved by truck to lay in the streets of Rutland. The Carriage Trail is an old stage road that folks in the late 1800's would take their grain to Rutland to have it milled. The Mill was washed away in the 1927 flood which was located on what is now Rutland Country Club property.