"It is a tourist destination. And for years people would just drive through with bikes on their racks and go to places like Killington, or further north."
Tim Calabrese said that to Vermont Public in the spring of 2025. He was carrying a leaf blower along a line of pink flags on a wooded hillside just south of downtown Ludlow, one of about a half-dozen volunteers marking out a future mountain bike trail. That hillside opened as the Fletcher Farm Trail Network on Saturday, September 12, 2026. There were group rides, a noon ribbon cutting with the Okemo Valley Chamber of Commerce, and pizza from Village Pizza.
Calabrese's group was Ludlow Area Sports Trails then and goes by Okemo Valley Trails now. In that same interview it described its goal as making Ludlow a year-round destination for people who love the outdoors. For anyone who already lives here, that ambition shows up in a specific place. Okemo has carried Ludlow's winter economy for decades, and now the shoulder season has a trailhead too. It sits at 611 Vermont Route 103, on land set aside for community use more than ninety years ago.
What Opened, Trail by Trail
The first phase covers three miles. OVT designed it for mountain biking, and it stays open to other non-motorized uses: hikers and walkers in the warmer months, cross-country skiers once snow arrives. On Trailforks, the network shows up as three named trails, and the names describe the layout plainly.
| Trail | Trailforks rating | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Climb | Green | Both directions |
| Halfpipe | Blue | Downhill only |
| Downhill | Black diamond | Downhill only |
Climb is the only trail listed for two-way travel. Halfpipe and Downhill are both marked downhill-only, which suits a walker who wants an easy loop and a parent with a beginner rider equally well. Mountain Times reports that the network has beginner and kid-friendly trails alongside intermediate and advanced terrain. A family can split up at the top and meet again at the bottom.
On Trailforks, dogs and e-bikes are listed as allowed on all three trails. Okemo Valley Trails says on its own site that it welcomes Type 1 pedal-assist mountain bikes. Trailforks listed the network as open as of September 29, 2026, with Halfpipe and Downhill reported in "Ideal" condition that day. Condition reports go stale fast in October, so check the status page before you load the car.
Parking directions have changed over the build. A 2025 volunteer notice pointed people to the lot by the dining hall at the back left of the property. The 2026 work-day notice said to meet near the Create Together building. Signs on site are the safest guide now that the trails are officially open.
Why the Land Was Available at All
Most new trail networks in Vermont depend on a landowner willing to share. At Fletcher Farm, the property was set up for exactly this kind of shared use in the first place. According to the Fletcher Farm Foundation, Fletcher family members conveyed the property to Fletcher Farm Inc. in 1933 for educational or welfare purposes and as a memorial to Governor Allen M. Fletcher Sr.
Since then the property has kept adding public uses. The Society of Vermont Artist and Craftsmen has run a summer craft school there since 1948. In the summer of 2007, old cornfields became soccer and softball fields for Ludlow and Cavendish. The trail network is the latest addition. Vermont Public put the Foundation's holding at about 300 acres when the trail corridor was being flagged.
The work took more than enthusiasm. OVT credits its volunteers and the trail builders at Sinuosity with breaking ground on more than three miles, after the project cleared an Act 250 permit and an archaeological survey. Work days continued through 2026. The spring sessions met at 8:30 on Saturday mornings, with volunteers asked to bring rakes, loppers, and shovels. The last two listed work days came on either side of the opening, on September 8 and September 19.
The Miles Still to Come
The network that opened is smaller than the one OVT announced in May. That spring notice described approximately five miles of free public trail planned for completion this year. In September, OVT opened three miles and called them the first phase. No published timetable covers the rest, and the OVT events calendar showed nothing scheduled for October through December as of early October.
The scale makes sense next to what OVT already maintains. Its Back 40 system, the group's earlier network, runs about two miles across six trails. Fletcher Farm's first phase already beats that on distance, and Mountain Times describes it as the next phase of OVT's trail building for riders who know the Back 40. Funding is the open question. OVT's 2025 season update said the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation had approved advancing a Recreational Trails Program grant proposal, and it stated plainly that the money had not yet been secured. The research turned up no later announcement of an award.
So the current network is a beginning. Residents who want to see the remaining miles built can contact OVT at [email protected], the address Mountain Times printed with the opening announcement.
The Weekend the Trails and Main Street Line Up
The trailhead is close enough to downtown that a morning ride and an afternoon in town fit into one Saturday. Next weekend is set up for exactly that.
- Saturday, October 10, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Ludlow Rotary Club holds its 35th Annual Chili Cook-Off on Main and Depot Streets. Chili chefs pay $10 per entry, and the top three take cash prizes.
- Sunday, October 11, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Okemo hosts Fall Into Winter at the Jackson Gore Courtyard and Roundhouse. Admission is free, and some fall activities are ticketed.
Main Street has also added places since last fall. The Shop on Main Street at 196 Main is a vendor-collaborative store run by longtime residents Paula and Dave VanGuilder with partner Mike Loffredo. Its shelves carry local food makers, artists, and craftspeople. It is open Thursday through Sunday for now, and the owners expect hours to change as ski season gets closer. They also hope to stock more local food and Vermont cheeses. Next door at 190 Main, Slingers opened this year under Jake Baraw, his wife Alex, and her parents Lisa and David Del Tufo. The menu has burgers, fried chicken, and a full bar.
Today is also the second day of the Okemo Valley Chamber's new Fall Foliage Train and Pop-Up Fall Festival. Vermont Rail System runs six vintage-train departures from Ludlow each day, and local food and artisan vendors are set up for the festival. It's the Chamber's first year running it, and Fletcher Farm is in its first season too. The town is putting real effort into October.
When the Snow Comes
OVT has described the network as usable for cross-country skiing in winter, and its 2026 work-day notice also mentions snowshoers. No grooming plan or schedule has been published. Expect the trails to work like natural-snow backcountry routes, and plan on that unless OVT announces otherwise. That's still a real change for Ludlow. On a powder morning, a resident who wants a quiet hour in the woods now has a free, marked option on Route 103, alongside the ski area up the road. The Mountain Times opening story made the same point: the multi-use design lets the property keep drawing visitors after mountain biking season ends.
For homeowners near the village, the Ludlow Area has always been organized around Okemo, and the difference between slopeside and village living has come down mostly to lift access. Fletcher Farm gives the village side its own trail network, three miles of it, open in every season the mountain isn't.
If you own in the Okemo Valley, or you're thinking about how a Ludlow home fits around trail mornings and ski afternoons, talk with the team at Wohler Realty Group. We follow these local changes year-round, from new trailheads to new storefronts on Main Street, because they shape what living near Okemo is like. Contact Us.
