Stewards of Vermont’s Most Precious Places
GMC’s backcountry caretakers live and work at high use overnight sites on the Long Trail each hiking season. For more than 50 years they have cared for these sites, the surrounding trail and landscape, and the people who visit. They aim to help users enjoy their backcountry experiences while protecting and preserving the natural resource.
What do GMC Backcountry Caretakers Do?
Caretakers are professional, paid seasonal staff employed by the Green Mountain Club. They may have backgrounds in trail work, environmental studies, or education, and are passionate about protecting Vermont’s natural resources.
Caretakers are stationed at the most high-use and vulnerable sites on the Long Trail, and spend 4-5 nights per week at their designated overnight site. They interact with hikers, passing along education about alpine stewardship, Leave No Trace principles, best practices, and trail information. They are a wealth of knowledge and will add to your experience of the Long Trail System.
At Vermont’s busy alpine summits (Mount Mansfield, Camel’s Hump, and Mount Abraham) caretakers ensure hikers are staying on the designated trail to protect the alpine vegetation. Caretakers also perform routine trail maintenance in a designated range, and are responsible for the composting process at GMC’s backcountry privies (outhouses).
History of Modern GMC Caretakers
In the late 1960s, scientists and advocates began to notice the impact that a huge backcountry recreation boom was having on Vermont’s trails: trails and vegetation were eroding away, trash and human waste was rampant, and the rare alpine plants found on Mount Mansfield and Camel’s Hump were threatened with extinction.
GMC developed the caretaker’s one-to-one education model, which focused on empowering hikers to become partners in protecting the natural resource, rather than shaming or policing behavior. The caretaker program began in 1969, and continues today, following roughly the same model of individualized education and stewardship.
Purpose and Impact
Caretakers protect Vermont’s natural resource so that future generations can enjoy hiking, recreating, and exploring Vermont’s natural places.
Research has shown that the caretaker model works: trailside alpine vegetation coverage has rebounded from 43% to 73%, thanks to direct education and caretakers’ maintenance of scree walls, string barriers, and signage that keep people and pets on the trail.
The same is true of fragile pond shoreline environments; we have seen improvement in sediment levels in the pond thanks to caretakers’ encouragement of proper camping practices away from the pond’s edge.
With increased use on the Long Trail System, comes an increased responsibility of the Green Mountain Club to maintain and protect the Long Trail to the highest standards of environmental quality.
Where Caretakers Live and Work
For 2026, you’ll find caretakers at the following locations:
- Stratton Pond
- Little Rock Pond
- Griffith Lake/Bromley Mountain
- Coolidge Range (including Killington and Pico)
- Monroe Skyline (including Mount Abraham)
- Camel’s Hump
- Mount Mansfield
- Sterling Pond
Caretakers survey the trails, shelters, and privies in these areas and are stationed at overnight sites including: Stratton Pond Shelter, Little Rock Pond Shelter, Butler Lodge, Taft Lodge, Hump Brook Tenting Area, Montclair Glen Lodge.
Prior to 2023, caretaker staffed overnight sites had a $5 fee for camping overnight. The fees were eliminated in 2023 to increase access to and equity in backcountry recreation. Today, the caretaker program is primarily supported by donations, and is routinely one of the most underfunded programs that GMC operates.
Did a caretaker improve your hiking experience? Consider a gift to support the program.
More Backcountry Stewardship
Join us
Interested in helping us achieve our backcountry education mission? Join GMC as a seasonal caretaker or as part of the volunteer trail steward program.