Blue Triangle Camp began its life not as a Green Mountain Club shelter, but as a YWCA‑affiliated project, built through the generosity and enthusiasm of youth organizations across Vermont. By the late 1920s, the Burlington Section of the GMC was rapidly expanding its network of overnight sites, and the YWCA’s Blue Triangle Club stepped forward to sponsor a new cabin along the Long Trail. The resulting structure—completed around 1930—was a roomy 20‑by‑24‑foot frame cabin, designed to sleep about a dozen hikers. It stood in the woods near Gov. Clement Camp, positioned close to a brook and intended to serve as a comfortable overnight stop for young hikers, especially girls’ groups.
The cabin’s construction cost $550, a sum raised not by a single donor but by a remarkable coalition of Girls’ Clubs and Scouts from across Vermont. Contributions came from Rutland’s Longfellow School, Wallingford, Wells River, Newbury, Thetford, Chester, Montpelier, Bristol, Franklin, Enosburg Falls, Springfield, St. Albans, and Windsor. Their support reflected a growing movement to encourage girls and young women to explore the outdoors and participate in the Long Trail community. The cabin was explicitly described as being “intended more for use of the girls when on the Trail.”
Although the shelter appeared in the 1932 Long Trail Guide, it had disappeared from the guidebook by the 13th Edition (1947), suggesting that its active life as a GMC facility was relatively short.
Blue Triangle Camp’s most dramatic moment came with the Great New England Hurricane of September 21, 1938. Among all Long Trail shelters, it was reported as the only cabin seriously damaged by the storm. The extent of the destruction was not fully detailed, but the damage was significant enough to affect its long‑term viability.
By the late 1940s, the cabin had been abandoned. In February 1949, the Green Mountain Club announced that the deteriorating structure would be disassembled and moved to Spring Lake during the coming summer. This marked the end of Blue Triangle Camp’s presence on the Long Trail in its original location.
Sources
- "Long Trail News." 1930.
- Long Trail Guide Book. 9th Edition ed. Green Mountain Club, 1932.
- "Long Trail News." 1938.
- "Long Trail News." 1949.
