Scenes of Vermont Forums

I drove the Lewis Pond Overlook Road on Sunday. It's open now but is a little rougher than last year. Most folks can make it alright, but the driver will have to pay attention. If you are not use to driving a dirt road like this in a car, I woudn't recommend it right now. I saw a lot of red leaves in the wet lands along the Clyde River from Charleston to Island Pond. I just got back from blackberrying. We got over 10 quarts, but we could have done better. The road to our spot above Texas Falls is washed out and the moose really hit our spot in Elmore.

Maybe we can drive Lewis Pond next year for the reunion. There's nothing I want more than to see this place in person after reading and seeing so many accounts and photos of this dramatic scenery!

I have four pints of blackberries in my frig for cereal but they were store bought! PWT: What did you do with all of your pickins?

Someone logged a small clearcut in Elmore. It's about 2 acres total. It's full of berry bushes. There are 2 small sections above Texas Falls that has some good berrie. But you'll have to wait until next year because the road is washed out.

pwt: are you talking about the Texas Falls off the Middlebury Gap or somewhere else? I don't know where Elmore is......

Yeah, Texas Falls is off route 125 in Hancock. Elmore is on route 12 between Morrisville and Montpelier. The section of route 12 between Elmore and Worcester has some brilliant color during the first week of October. If you can catch Elmore Mountain as the sun is rising, you could get a great photo.

Thanks pwt. We're going back to Texas Falls again because it was so beautiful. It is after we do Robert Frost Road and his summer cottage and stopping at Breadloaf. (Repeat performance because my guests on the 2nd trip haven't been and I don't want them to miss a thing!) The foot paths around the Texas Falls are well kept and we got lots of nice photos. I liked it better than the Moss Glen Falls off 100 because it was more secluded and less crowded. I love being in the woods.

I'll look on my Cartographic for your Elmore route.

P.S. Now I remember you said there were two Moss Glen Falls, correct? The one on 100 where I've been (and going again with guests on 2nd trip) and one in the NEK area? We are going to Big Falls in the Montgomery area this year, never been.

I took my mother for a ride yesterday and we went to Texas Falls. The road above the falls is washed out and the walkway to the falls is washed out too. I'm not sure when they will fix things down there. The second Moss Glens Falls is in Stowe. You take route 100 north from Stowe village. About 1/2 of a mile past the Foxfire Inn you come to straight section of road with a working farm on the left. At the end of this straight section route 100 curves left. At the beginning of this curve you'll see a paved road on the right called the Randolph Road. Take this road 1/4 of a mile and look for the Moss Glen Falls Road on the right. Drive this road until it curves sharply to the right and goes over a bridge. There is a parking area on the top of the curve. Park there and walk the trail to the falls. There is also Brigham Falls off route 108. The parking area for that is just above the Inn At The Mountain. Big Falls is on the River Road in Troy. It starts off route 100 at the north end of the village. It's on the left side. It starts paved but turns to a dirt road. Look for the Vielleux Road on the left. There is a covered bridge a short way down the road. Drive through the bridge to the parking area on the left. Drive back to the River Road and turn left. Look for the Brown Road on the right. Shortly after this road the river comes up close to the River Road and you'll see some guardrailss on the left. At the end of the guardrails you'll see a small parking area on the left. Park there and take the short trail to falls. Getting a good shot of the falls is difficult but doable. You have to take one of the trails down to the river bank. Or if you don't mind getting your feet wet, you can spash out to the rocky island for, maybe, the best shot. Now, if you do the tram before Big Falls, the Vielleux Road comes out on route 101 below the route 242 and 101 junction. You can dive that to the covered bridge and the River Road and save about 5 miles.

bm: I had no idea there was a flood in these areas. We have route 125 down for our itinerary on the second trip after we tour Middlebury. If you don't mind, I'll rely on both of your expertise to let me know if our tour of Robert Frost's Cottage off of 125, the Breadloaf Campus and the Texas Falls will have to be squelched before we leave on Tuesday, October 7th. We were going to take the gap back up to 100 to return to Waitsfield. That is very unfortunate about 125. I really did not know about your flooding! Can you suggest another way back from Middlebury to Waitsfield if that is the case? (We are taking the App Gap to 116 to get to Middlebury.) Perhaps taking the Lincoln Ripton Road north out of 125 back to 116??? Or hooking up with the Upper Notch Road?

pwt: thank you for the directions to the "other" Moss Glen Falls. We'll do that while we are in Stowe. Yes, we are taking Jay Peak tram before Big Falls and I have the Cartographic highlighted already with Vielleux Road and River Road as you mentioned.

P.S. I'm not sure about "splashing" out to the rocky island. I'm an adventurous type but I hadn't planned on bringing my bathing suit and flip flops on this trip!

bm: thank you so much for the quick response. I am very glad it has reopened and I saved your link to my favorites!

I don't think I could have spent another minute reorganizing my itineraries!

You are so kind to check this out for all of us. Thank you again. CT

First of all I have to correct a mistake I made in my Big Falls post. The Vielleux Road is not below route 242 but is about 2 miles above route 242. Route 125 is open. The State has been working on it. Now I'm going back and read the other posts.

An other idea. When you are done at the Stowe Moss Glen Falls, go back to the Randolph Road and turn right. Drive up a short way and turn right onto the Elmore Mountain and drive that to route 12. Good long views on that road. If the colors are good and you have the time, turn right onto route 12 and drive that to Worcester. This part of route 12 has some great color. It's a quiet road with about 4 miles with no buildings. You might even se the %@#& moose that has been eating my blackberries. When you get to Worcester Village look for the Calais Road on the left and drive that to the end at the County Road in Maple Corners. Turn right and drive down to Morse Farms for a maple cremee. The County Road becomes North Main Street in Montpelier.