Little Rock Pond Group Tenting Area was established by about 1977 as part of the Green Mountain Club’s Long Trail infrastructure.
The site was built by the GMC as a designated tenting area to manage heavy use of this popular pond location.
By the 1980s, the tenting area featured tent platforms and toilet facilities on a rise approximately 100 feet east of the pond.
A GMC Caretaker was stationed at the site during the hiking season, and overnight fees were charged to support maintenance and management efforts.
The pond and its immediate surroundings were carefully managed due to their popularity and fragile shoreline environment, with camping restricted to designated sites.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the tenting area remained an active and significant site on the Long Trail. It was included among the GMC’s shelters available for adoption in 1989. The facility hosted hundreds of overnight visitors annually, serving both individual backpackers and group outings.
Hurricane Floyd struck in September 1999, causing severe damage throughout southern Vermont’s Long Trail corridor.
Hazard trees left by Floyd closed the Little Rock Pond tenting area for the season. This natural disaster marked the beginning of the end for the facility’s operation in its original form. While some recovery efforts were undertaken in subsequent years, the site appears to have ceased regular operation as a designated overnight area by the early 2000s, though it remained available for day-use visits to the pond itself.
Sources
- Long Trail News 1989 (1989). Green Mountain Club. 16.
- Long Trail News 1989 (1989). Green Mountain Club. 16.
- Long Trail News 1998 (1998). Green Mountain Club. 6.
- Long Trail News 1998 (1998). Green Mountain Club. 6.
- Long Trail News 1999 (1999). Green Mountain Club. 8.
- The Trail Talk (Connecticut) 2009 (2009). Connecticut Section, Green Mountain Club. 8.
- Long Trail News 2016 (2016). Green Mountain Club. 14.
