Landowners

Trail tensions escalate: Chittenden landowner held in contempt in legal battle with Mountain Top Resort

June 2, 2025 by Sharon Plumb

VT Digger

Chittenden property owner John Gerlach has been found in contempt in the latest development of an ongoing legal battle with Mountain Top Resort. The May 22 decision came after Gerlach removed a rope barring access to one of the resort’s cross-country trails.

The dispute began last summer when Gerlach and his wife, Debra, relocated two of the resort’s trails that ran through their private land.

The Gerlachs purchased the property with an easement that allowed Mountain Top Resort to operate ski trails within their property lines, but also permitted the Gerlach family to move trails as long as cross-country skiers had access to similarly safe and groomed trails.

The resort’s general manager and activities director said at the time that the two modified trails were too narrow and steep to groom, limiting their cross-country skiing guests’ access and potentially hurting their business.

Riding the Line: Vermont’s Trail Systems are Built on Gratitude: But Is That Enough?

May 1, 2025 by Sharon Plumb

The North Star Monthly

A transformative experiment in outdoor recreation has been unfolding for nearly three decades, tucked away in Vermont’s rural Northeast Kingdom. Kingdom Trails Association (KTA) has grown from humble beginnings into one of North America’s top mountain biking destinations, attracting riders from across the continent to its network of pristine single-track trails.

But the entire enterprise hinges on a delicate arrangement. About 75 percent of the trail network crosses private land, hosted by more than 100 landowners who receive no formal compensation for allowing thousands of cyclists to traverse their property annually.

Vermont Trails and Greenways Council Releases Statement Regarding Potential Vermont Supreme Court Ruling on the Authority to Maintain Trails

November 18, 2024 by Sharon Plumb

A coalition of outdoor recreation organizations led by the Vermont Trails and Greenways Council (VTGC), issued a statement today urging
the Vermont Supreme Court to carefully consider the long-term implications of its
upcoming ruling regarding the maintenance of public access trails on private land. The
case, which involves the use of a “legal trail” maintained by the Town that crosses
private property in Tunbridge, has the potential to reshape public access rights
throughout the state, with significant consequences for recreationists, landowners,
residents, and municipalities.

Trails on trial: Mountain Top Resort’s cross-country ski routes caught up in legal dispute

November 18, 2024 by Sharon Plumb

The Chittenden resort and its neighbors are at odds over the reconfiguration of two ski trails that cut through private property. Generations of cross-country skiers have flocked to Chittenden’s Mountain Top Resort to spend wintry days gliding along bucolic, snow-capped paths nestled in the shadow of Killington. Now, as the popular cross-country skiing destination celebrates its 60th year in business, Mountain Top finds itself locked in a legal battle with its neighbors, John and Debra Gerlach, over the fate of two of its trails.

In Tunbridge, a legal battle over public trails could restrict access across Vermont

November 13, 2024 by Vermont Trails & Greenways

https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2024-11-13/tunbridge-legal-battle-over-public-trails-could-restrict-access-across-vermont

There’s a legal battle playing out in Tunbridge over who should maintain the so-called legal trails in Vermont.

Legal trails are former public roads, which aren’t used for traffic anymore, but are still open for walking and other recreational uses. The eventual court ruling could have an impact on more than 500 miles of public trails across the state.

The fight’s been going on for almost five years. The town has spent almost $40,000 so far defending itself in court.

And the whole thing started with a small sign that was pounded into the ground along a public trail that’s less than a mile long.