 GREEN MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST
FR 341 North of Kelly Stand Road
9-12-02
Fresh off-road vehicle tracks on Forest Road 341 between Kelly Stand Road and the Catamount Trail. This gated road is a designated mountain bike trail and is closed to all motor vehicle traffic.
Today I checked FR 341 for about 4.5 miles north of Kelly Stand Road, to its intersection with the Catamount Trail northbound (which initially follows the trail that leads to the end of North Brookwood road in the Stratton Resort chalet development). FR 341 is gated at both ends--Kelly Stand Road and Bondville--and it should have no motor vehicle use at all.
However, I had seen ATV and four-wheel-drive vehicle tracks on FR 341 when I crossed it when checking the Catamount Trail on August 15, 2002. In addition, the Green Mountain Club campsite caretaker at Griffith Lake Tent Site told me he had seen a lot of 4WD truck and ATV traffic on FR 341 when he was the Green Mountain Club caretaker at Stratton Pond in the summer of 2001.
I found evidence of both 4WD and ATV use of FR 341. However, I found no sign of either type of vehicle bypassing the gate near Kelly Stand Road, and the evidence of vehicle traffic was more abundant as I went north. This strongly suggests that the vehicles reach the road from some place other than Kelly Stand Road. Certainly the tracks I saw on the Catamount Trail on August 15 show that many vehicles travel that route, and the GMC caretaker at Stratton Pond this summer told me he always sees fresh tracks when he travels that route.
There are not many opportunities for vehicles to leave FR 341, and the map indicates that none of the side routes between Kelly Stand Road and the Catamount Trail extend very far. In any case, none of the side routes show evidence of recent ATV travel, though some have old 4WD ruts.
Just as I set out to walk the road, I met a man from Massachusetts who told me that last week he had found the lock broken on the gate at the Bondville end of FR 341, and reported it to the Forest Service. This suggests that vehicles may reach FR 341 from Bondville.
FR 341 has a substantial firm gravel base, so tracks do not show well, and it is difficult to judge how much vehicle traffic it gets. However, at a few soft spots I could discern fresh tracks from at least half a dozen vehicles, most of them four-wheel-drive trucks.
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