Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T! 

Green Mountain National Forest►

We visited the Thundering Falls Area of Green Mountain National Forest following lunch in nearby Killington with our dogs. Green Mountain National Forest is one of only two national forests in New England. It has over 800,000 acres.

Pinchot, the first chief of the US Forest Service, promoted ‘managed conservation.’ This is different than the National Park Service’s mission of preservation for our public lands. Conservation allows for responsible, partial commercial use of National Forests. Green Mountains receives funding from the ski areas on Forest lands.

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Thundering Falls►

In 2005, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, National Park Service and National Forest Service worked together to build Vermont’s first accessible section of the Appalachian Trail. Wheelchair-bound visitors can now travel 900 feet of boardwalk towards the falls. Then they can continue on flat dirt switchbacks to the viewing platform.

We found this trail to be busier than any others we explored in Vermont. Some vans unloaded just before we got there. Once that group cleared out, it wasn’t too bad.

We climbed the trails along the side of the falls for a better view. Thundering Falls is Vermont’s 6th tallest waterfall. The water comes from Kent Pond and then cascades down a 140 foot cliff.

If you’d like more of a hike than a walk, you can continue on the Appalachian Trail. Thundering Falls Trail is less than half a mile.

Green Mountain Posts►

• Lefferts Pond
• Thundering Falls
• White Rocks National Recreation Area

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Location: 2295 River Road, Killington, VT
Designation: National Forest
Date Designated/Established: April 25, 1932
Date of my visit: 8/1/2020