Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / Vermont / Northern Green Mountains

Long Trail: Breadloaf Wilderness (Middlebury Gap to Lincoln Gap)

Long Trail, Breadloaf Wilderness, Green Mountain National Forest (Ripton, Hancock, Granville, Warren, Lincoln; VT 125 to Lincoln Gap Road)

Between Middlebury Gap and Lincoln Gap, the Long Trail spends its whole length inside the Breadloaf Wilderness, which the Forest Service calls the largest wilderness on the Green Mountain National Forest, at 24,986 acres. Wikipedia says the trail crosses at least ten peaks above 3,000 feet here, including Bread Loaf Mountain, the high point at 3,835 feet, and the summits the Forest Service calls “Vermont’s Presidential Range”: Mounts Wilson, Roosevelt, Cleveland, and Grant.

Backpacker calls VT 125 the last road access before Cooley Glen, and the trip reports found describe the roughly 17 miles between the gaps as one continuous ridge walk.

The hike

At Middlebury Gap on VT 125, Hiking Project notes that hikers can stay on the Long Trail or follow the North Country Trail. Northbound on the Long Trail, the trail enters the wilderness and climbs over Burnt Hill, with a short spur to views at Silent Cliff. Boyce Shelter, which SectionHiker describes as old and beat up but in a nice meadow, sits about 3 miles from the road.

The trail continues over Boyce and Battell Mountains to the spur for Skyline Lodge, a four-sided cabin overlooking Skylight Pond. Bread Loaf Mountain follows. Backpacker describes a 0.1-mile spur to a west-facing overlook just past the summit, then a drop toward Mount Wilson to Emily Proctor Shelter, which SectionHiker places just below Bread Loaf’s summit. SectionHiker, who reached Emily Proctor after 6.7 miles, notes that the Long Trail Guide calls the shelter “somewhat exposed to weather”; his night there was soaked by blowing rain.

From Emily Proctor, Backpacker warns that the next 4.5 miles over Mounts Wilson, Roosevelt, and Cleveland to Cooley Glen Shelter are “tough climbing and descending,” and that blue blazes heading north mean you’ve left the Long Trail. SectionHiker passed Killington View just beyond Mount Roosevelt, lost to mist on his trip, and a Views from the Top writer found “numerous blowdowns (including some headbangers)” between Cooley Glen and Clark Brook. New England Waterfalls recommends the spur trails to Mount Grant and Bread Loaf.

Hiking Project says the trail follows the ridge from Cooley Glen to Lincoln Gap. SectionHiker notes Sunset Ledge, a bald viewpoint about a mile south of the gap.

South of Middlebury Gap, the Long Trail runs back toward Killington by way of Brandon Gap. North of Lincoln Gap, it climbs onto the Monroe Skyline.

Tips

Camping

The Forest Service’s Breadloaf Wilderness page limits stays to two consecutive nights at any shelter and 14 days in any 30-day period, bans caching gear in the wilderness, and prohibits mechanical transportation, including game carts. The ATC’s summary of national forest rules (written for the AT, which doesn’t pass here) is to camp at existing sites or 200 feet from trails and water, and never above 2,500 feet or where trees are 8 feet or shorter; the GMC says tenting is prohibited above 2,500 feet.

The GMC says its sites are free and first come, first served, and limits overnight groups to 10. Food storage in a canister, bear box, or proper hang is required on the national forest under a 2019 order.

Inside Intel: Skyline Lodge is the favorite in the accounts found. A Views from the Top writer calls it one of the best shelters on the Long Trail and notes its piped spring in a nearby brook. SectionHiker describes it as recently built and in top condition, with a door, screens, and glass windows, and calls it “a perfect place to camp in the fall or winter.” Emily Proctor has “bubbling, small brook 25 feet from shelter,” according to the Views from the Top report.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

A cabin night above Skylight Pond:

Skyline Lodge's door and glass windows keep the wind off, but a good pad still decides how well you sleep. See the sleeping pads testers like.

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Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.