In 1926, the Worcester Section of the Green Mountain Club built Camp Webster, a wood-frame lean-to shelter with bunks for six hikers. The shelter was constructed as a replacement for an earlier structure, positioned along the Long Trail in southern Vermont near the West Wardsboro and East Arlington area, with water available from a stream about 600 feet to the west.
Almost immediately, the original trail routing to Camp Webster proved problematic. Early hikers found the route tedious and poorly maintained, leading the Worcester Section to undertake a comprehensive relocation of the trail between Webster and Glastenbury Mountain by the late 1920s. Plans accelerated in the 1930s as the GMC recognized that Camp Webster would become redundant; a 1936 board report authorized relocating the trail between Black Brook and Stratton Pond to avoid Stratton Mountain, which would make Camp Webster inaccessible from the main trail. These relocation efforts proceeded slowly during World War II, but included plans for a replacement shelter near Grout Pond.
As Camp Webster’s abandonment loomed, the Worcester Section made efforts to maintain it. In 1945, a carpenter performed substantial repairs including new roofing, support posts, bunk boards, and interior cleaning at a cost of forty dollars. A second major renovation occurred in April 1969, when volunteers replaced the roof and refurbished the interior. Despite these efforts, Camp Webster’s fate was sealed when the Long Trail was officially rerouted in 1971 with the publication of the 20th edition of the Long Trail Guide Book. The new route bypassed the shelter entirely, though a blue-blazed alternate trail to Stratton Mountain was established using the old path. Removed from the main trail network and no longer maintained, Camp Webster was abandoned in 1988.
Sources
- Long Trail News 1961 (1961). Green Mountain Club. 6.
- Long Trail News 1961 (1961). Green Mountain Club. 6.
- Long Trail News 1974 (1974). Green Mountain Club. 4.
- Woodward, Paul & Joanne. Long Trail System Shelter History. 2nd ed. Green Mountain Club, 1999. Pp. 132.
