Easy to moderate incline, estimated 4 mi round trip, elevation 1340 ft
Highlights:
Pico views, open meadows, two shelters!
Directions:
From I-89, take exit 3 (Bethel/Royalton) and take a right onto 107 towards Bethel. At the junction of 12 and 107, take a left onto 12 under the railroad tracks and over the iron bridge. Travel about 2-3 miles until you see Locust Creek Diner on the left and it's sister gas station on the right. After the Diner, take the left onto 12 which continues south towards Barnard. Follow it until you come to the Barnard Country Store, and continue straight onto Stage Road, which is to the left of the store. You'll know you're on Stage road if you look to your left and see Silver Lake through the trees (There's also a sign about a block past the store on the right side of the road that finally declares the name of the road...oddly enough). About a mile later, you'll take a left onto Royalton Turnpike. Another mile later is Sayer road, which will be on the right, and will later turn into Lime Pond and/or Webster Hill Roads. Just stay on it until you reach Skyline Drive on the left. On Skyline, you'll pass through some beautiful horse properties, and then come upon Allen Hill Road, which you'll take a left onto. About 500 yards up on the right will be a red metal gate where you can park, and the Natural Area's entrance will be on the right.
Details:
The 182 acres of the Amity Pond Natural Area were a gift to Vermont from Richard and Elizabeth Brett in 1969. A downloadable pdf about the area (map and history included) is available here, although it's nearly impossible to get lost on these trails. The blue blazes clearly mark the obvious trails, and wherever you get close to private property or trail junctions, carved wood signs keep you on the right track. One thing to keep in mind, is that there is an electric fence at one end of the Amity Pond Trail, so keep the dogs leashed when you come upon the open pasture.
Although you can take the road up to the other end of the Amity Pond trail (see pdf map), I decided to get a longer hike in by back tracking onto the trail and taking the Crossover Trail to the other side (the fact that the brook at the end of the southern side of the trail was a bit too wide to cross w/out my rubber boots helped make that decision for us). We started from the parking area on Allen Hill Road (which isn't as large as the map indicates) and hiked down to the too-wide-to-cross brook which runs along Broad Brook Road, then backtracked to the Crossover Trail and continued toward the horse pasture on Allen Hill Road. Once we hit the road, we backtracked again and took the Amity Pond loop, which gave us a total of about 4 miles. You get a break from the wooded area with this beautiful field where there are mountain views to admire. 
There are two shelters here, both with fire pits and near water sources. The Amity Pond Shelter is a little close to the road for me, and it also sits near a swap-like small pond, but the Sugar Arch Shelter is right in the heart of the woods and is set near a stream and a meadow, so I think staying at the latter is the best choice for optimal overnight camping.
We never did find the Skyline trail...although I'm not sure if the dogs were even looking...much too busy playing with their sticks again!
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