a celebratory gathering to inspire individuals to participate in the outdoors

Getting to the Rutland Long Trail Festival:

If you are not hiking in, please seriously consider using public transportation (see below), rather than driving in gas guzzling automobiles. Festival visitors with Amtrack ticket stubs will be given a very special reward for getting to the festival on the Ethan Allan Express. Please organize car pooling as needed and watch for long distance hikers needing rides.

The Festival is at the Vermont State Fairgrounds, which are on Route 7 in Rutland, Vermont, about 1 mile north of Route 4 West and about 1 mile south of Route 4 East.

From the trail

The fairgrounds are about 8 miles from the trail.  The closest access is Clarendon Gorge at Rte 103.  From there, travel north on 103 to Rte 7, then north on Rte 7 to the fairgrounds in Rutland.  From  Killington area, travel west on Rte 4, then south on Rte 7 to the fairgrounds.

From Manchester,VT by bus

Bus schedules from Manchester north to Rutland, as well as from Sherburne Pass (Killington) south to Rutland, are at http://www.thebus.com/. 

In particular, the Manchester schedule, called Rte 7 South, is at http://www.thebus.com/route_7_south.htm. 

The East Dorset stop is less than  a mile from the end of the old road down Mad Tom Notch.  I don't know what condition it is in, and it's not a GMC trail, but it could be used to get down from the LT in Mad Tom Notch.  About five minutes north of the East Dorset stop is South End Road, where the bus to Rutland can be  boarded.  It's not listed on the schedule, but the bus will stop if someone is at the  intersection.  The stop is only 0.5 mile from the Lake Trail trailhead, connecting to the LT at Griffith Lake and (via the Baker Peak Trail) near Baker Peak.  The South Wallingford stop could serve someone coming down from the LT via the Homer Stone Brook Trail.

By train

Amtrak’s Ethan Allen Express runs daily between New York City and Rutland by way of Albany.  For more information on schedule and stops – Google: Ethan Allen Express or Amtrak.com

By bus

From outside Vermont, check out Vermonttransit.com or Greyhound Buslines