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Join the West River Trail Work Morning August 27

Please join us for a work morning to pull invasive plant species on the Riverstone Preserve! We need your help! This is fun, rewarding and important work. Please come!

When:  Sunday, August 27, 9-11 AM
What:  Pulling (mostly) oriental bittersweet seedlings
Where:  We’ll meet at the west end of the Sibosen Interpretive Trail, where it meets the West River Trail. It’s about 1 1/2 miles from the Marina Trailhead and the Rice Farm Rd Trailhead.  You can also get there by parking at the Fox Farm Rd, trailhead, and walking down the access road, to the WRT, turn left and you’ll soon see the sign for Sibosen Trail on the right. Biking in from the trailheads gets you there more quickly, if you’re able to do that.
What to bring:  water, work gloves, insect repellant, snack if needed.

We’ll teach you how to identify the invasive plants, if you haven’t done this before.

For more info and to tell us you’re coming, please email lowersection@westrivertrail.org. Thanks and we hope to see you there! It’s a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, in a lovely place.  

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Invasive Catch of the Day

A lovely morning was spent pulling Oriental Bittersweet on the Riverstone Preserve, with 6 volunteers, on Sunday, July 23. 

Here’s Alex Wilson (a West River Trail Steering Committee member) displaying the largest, longest bittersweet root pulled out that day!  Mostly we pull small seedlings, but occasionally we find a whopper! 

If you’d like to help out, the next work day will be Sunday, August 27, from 9-11 AM.  We’d love to see you there! 

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Trail Work Day: Sunday June 25

Please join us for a workday on the West River Trail on Sunday, June 25. 

When: Sunday, June 25 from 9 am -11 am. 
Where: Meet up at 9 am at the south Sibosen trailhead. There is a sign identifying the interpretive trail. It’s about 1 1/2 miles from the Marina trailhead.
What: Help clear invasives 
What to bring: work gloves, water, sunscreen, insect repellent. 

To RSVP and for questions:, please reach out to us at lowersection@westrivertrail.org

The May workday was a lovely day to be out on the Riverstone Preserve. Six volunteers joined in to pull Bittersweet. We worked hard, got a lot accomplished and learned a lot from each other about plants, birds, and local nature. 

Huge thanks to our May workday volunteers! Photos include Eric Reines, Jesse Wagner, Eric Pofcher, Mike Duffy and Dan Drish. The fallen tree is covered with the piles of bittersweet we pulled, letting the roots dry out and die, rather than throwing them on the ground where they could reroot. 

We will be hosting invasive work days monthly through the fall–and will announce them on this website and our west river trail facebook page. Hope you will join us!

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Vermont Winter Trails

The West River Trail was recently featured in an article on little-known Vermont winter trails. 

Here’s an excerpt:

For a small state, Vermont is big on trails. Fortunately, access to Vermont winter trails can happen without going to a ski resort or traversing the backcountry. The Green Mountain State is home to a variety of smaller Vermont winter trails and trail networks offering snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

The 36-mile West River Trail includes an Upper Section in Londonderry, Jamaica, and Townshend and a Lower Section in Brattleboro and Dummerston. Most of the trail system is not groomed for skiing. However, the Army Corps of Engineers grooms in the Winhall Campground and along a few miles in the Upper Section.

Upper Section access points include the Winhall Campground and the trail head at the end of West River Street in South Londonderry. Lower Section parking and access is at the Marina Trailhead or Rice Farm Road in Dummerston.

Click through to read the full article here. Thanks to Erica Houskeeper at Happy Vermont for the feature!

Happy Winter!

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New Memorial Bench on the West River Trail

A new bench along the West River, just a couple of hundred yards down from The Marina on the West River Trail, is dedicated to Linda Dierks and her father, Valmore Horton Smith.

The bench on the West River, in an area Dierks loved to row, is made of stone donated by artist Dan Snow and stands on black pipe rescued from an old boiler that was pulled out of the Latchis Theatre years ago. The stone and pipe were brought together by Rich Gillis, of Mystic Metallurgy.

Read the full story, written by Bob Audette at The Brattleboro Reformer.

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West River Trail Winter Pop-up Market

The Winter Market in South Londonderry is back. Come to the Historic Depot Station (off Route 100) on Saturday, Nov. 19, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for hot food and locally-made crafts.

This community-led market is sponsored by the Friends of the West River Trail and will be open at the same time every Saturday until Dec. 17, featuring different vendors each weekend.

For more information contact Kyle Cohen at klc0319@gmail.com.

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Last Trail Workday of the Season

Please join us on Saturday, October 29, 1-3 pm to work on removing the Bittersweet seedlings on the Riverstone Preserve one last time in 2022. We’ll meet at the Sibosen Trail intersection with the West River Trail at 1 pm. Bring work gloves, water, snack. The day is predicted to be nice, sunny and 60. (It takes about 1/2 hour to walk in from the Marina, or the Rice Farm Rd trailheads; maybe 20 minutes from the Fox Farm Rd trailhead).

Email us at lowersection@westrivertrail.org for more information and to let us know you’re coming. Thank you!

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Trail Maintenance Work Day Saturday Sept 17

West River Trail

Volunteers needed and welcomed to join the Friends of the West River Trail Lower Section for a workday from 10 AM to 2 PM (you’re welcome even if you can’t stay that long).

We will meet at the Marina trailhead at 10 AM and walk in to the work site. The focus will be on clearing ditches and culverts before the leaves come down.
Wear boots, and bring water, work gloves and a rake or hoe if you have one.
Drinks and snacks will be provided. 

Please email lowersection@westrivertrail.org with questions or to let us know you’re coming. Thank you!

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Workday Scheduled for August 27

Seeking volunteers for the monthly invasives pulling workday on Saturday, August 27 from 9-11 AM. 

We’ll meet at the southern Sibosen trail intersection with the West River Trail on the Riverstone Preserve at 9 AM.  Bring work gloves, water, insect repellant. 

Contact us at lowersection@westrivertrail.org with questions and to let us know you’re coming. Hope you can join us. Thank you!

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Cancelled: Saturday, July 30 Invasives Pulling Workday

Please note that the “last Saturday of the month” invasives work day is cancelled for this month. However, if you have worked with us in the past and can identify oriental bittersweet seedlings, and you would like to go ahead on out to the Riverstone Preserve and work, please feel free to do that. We appreciate your help! We will host another invasives work day on Saturday, August 27 from 9 AM to 11. Please put that date in your calendars. Thank you!