At 3,300 feet on the south side of Mount Abraham, just under a mile from the summit, the Long Trail hiker comes upon Battell Shelter. The three-sided Adirondack-style lean-to, built in 1967 by work parties from Farm and Wilderness Camp in Plymouth, sleeps eight.
Battell Shelter is one of the highest three-sided shelters on the Long Trail System. Popular among Long Trail end-to-end hikers, and only about two miles from the nearest trailhead parking, it is also popular among novice hikers seeking a Long Trail overnight and to climb of one of Vermont’s 4000-foot summits.
In the early 1980s I was one such hiker. It was January, and my Scout troop planned an overnight at Battell. It was my first overnight camping trip, and a memorable one. After dinner, we lay outside to look at the stars and a lunar eclipse. Tucked into the warmth of our sleeping bags, we read Jack London’s short story “To Build a Fire”, and I felt thankful I didn’t have to build a fire to survive that night.
Early the next morning we hiked to the summit to enjoy crisp mountain air and the 360-degree view of the surrounding countryside. Climbing Mount Abraham and staying overnight at Battell in winter made a profound impact on me. It sparked a lifelong interest in astronomy, winter hiking and climbing, and led me to a career in natural resource management.
Today’s Battell Shelter is almost 60 years old, but it is actually the fourth shelter on the mountain. The first was built in 1899 by Col. Joseph Battell for use by friends, family and guests staying at his inn in Ripton at what is now the Breadloaf Campus of Middlebury College.
Col. Battell was a publisher, philanthropist, and early conservationist. When he died in 1915 he was Vermont’s largest landowner, having accumulated properties totaling 30,000 acres, which he bequeathed to Middlebury College and the State of Vermont to be preserved as “wild lands.” They include today’s Joseph Battell Wilderness, Breadloaf Wilderness, and Camel’s Hump State Forest.
Unfortunately, the original Battell Lodge didn’t last as long as Battell’s land holdings. Not long after his death, Battell Lodge fell into disrepair.
The 1924 Long Trail Guide read: “This Log cabin in bad repair: affords shelter, is apt to be dirty for picnickers. Stove inside fair. No bunks. Simple cooking utensils. Fine water 1/8 mile south on trail. This Lodge built by Col. Joseph Battell in 1899 for use of his guests, fitted complete with everything needed by campers and kept open for their use. Looted and wrecked by hunters.”
In 1926, a new shelter built by the Forestry Department of Middlebury College replaced the original Battell Lodge. More modest than the original, it was nevertheless was popular among hikers, with bunks for 10 to 12, a wood stove, and a large fireplace against a giant rock. It burned mysteriously in 1937.
The Long Trail Patrol, led by Roy Buchanan, built a third shelter, Battell Shelter, on the site of the current shelter. This was a classic Adirondack-style open-front lean-to built of logs harvested onsite. It is reported that the privy was also made of logs to match the shelter. This shelter was replaced by the current shelter in 1967 by the U.S. Forest Service, which defines it as a Mid-Century Modern iteration of the classic Adirondack open camp style.
In the 1950s and ’60s the Forest Service began to modernize existing overnight facilities and build new ones to handle increasing participation in outdoor recreation. Shelter plans reflected post-war modern touches, like milled sheathing and dimensional framing instead of logs, three-tab asphalt roofing shingles, and poured concrete piers. The minimalist design emphasized function over aesthetics, and could be prefabricated offsite and airlifted to a site.
As GMC begins our 2025 field season, we are working with the Forest Service to plan the next iteration of the Battell overnight site. We need to increase capacity and improve the hiker experience while protecting vulnerable high-elevation vegetation from impacts of overuse. Because of the current shelter’s historical and architectural significance, we will likely build a new shelter next to it rather than replace it. The club will continue to station a backcountry caretaker at the site in the hiking season to help manage it. We will share details of the final plans later this year.
As the Battell Shelter site continues to evolve, it will undoubtedly remain important and popular for generations of hikers traveling Vermont’s footpath in the wilderness. Thanks to the ongoing support of members and donors like you, we can preserve both the historic shelter site and the fragile alpine vegetation surrounding this beloved overnight site.
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