Kent's Ledge - South Royalton

Quick Facts:
Moderate incline, estimated 2-3 mi round trip, estimated 1300ft summit elevation.

Highlights:
Summit views, ledges to explore, pond and other trails nearby.

Directions:
Park in the town of South Royalton by the green. The post office, which faces the green and looks like an old train station, is a good place to start. Facing the post office from the green and looking to your right, you'll see a red cement-brick building across the tracks called the Crossroads Bar and Grill.

Cross the train tracks so you're in the dirt parking lot of the Crossroads. Walk around to the other side of it and in the corner of the lot to your right is a small footpath (and a few beams as a bridge across a small stream) that will take you up to Rainbow Street, which is a dirt road with a few houses on it. Take a right onto Rainbow Street and follow it up until you reach the metal gate. There are signs all over the place regarding authorized vehicles, no dogs, etc., just ignore them (I actually talked to some folks in town and their response to the signs were exactly that!). I brought three dogs and kept them on a leash until we were well past the gate and nobody seemed to mind.

Past the gate, there are a few municipal/mechanical buildings and beyond those is a tunnel which goes under I-89. There is a chained gate, but also plenty of room for an adult with a backpack to get through. I believe they only chain this off so that no one goes 4-wheeling up there!

Once through the tunnel, just follow the overgrown road, bypassing a small footpath to the left, until you reach the big pond. The trail goes off to the left or right here, and I decided to leave the right-side trail for another day/blog, so stay left and go up into the woods to get to Kent's Ledge! Once in the woods, just keep going up the overgrown road, which turns into more of a "trail" as you keep going.

Details:
It's a pretty consistent incline most of the way, but nothing too strenuous. In the spring it will probably be pretty wet and mucky, so if you're going during that season, I'd suggest boots. If you're a sneaker-hiker, maybe wait until June or July for this one.

It only took the dogs and me about half an hour to get to the summit, which is beautiful and has some sweet views. We explored around the top for awhile and had a snack before descending back to the town green. All in all, the outing was about 2 hours long (including a quick game of fetch by the pond on the way back).