Hiking Camels Hump: The Summit

Last Saturday, before we went to Stowe, my wife and I hiked to the summit of Camel’s Hump, Vermont’s third-tallest mountain.

Because, at 4,083 feet (1,244 meters), it’s not the tallest of mountains, Camel’s Hump’s most notable feature is its shape. The mountain is actually shaped like a hump of a camel, with two humps. The mountain is visible from many miles away, even all the way from Lake Champlain.

Hiking Camels Hump: Long Trail on Camel's Hump — Long Trail on Camel’s Hump

Hiking Camels Hump: To the Summit

We arrived at the Burrows Trail trailhead around 10.45am. The trailhead lies at the end of Camel’s Hump Road, about 3.5 miles east of the town of Huntington, in Camel’s Hump State Park.

The Burrows Trail is an easy walk through the woods for the first mile (1.6 kilometers). The next 1.1 miles (1.77 kilometers) get gradually steeper. Although it’s not a difficult climb whatsoever, it is quiet steep and tiring. The Burrows Trail is the shortest and post popular trail to the summit, but there are no views along the way at all, and therefore no scenic spots to catch a breath.

The Burrows Trail ends at the intersection with the Long Trail after 2.1 miles (3.38 kilometers). It’s another steep 0.3 miles (0.48 kilometers) south along the Long Trail to the summit.

Hiking Camels Hump: Mount Mansfield seen from Camel's Hump — Mount Mansfield (far left) seen from Camel’s Hump

The summit offers great panoramic views in all directions—views that include Mount Mansfield, Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks. Despite the views being, objectively speaking, excellent, I felt like I’d seen it all before. Surprisingly, the 360-degree views didn’t blow me off my socks. The views on the way down, on the other hand, are, I thought, much better.

Hiking Camels Hump: View of Lake Champlain from Camel's Hump — View of Lake Champlain from Camel’s Hump

We continued on the Long Trail and headed down on the south side of the summit. The first section is quite technical and very steep and involves some boulder hopping. After 1.7 miles (2.74 kilometers), the Long Trails connects with the Forest City Trail. The 1.7-mile (2.74-kilometer) Forest City Trail runs down to the parking lot through dense woods and along a few mountain streams and past a couple of little waterfalls.

Hiking Camels Hump: Green Mountains seen from Camels Hump — Green Mountains seen from Camel’s Hump

The whole Burrows Trail-Long Trail-Forest City Trail loop is 5.8 miles (9.33 kilometers) long and took us approximately 4 hours to finish, including time for breaks and lunch at the summit.