Hike Mount Ascutney via Windsor and Brownsville Trails Mount Ascutney State Park, VT

Jul 06, 2022 — Mount Ascutney is a high prominence peak located just off I-91 in Vermont. It lives on Mount Ascutney State Park, and there are three main trails used to reach the summit, the Weathersfield, Windsor, and Brownsville Trails. You can also drive up the park road to just below the summit. The Weathersfield Trail comes from the south, but I chose to approach from the north. Doing this allowed me to ascend via the Windsor Trail from and descend the Brownsville Trail to create a longer loop rather than only an out-and-back hike. The Brownsville Trail has its own trailhead, and you could instead descend to this trailhead and hike the road back to cut off some mileage, but I took a cutoff trail known as the Norcross Trail to stay in the woods a bit longer rather than hike on pavement. If you hike just the Windsor Trail as an out-and-back, the distance of this hike would be reduced by about 2 miles. All junctions are well-marked. 

I started from the Windsor Trailhead and hiked through a pretty meadow before entering the forest, which ascended along the right side of a drainage using an old roadbed. I passed by the small Gerry Falls and shortly after the roadbed narrowed into singletrack trail. I took a short spur trail to visit a nice lookout at Blood Rock and then continued on my way to the summit. Aside from the pretty forest and another small lookout point labeled Brownsville Rock, there wasn't much of note. Mount Ascutney's summit is covered in radio towers, and just before reaching it there is a small observation tower that gives better views.

I backtracked from the summit and started down along the Brownsville Trail, which included more forested trail hiking and was not dissimilar to the Windsor Trail. The Quarry Overlook lower down had some nice views, and I passed by some rusty old mining equipment. The Brownsville Trail followed an old roadbed for a time, and this would lead to the Brownsville Trailhead. However, I kept right at a junction when I reached the Norcross Trail, which would take me back to the Windsor Trail. The Norcross Trail is mostly used for mountain bikes and therefore had a bunch of unnecessary switchbacks, but I thought it was better than road walking.