Bigelow Shelter was a log lean‑to built in 1961 by the Worcester Section of the Green Mountain Club. Designed with floor space for six hikers, it stood on the Lye Brook Trail, on the south shore of Stratton Pond, just 0.1 mile west of the Long Trail. The shelter was named in honor of Louis L. Bigelow, a longtime Worcester Section leader whose trail‑building work shaped major portions of the Long Trail system. Bigelow Spring, located about 150 feet east of the shelter, served as its water source.
Construction began in August 1961 and was completed in early October 1961, replacing the Willis Ross Annex, which had become unusable after beaver activity raised Stratton Pond’s water level by roughly a foot. The new shelter was placed on higher, drier ground to avoid future flooding.
Louis L. Bigelow—after whom the shelter was named—was one of the most influential early trail workers in southern Vermont. He helped lay out and complete the trails over Glastenbury Mountain, oversaw the construction of several early camps and shelters in the Stratton region, and later contributed to the completion of the Long Trail’s northernmost section from Jay Peak to the Canadian border.
Because Stratton Pond is one of the busiest overnight areas on the Long Trail, Bigelow Shelter saw heavy use for more than three decades. A caretaker stationed at the nearby Willis Ross Clearing helped manage the high visitor volume and protect the fragile pond ecosystem.
By the mid‑1990s, the shelter had deteriorated and no longer met modern environmental and capacity standards for the Stratton Pond area. In 1997, after 36 years of service, Bigelow Shelter was dismantled as part of a major Stratton Pond management plan that consolidated camping areas and reduced shoreline impact.
Sources
- "Long Trail News." 1962.
