About our Trails
The main goal of this page is to help recreational users enjoy the network of publicly available trails in Norwich, VT (more than 36 miles of them).
Norwich Trails Committee and a “crew” of volunteer maintainers work with landowners and cooperating organizations to maintain the Norwich Trails network. Stewardship responsibilities require a basic understanding of the trail environment (both on the ground and local climate impacts), plus the multitude of land ownership concerns and civic requirements.
Stewardship is not just the necessary hands-on, remedial and other construction work performed by the volunteer crew! All of us – trail users, participating landowners, town government and relevant agents – have an implicit responsibility to foster careful and sensitive use while out on the trails.
The paragraphs below provide some background context to help readers enjoy their explorations and recreational travels on the network. We sincerely hope this information also helps our trail users implicitly participate as mindful trail stewards.
Private or Public?
The trails in Norwich traverse a land-ownership matrix which is not usually noticeable on the ground. Ownership may be Public or Private – public by policy (Town, State , Federal); public by mission (e.g. for a land-owning or easement-holding organization or institution). Private landowners may have gracefully allowed Public Access to certain trail(s). This may derive from historical usage patterns (and tacit support for public use), or it may be in the form of a recorded easement held by the Town or an organization like a Land Trust.
Occasionally, Norwich Trails Volunteers will assist in creating a new trail, working with landowners and other stakeholders.
Trail Types
Norwich has different trail types, which influence the management policies and practices for each trail. A trail’s type reflects the local land usage and history, State laws and Town regulations and plans, and arrangements with owners of property which the trail traverses.
The following terms are used in the trail descriptions.
- Trail – A path which may be for foot traffic only, or multi-use (bicycles allowed). The trail description should indicate if the trail is on private or town/agency property (or if this changes over the span of the trail).
- Town Highway – This is a town-owned Right of Way (ROW) defining a strip of land through which a trail route may pass (although usable trail sections may have evolved to eventually lie outside the ROW). There are 2 town highway designations which can be trail routes: A Class 4 Highway , which is not maintained for vehicular traffic by the town; although such use may be still occur in places. A Legal Trail is a former Class 4 Highway which has been converted by the town into a trail, thus disallowing most vehicular access.
- Foot-traffic only, Multi-use – These are the two most common designations describing appropriate uses of the trails in Norwich. Multi-use generally includes bicycle users, although some private landowners may also support horseback riders. Class 4 highways and legal trails implicitly multi-use, with few restrictions. The majority of trails in Norwich are designated multi-use, but some trails are for foot-traffic only as a condition set by the landowner (which is very important to respect).
New Norwich Trails maps are being introduced over time, starting Spring 2025. The new maps will distinguish the trails depicted on the map by color: red for foot-traffic-only, blue for multi-use. Ultimately this will apply to routes on unimproved Town Highways (Class 4 and Legal Trails), which are all maintained as multi-use trails. Gile Mountain Detail is an example of the new map style.
Norwich Trails Guide
The Norwich Trails Guide includes a list of the trails in Norwich available for public use. The list is organized into three Geographical Regions (depicted on the overview map above):
- Eastern – he area West of the Connecticut River and East of a line roughly traced north-south along three roads: Turnpike Rd., Hopson Rd. and Route 5.
- North of Beaver Meadow Road – The area W of the above, and generally North of Beaver Meadow Road.
- South of Beaver Meadow Road – The area W of Eastern, and generally South of Beaver Meadow Road.
The trails in the list have embedded links to enable easy lookup and navigation to details about the trail (or a group of closely related trails).
Other Resources for Norwich Trail Users
Groups: Please familiarize yourselves with the Town’s Guidelines for Groups on Norwich Trails.
To download printable PDF Maps:
Click here for hiking maps.
Click here for mountain bike routes.
Some suggested loop and out-and-back hikes are tabulated in Norwich Hikes.
Feedback: If you want to discuss a problem with our trails or with our website, please contact norwichtrails@gmail.com.
Norwich Trails 