NorthWoods Stewardship Center

A place for people to gather and explore

NorthWoods welcomes visitors year-round to experience its extensive trail network, remote shoreline, conserved forestland, and rustic lodge for meetings and events. The forest is loved for its rolling terrain that offers accessible, immersive access to the woods. Rather than a crowded summit with a dramatic mountain view, visitors say they enjoy the remote, quiet isolation of NorthWoods, especially with the addition of an accessible All Persons trail. 

Trail maps are available online and at the onsite kiosks throughout the grounds.  Visitors are encouraged to leave a small donation per individual to support trail maintenance. Key features include: 

• All Persons Trail: A fully accessible ¾-mile loop for people of all abilities. Designed with accessibility in mind, the trail ensures that everyone, regardless of mobility, can enjoy being out in nature.
• Summer Trails: Over 20 kilometers of trails are open in the summer to walkers and hikers. The All Persons Trail, Gardner Path, Lang Brook Trail, and Echo Lake Shore trail are popular summer routes.

• Nordic Ski & Snowshoe Trails: Over 8 miles of groomed trails are open in winter, plus an additional six miles of ungroomed backcountry trails. Guided programs, lessons, and nordic ski and snowshoe rentals are available for on-site use during office hours by reservation. One of the most popular nordic trails is the Leadership Trail, a popular 1.5 mile x-country ski loop, beginning from the All Persons Trail near the parking area and providing easy access to the wider ski trail network. 
• Clyde River Canoeing & Campsite: A key stop along the Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT), a 745-mile paddle route from New York to Maine, the Clyde River is home to diverse wildlife and a managed riverside campsite for paddlers (bookable through NFCT). The river also features a fen, a type of wetland rich in plant and animal life, providing critical habitat for many species. 
• Echo Lake Shoreline: A secluded, conserved lakefront with a scenic half-mile trail leading to the 150-foot undeveloped shoreline, where visitors can swim or relax in a quiet natural setting. Access the lake using the trailhead parking via Echo Lake Road.
• Lodge and Bunkhouse: The NorthWoods Lodge provides a rustic, welcoming space for visiting groups, with a large open event area with two woodstoves, a kitchen, dining, and meeting area with a small deck and a paved patio overlooking the pond. Also available is a 16-bed Bunkhouse for overnight groups. Booking information is available online. 

Building trails, restoring watersheds

NorthWoods runs a high-impact conservation services program, employing over 100 seasonal workers annually to complete trail building and watershed restoration projects across New England. 

Projects can include streambank stabilization, sustainable river access, tree plantings, seed collection, and floodplain restoration. For example, at Crystal Lake State Park in Barton, Vermont, NorthWoods conservation crews implemented a shoreline stabilization project to reduce the impact of human activity and make beach access more sustainable. Crew members also work on maintaining dozens of hiking trails each year.  

NorthWoods partners on projects with organizations with similar goals, including but not limited to the Connecticut River Conservancy, Vermont Forests Parks & Recreation, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Vermont Fish and Wildlife. 

Landowners and partner organizations can contact NorthWoods to discuss conservation and forest management opportunities. 

Meaningful work 

Conservation work crews include training, education, and career networking through hands-on work improving public lands, waterways, and forests across the region. Crews include: 

• Youth Crews (Ages 14-18): High school students gain their first paid work experience maintaining trails, restoring habitats, and supporting recreation over six weeks.
• Conservation Service Crews (18+): Longer-term employment for adults working on a wide range of conservation projects, including riparian restoration, trail building, sustainable forestry, invasive species removal, wildlife habitat improvement, and climate resilient project implementation from April through November.
• New England Crews: Through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, NorthWoods hires and trains crews for conservation work across multiple states at other National Wildlife Refuge locations, expanding its impact beyond its primary coverage area of New Hampshire and Vermont.

A history of conservation

The land now home to NorthWoods Stewardship Center has a long and evolving history of human connection, resource use, and conservation. Long before European settlement, the Clyde River valley was a vital east-west travel route for the Western Abenaki, who used the area for seasonal camps, hunting, and fishing. The land later saw waves of settlement in the early 1800s, as homesteaders cleared the forests for farming, established sawmills, and relied on the region’s timber for economic survival. By the late 19th century, much of the land had been logged extensively, with over half of the property converted to open fields.

A shift toward sustainable land management

Through the 20th century, the land changed hands multiple times, and by the 1960s and ‘70s, reforestation efforts began with the planting of red pine, white pine, and Norway spruce. However, in the 1980s, heavy clear-cutting returned, as private timber companies sought to maximize short-term gains. It wasn’t until the 1990s and early 2000s that a shift toward permanent conservation took root.

During this time, Bill Manning and Pat Moyer founded what was then called the Vermont Leadership Center, with a mission of fostering environmental education and leadership through outdoor experiences. Their work laid the foundation for what would become NorthWoods Stewardship Center, shaping its focus on conservation, recreation, and community engagement. 

In 2004, Lydia Spitzer — who had purchased much of the land — donated the development rights to VLT, ensuring that the forest would remain protected from future development. In 2008, she gifted the land itself to NorthWoods Stewardship Center, recognizing that the organization would be a responsible steward of the land and a leader in sustainable forestry and conservation education.

Cultivating lifelong environmental advocates

Unlike traditional conservation easements that focus solely on preserving land in its current state, NorthWoods embodies an active conservation approach — one that engages the community and educates future land stewards. A child might visit for a school field trip, return years later as part of the conservation corps to build trails or restore wetlands, visit NorthWoods to cross-country ski or hike, and eventually seek guidance as a landowner looking to manage their own forest sustainably. NorthWoods staff say this multi-generational relationship fosters a community of lifelong stewards who continue to care for Vermont’s forests for years to come.