EAST HARDWICK – A plan to create a trailhead on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (LVRT) has taken another step forward with the East Hardwick Neighborhood Organization’s (EHNO) Invitation to Bid on improvements in the area that will become a new trailhead in East Hardwick. Plans are to install the planned amenities and have it completed before the fall.
During the summer of 2026 the EHNO plans to work with the town of Hardwick and plans to hire a contractor to build the trailhead on the LVRT at its intersection with Stevens Lane.
The site will initially have a single handicapped parking space and a crushed stone area that will include a kiosk, bicycle rack, historic marker, pavilion, bicycle repair station and picnic table.
The project is funded by a 2025 grant from the Recreational Trails Program of the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, reported EHNO.
An initial evaluation of project options was developed through a scoping study completed by Wall Consultant Group and the Dufresne Group for the Northeastern Vermont Development Association (NVDA).
Land along the trail’s east side off Stevens Lane has been leased from VTrans by the Town of Hardwick and an application for the required zoning permit has been approved by the Town of Hardwick.
The kiosk and a base for a marker from Timber Homes Vermont, a bike rack and picnic table have been purchased by the Town of Hardwick with LVRT grant funds.
Wetlands Mapping at the site was completed by Michael Lew-Smith of Arrowwood Environmental in Huntington.
Landscape Architect Barnabas Kane completed the site design.
An historical interpretive marker was completed by MajaDesigns of Essex, with a grant from the Vermont Community Foundation.
The pavilion has been ordered from Timber Homes Vermont.
More information about the project and the RFP, for which a response is due by June 5, is at ehno5.wordpress.com/trailhead-project/.
