Where to Find & How to Hike the Vermont 4000 Footers
Vermont is home to the Green Mountains, which contains 5 different peaks that are or above 4,000 feet in height. Or, people like to call them the Vermont 4000 footers. The 5 mountains are Mount Mansfield, Camel’s Hump, Mount Abraham, Mount Ellen, and Killington Peak. All of these peaks are great hikes and ways to see the Green Mountains in Vermont.
In this article, you will learn how to hike and all about the five different peaks above 4,000ft, Mount Mansfield, Camel’s Hump, Mount Abraham, Mount Ellen, Killington Peak, Vermont 4000 footers patch, and much more.
This article is all about Vermont 4000 footers.
Vermont 4000 Footers:
Vermont 4000 Footers Patch
Okay, before we start, I wanted to let people know that, unfortunately, there is no singular Vermont 5 patch. So, unfortunately there is no singular patch for hiking all the Vermont 4000 footers. However, you can get a patch if you hike ALL the New England 4000 footers, which include the Vermont 4000 footers. You can apply for the New England 4000 footers through this website.
Here is a list of all the mountains, which include New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont’s 4000 footers, not New York’s, however. New Hampshire does have a similar challenge to New York’s Adk 46er Challenge, the New Hampshire 48. Here is a list of all the New Hampshire 48 and the paper you will have to fill out along with becoming an AMC member, which you can do so through this website.
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1. Mount Mansfield
First, I wanted to start with the tallest peak in Vermont, Mount Mansfield. Mount Mansfield stands at 4,393 feet, is a total of 7.1 miles round trip, and has a 2,536ft of elevation gain. Mansfield is located outside of Underhill, Vermont, which is about an hour and a half away from Burlington, VT. In addition, it is about 4 hours from Albany, NY & North Conway, NH, and about 6 and a half hours from NYC. Mansfield is located in Mount Mansfield State Park, that is open everyday for 24 hours. However, it will cost $4 per person to park there.
Different Ways to Hike Mount Mansfield
There are a couple different ways/trails to hike Mount Mansfield. The most popular and the way I hiked Mansfield is via the Sunset Ridge Trail (The Chin). This is 7.1 miles round trip with a 2,536ft elevation gain. Another popular difficult trail that people follow is the Hellbrook Trail. Now, this trail is much shorter but it has almost the same elevation gain within half the distance. Thus, you’re going to really be HUGGING & PUFFING. I have been told that there are a lot of very difficult rock scrambles this way as well. Thus, if this is not your thing, then I recommend hiking Mansfield via the Sunset Ridge Trail.
If you would like more information about hiking Mansfield, you can find it here in this article. Overall, I LOVED Mount Mansfield. The last mile or so is ALL rock top, it is SO pretty and on a clear day, you can see for MILES. I did hike this in mid-October, thus, the base had no ice, but the summit did. Therefore, remember when hiking in the fall time always BRING micro spikes, because the base and summit always have different weather systems. Now, we will continue our list of Vermont’s 4000 footers in descending order.
2. Killington Peak
Killington is the second tallest peak in Vermont, standing at 4,241 feet. There are a couple different ways to hike Killington. The most common way is via the Bucklin Trail, which is about 7.2 miles round trip, with an elevation gain of about 2,470ft. This trail is located just outside of Rutland, VT, NOT at the resort. The Bucklin trailhead is about 25 minutes from Killington Resort.
That being said, you can hike Killington from the resort. It is about half the distance but DOUBLE the elevation gain compared to the Bucklin Trail. It’s up to you which hike you prefer. I hiked Killington via the Bucklin Trail and had no issues with it. However, this article will tell you exactly how to hike Killington Peak from the ski resort. If you would like more information on Killington Peak and the resort, this article will give you more details.
Overall, I think Killington has awesome views, it’s very different from Mansfield or Camel’s Hump because it doesn’t have the huge rock summits like Mansfield or Camel’s Hump. However, I still really enjoyed it, even though it has a smaller summit area. And I hiked it in the fall time, which I highly recommend, because then you get to see all the beautiful colored leaves.
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3. Camel’s Hump
Camel’s Hump is the third highest mountain in Vermont, standing at 4,081ft. It is also a state park, however, it does not cost anything to park there. The most common ways to hike Camel’s Hump is either from the Long Trail and Burrows Trail or via the Camel’s Hump Trail. I hiked it via the Burrows and Long Trail. From the Long Trail and Burrows Trail, Camel’s Humps is about 5.5 miles, with a 2,414 foot elevation gain.
Camel’s Hump is located outside of Huntington, Vermont, which is about an hour and fifteen minutes from Burlington, VT. About three hours and twenty minutes from Albany, NY & North Conway, NH, and about 6 hours from NYC.
Overall, I think Camel’s Hump is a great hike. I would say it’s more of an intermediate hike, it’s not too difficult or long and has awesome views at the end. I think it is well worth the trip if you are thinking of hiking this mountain.
4. Mount Ellen
Ellen is the fourth highest peak in Vermont, standing at 4,081ft. Mount Ellen Vermont is similar to Killington, as Mount Ellen is located at Sugarbush Ski Resort. Sugarbush is located in Warren, Vermont, which is about an hour from Burlington, VT. You can hike Ellen from Sugarbush ski resort, this article is great and will tell you exactly how to do so. Also, you could hike Lincoln Peak along with Ellen from Sugarbush resort, or just Lincoln or Ellen on their own, both are super pretty.
I recommend hiking Mount Ellen via the Long Trail with Mount Abraham. You will start from Mount Abraham trailhead and parking area. Then, once you summit Mount Abraham, you will simply continue past the top onward to Mount Ellen. This is a little over 11 miles to hike with a 3,021 foot elevation gain. It’s really not a difficult hike just a little long.
Lastly, you can hike Mount Ellen on its own not from the Sugarbush ski resort. If you want to hike Mount Ellen on its own you will take the Jerusalem Trail in Starksboro, Vermont. This is almost an 8 mile hike with almost the same elevation gain as hiking both, Mount Abraham and Ellen together. This again, is why I think the best way to hike Mount Ellen is via the Long Trail along with Mount Abraham. This way, you get two 4000 footers in and see two awesome peaks.
Overall, Ellen is again, a great hike with an awesome view of Sugarbush Ski Resort, all of the Vermont 4000 footers are hikes I recommend climbing.
5. Mount Abraham
Alright, that makes Mount Abraham the fifth highest peak in Vermont, standing at 4,016ft in height. The most popular way to hike Abraham is via the Long Trail (same trailhead and parking lot you will drive to if doing Mount Ellen as well). Mount Abraham alone is just under 5 miles long with a 1,735ft elevation gain. Or if you want to hike to Ellen as well, you will add just over 6 miles to your hike and double your elevation gain.
Overall, I really enjoyed hiking Mount Abraham, even though when I hiked it, half of the summit was blocked by clouds, I still got to see an awesome view and I recommend hiking. I would recommend all Vermont 4000 footers to intermediates, apart from the Mount Ellen and Mount Abraham out & back loop hike.
And that wraps up our article about the Vermont 4000 footers. I hope this article was helpful to you and you found new hikes to climb. I truly think the 4000 footers in Vermont are the states best hikes. Thank you so much for reading and take care!
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