Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / Vermont / Southern Green Mountains

Long Trail: Bromley Mountain, Griffith Lake, and Baker Peak (VT 11/30 to USFS 10)

Long Trail/Appalachian Trail, Green Mountain National Forest, Peru Peak and Big Branch Wildernesses (Peru, Mount Tabor, Danby; VT 11/30 to USFS 10)

North of VT 11/30, the Long Trail and Appalachian Trail climb over Bromley Mountain’s ski slopes, cross the remote Peru Peak Wilderness, and pass Griffith Lake before scrambling over Baker Peak. New England Waterfalls rates the section for its “great views from Baker Peak.”

New England Waterfalls lists the stretch from VT 11/30 to USFS 10 at 17.3 miles.

The hike

Hiking Project describes a climb from the highway to Bromley Shelter and then to the summit of Bromley Mountain. Backpacker’s 2013 guide lists Bromley Brook as a water source near the start and describes the shelter as a two-level building with a covered eating area; it adds that “some say” it has the best privy on the AT. At the top, the AT follows a ski trail past a warming hut, ski lift, and viewing tower.

From Bromley, the trail follows the ridge down to Mad Tom Notch at USFS 21, then climbs Styles Peak, which has a view east (Backpacker), and Peru Peak. Hiking Project says the trail enters the Peru Peak Wilderness after Peru Peak and stays “fairly remote” until just before Peru Peak Shelter. In August 2026, the GMC reopened a rebuilt bridge just north of the shelter.

Griffith Lake, at 2,605 feet according to Wikipedia, comes next. Backpacker notes “superb swimming,” a tenting area with a caretaker’s tent, and junctions with the Old Job and Lake Trails. SectionHiker, who used the Old Job Trail on a 2024 loop, found Old Job Shelter, off the main trail, “in pretty bad shape.” At the lake’s north end, Hiking Project says the trail enters the Big Branch Wilderness and runs at a moderate grade to Baker Peak, where Backpacker describes a rock scramble to the top and a blue-blazed bad-weather trail that avoids the open rock.

Past Baker Peak, Lost Pond Shelter sits beside the trail; Hiking Project says it is the third shelter on the site, after earlier ones burned. The trail then descends to the Big Branch River, crosses a large suspension bridge, and reaches Big Branch Shelter, which Hiking Project calls a good spot for a dip. It leaves the wilderness at USFS 10, where the GMC describes a large Long Trail parking lot.

To the south is Stratton Mountain and Stratton Pond. North of USFS 10, the trail climbs to Little Rock Pond and White Rocks.

Tips

Camping

The ATC says camping within half a mile of Griffith Lake is limited to Peru Peak Shelter and the Griffith Lake tenting area, and fires are allowed only at shelters and designated campsites with fire rings. Elsewhere on the national forest, the ATC’s summary 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. Hiking Project reminds hikers that wilderness standards apply in the Peru Peak and Big Branch Wildernesses.

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

Inside Intel: New England Waterfalls calls Bromley Shelter “a relatively new and beautiful shelter (one of the best on the Long Trail).” At Peru Peak Shelter, WhiteBlaze posters describe a long, low shelter with a stream in front and a tent platform nearby; a 2015 poster who came in from the rain found it clean and said they’d stay again. A 2009 trip log spent a night there before continuing over Baker Peak.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

Dinner by Griffith Lake:

Fires near the lake are limited to rings at the shelter and designated sites, so a small stove does most of the cooking. See the stoves reviewers like.

See the picks →

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.