CAMPAIGN FOR THE EQUINOX HIGHLANDS
The Place

Rich Forests

Some of the finest and most extensive rich northern hardwood forests of New England grow in the Equinox Highlands. Called “rich” because of the moist, fertile soil in which they grow, these forests are dominated by sugar maple and abound in a diversity of wildflowers and many rare and threatened understory plants. The Highlands make up one of the few places in the Northeast where old growth forest has a good chance of firmly reestablishing itself.

Life-Sustaining Forests

Wide-ranging mammals such as bobcat, black bear, and fisher need thousands of acres of connected habitat like the extensive forests in and around the Highlands to thrive. Other mammals like moose, grey fox, flying squirrel, short-tailed weasel, masked shrew, and the federally endangered Indiana bat live here too. There are also more than 40 bird species, including the scarlet tanager, black-and-white warbler, and rose-breasted grosbeak, and a high diversity of amphibians.

Fresh Water

Rainwater and snowmelt percolate down through the weathered marble and limestone bedrock on the slopes of Mt. Equinox, filtering through an underground system of aquifers and streams that supplies fresh drinking water for Manchester and replenishes the Batten Kill River, famous for its populations of wild brown and brook trout.

Threatened Forests

Without protection, the health and stability of the forests of the Highlands could easily erode. Development pressure is increasing, and growing populations of invasive plant species such as honeysuckle, garlic mustard, and buckthorn are out-competing native species. Shifting climate patterns due to global climate change will make large connected areas of habitat increasingly  important to give species the best chance to adapt and migrate as needed.

A History of Conservation Success

The Nature Conservancy has been working in the Equinox Highlands for two decades. We own and manage more than 1,800 acres here and have worked in partnership with many other groups who together have protected an additional 3,500 acres. We have laid the groundwork for the conservation of a cohesive network of protected forest that is a healthy mosaic of natural area and working forest.

A Place for People Too

People have been drawn to the natural beauty of the Equinox Highlands for centuries, and many popular trails in the region allow visitors and residents alike to enjoy outdoor activities like hiking, birding, and nature photography. black bear, bobcat and moose.  Generations of Vermonters and visitors alike have hiked these hillsides on a network of trails, making this place their own.

The trail system on Mt. Equinox is already an important community resource.  This includes established trails behind the Equinox Hotel that are maintained by the Equinox Preservation Trust (EPT), which are augmented by a network of forest roads across public and private lands nearby.  The Conservancy's Campaign for the Equinox Highlands opens up the possibility of an extended trail system on conserved land, a trail network that would reach all the way from Equinox Pond to the Merck Forest.

By conserving key parcels of land and creating trail connections on Nature Conservancy lands, we hope to facilitate public access to this extensive forest in the Northshire community’s own backyard.  The vision of a formal “end to end” trail system across three towns is a community-scale undertaking, one beyond the scale of the Conservancy’s normal stewardship and staff resources. In the short term we hope to convene a community discussion with local people, businesses, and organizations around the vision of a trail system, and in the long term we hope to catalyze community commitment to “owning” the idea of the trail system and the commitment needed to make it a reality.

Campaign Statement: The Place / The Challenge  

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Oak Log Cover Design: The Laughing Bear Associates; Cover Photo © Bob Klein/The Nature Conservancy (Equinox Highlands).