Stratton View Campsite served as a tenting area on Stratton Pond for nearly four decades, from approximately 1985 to 2023. Located near the site of the older
Stratton View Shelter, which was dismantled in 1997, the campsite provided tent platforms and facilities for backpackers visiting one of the Long Trail’s most heavily used locations.
The facility grew out of long-standing management challenges at Stratton Pond. Beginning in the 1970s, the Green Mountain Club recognized that concentrated use around the shoreline was causing severe environmental damage to this popular destination. By the mid-1970s, caretakers at Stratton Pond were actively limiting indiscriminate camping and allowing eroded campsites along the shore to grow back. As part of this management approach, designated tent platforms were installed to concentrate use on durable surfaces away from the fragile shoreline.
In July 2021, a helicopter airlift transported construction materials for new shelter and privy materials for Stratton View Campsite, indicating significant improvements to the facility. Notably, Brattleboro section volunteers helped design a new shelter for Stratton View Campsite, and worked with the U.S. Forest Service to get it approved.
However, the campsite’s viability became increasingly compromised as the GMC implemented broader management plans for Stratton Pond. Since Stratton View camping area was too close to the shore and the pit privy was inadequate in such a high-use area, both were slated for decommissioning. This decision reflected growing concerns about environmental protection at the popular pond. The campsite ultimately ceased operations by 2023, marking the end of an era of tenting accommodations at this specific location, though a new shelter at the Stratton View Tenting Area was to be finished in the 2023 hiking season with new tent platforms available until then
.
Sources
- Long Trail News 2021 (2021). Green Mountain Club. 10.
- Green Mountain Club. Long Trail Guide Book. 23 ed. Green Mountain Club, 1985. Pp. 90.
- Green Mountain Club. Long Trail Guide Book. 23 ed. Green Mountain Club, 1985. Pp. 35.
