NFCT projects enhance river access and portage trail, add camping opportunities
VermontBiz A professional trail crew teamed with local partners and volunteers this summer to enhance paddling and camping infrastructure along the Missisquoi River.
The work was performed by the Northern Forest Canoe Trail’s (NFCT) roving stewardship crew, with support from Swanton’s Public Works Department and a team of local volunteers. The projects included construction of a new boat ramp and tent pads at Marble Mill Park, as well as rehabilitation of a portage trail upstream from Swanton.
“Our crew returns to northern Vermont every summer to help run our Paddle-Pedal event in Richford and implement projects along the Missisquoi,” said NFCT Trail Director Noah Pollock. “The river access at Marble Mill is a nice spot for local paddlers to put-in and is also the take-out for a portage around a dangerous low-head dam. It’s also used by the village to get their rescue boat in the water when necessary. The new ramp will be much easier for paddlers to use and provide better stability for the village.”
The ramp was built using wooden forms that resemble a giant ladder, which was then filled with concrete. In addition to the ramp, the NFCT also added tent pads at a new primitive paddlers campsite at Marble Mill as well as new wayfinding signs.
Photos: The Northern Forest Canoe Trail's roving stewardship crew and workers with the Swanton Public Works Department spread concrete into wooden forms for a new boat ramp. Courtesy photos.
“The campsite is low key and is designed for use by NFCT thru-paddlers, since it’s conveniently located and offers access to downtown Swanton,” Pollock noted. “We’re grateful to the Public Works Department for bringing in sand and topsoil and creating some really nice, level tent pads for paddlers passing through.”
Upstream from Swanton, near Highgate Falls, the NFCT returned to a portage trail originally built a decade ago in partnership with the Northwoods Stewardship Center. The trail, located on the downstream side of the falls, was degraded and worn out from heavy use in recent years.
“We did some significant work at this site,” Pollock said. “We brought in over thirty yards of crushed rock and road building gravel, poured it along the trail, spread it out and resurfaced everything. We also added some drainage structures and swales to help mitigate stormwater runoff.”
Photo: A Northern Forest Canoe Trail work crew spreads gravel on a portage trail near Highgate Falls. The trail has seen heavy use and erosion in recent years, and the rehabilitated portage will now be safer for users and hold up better against degradation. Courtesy photo.
The NFCT’s Missisquoi River work was funded in part by a grant from the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks’ Recreation’s Recreation Trails Program, as well an Education and Outreach grant awarded by the Lake Champlain Basin Program.
As the only dedicated water trail crew in the Northeast, the NFCT’s stewardship crew specializes in projects at the interface of land and water, including campsites, portage trails and access points. To learn more about the NFCT’s stewardship work, contact Trail Director Noah Pollock at [email protected].
For more information about the NFCT, visit northernforestcanoetrail.org.
About the Northern Forest Canoe Trail
The Northern Forest Canoe Trail is a nonprofit organization that maintains and promotes the 740-mile water trail that traverses historic travel routes from Old Forge, NY, to Fort Kent, Maine, and connects New York, Vermont, Quebec, New Hampshire and Maine. The trail showcases the mix of landscapes and communities currently lining the traditional routes used by Indigenous peoples, settlers and guides. It is the longest in-land water trail in the nation and consists of 23 rivers and streams, 59 lakes and ponds, 45 communities and 65 portages. To learn more, visit northernforestcanoetrail.org.