| Hiking Trail Conditions Report |
 | Peaks |
Mt. Mansfield - The Chin, VT |
|
 | Trails: |
Mountain Road, Eagles Cut Trail, Sunset Ridge Trail, Long Trail, Laura Cowles Trail |
|
 | Date of Hike: |
Sunday, March 15, 2026 |
|
 | Parking/Access Road Notes: |
Winter parking are on Mountain Road is plowed. Remainder of road is posted against parking. Mountain Road itself is starting to show signs of mud-season rutting (frozen hard today, but that will change). |
|
 | Surface Conditions: |
Snow - Trace/Minimal Depth, Ice - Blue, Snow - Packed Powder/Loose Granular, Snow - Unpacked Powder, Snow/Ice - Frozen Granular, Snow - Drifts, Snow/Ice - Monorail (Stable), Snow/Ice - Postholes |
|
 | Recommended Equipment: |
Snowshoes |
|
 | Water Crossing Notes: |
Many streams are now unfrozen. |
|
 | Trail Maintenance Notes: |
Two 5"d blowdowns on mid to low Laura Cowles |
|
 | Dog-Related Notes: |
|
|
 | Bugs: |
|
|
 | Lost and Found: |
To whoever found the spikes I dropped in the parking area and hung them up on a tree branch, thank you! Turned out I did not need the for the hike, but I was glad to find them on my return. |
|
|
|
|
 | Comments: |
Solo hike of Mt. Mansfield, up Sunset, down Laura Cowles. About 4" to 5" fresh light powder fell the night before, minimally covering up new mud season features: monorail, bare ground, slab ice, frozen postholes, washout areas. Sunset has some honking-thick post-holed monorail beneath the powder at lower elevations; further up Sunset and to the summit there are knee deep fresh drifts in pockets across the entire ridge, interspersed with deep hardpack, bare slabs and ledges, and ice flows. Hikers have been having trouble staying on trail--lots of wandering off on the Sunset ledges. On Laura Cowles, below the ledges, I managed to get in a few long butt-slides in on descent before hitting bumpy hardpack, wash-out holes, ice slabs, and crevasses. Mountain Road would have been bare ground if not for the fresh snow. Skiers were getting in a few runs along the park roads today. Ran into just a few hikers--pretty windy on top, overcast. I used snowshoes the entire way--helped significantly in the fresh, loose snow and knee-deep drifts, less well on the windblown ledges, but conditions averaged out in favor of wearing them vs not wearing them. |
|
 | Name: |
Barefoot Paul-William |
|
 | E-Mail: |
paulwgagnon@gmail.com |
|
| Date Submitted: |
2026-03-15 |
|
 | Link: |
 https:// |
|
|
Disclaimer: Reports are not verified - conditions may vary. Use at own risk. Always be prepared when hiking. Observe all signs. Trail conditions reports are not substitutes for weather reports or common sense. |
|
