The Equinox May Be Changing Hands. The Trails Behind It Aren't.

The Equinox Resort appears to have a buyer, with closing targeted for mid-November. Under Manchester Village's best-known hotel sits a 914-acre mountain preserve where many locals walk their dogs. Twenty years ago that land was set up so that a sale of the hotel would not change public access to it. A new owner would hold title to that preserve, but the easements on it already fix how the public uses it. The places where the owner's choices reach the public directly are the hotel and its restaurants, plus 18.2 acres around Equinox Pond.

For anyone walking the Red Gate or Pond Loop this month, the bigger change comes Saturday with Vermont's youth and novice deer weekend, the first of three November and December deer seasons that run through December 13 and reach the upper mountain, where hunting is allowed.

The Sale, as Reported

The Manchester Journal reported on October 29 that a new set of liquor and tobacco license applications had been filed under Bridgeton Management LLC. They were scheduled for review at the Village Board's regular meeting on Monday, November 2. The paper reported that the Vermont Secretary of State's office granted a Certificate of Authority to Bridgeton Hotel Management LLC on September 29. The principal on that filing is Bridgeton Holdings LLC of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. An attorney told Village Manager Curan VanDerWielen that the sale was meant to close in mid-November.

The same article quoted VanDerWielen on what the property means to the Village:

"The Equinox Resort is a keystone institution within the Village's core, and we're excited to work with the new ownership team once they've finalized their transition."

He also told the Journal that Equinox staff had confirmed the buyer would be a new owner outright, not a new operator working under Brookfield. Brookfield has owned the resort since it bought the Watermark portfolio in 2022. The marketing listing quoted in the article describes a 199-room resort on a campus of more than 1,100 acres. Most of that acreage is the forested east slope of Mount Equinox, and that part of the property is already bound by agreements that move with the land to any buyer.

What the 2006 Easements Already Settled

The resort owns the 914-plus-acre Equinox Preserve. The nonprofit Equinox Preservation Trust manages it through its Forest and Trails Steward. Under the Equinox Resort Mountain Lands Recreation Management Plan, most recently revised in July 2025, ownership does not decide public access. On September 1, 2006, Oly Equinox Holdings, which owned the resort at the time, gave the Vermont Land Trust a perpetual conservation easement on 788.55 acres. The stated purpose was to limit future development and keep the land open for public recreation.

At the same time, the resort gave the Land Trust a separate perpetual Public Access Easement. It covers the entire conserved property and also guarantees public use of the Pond Loop trail where it crosses land outside the conservation easement. The Land Trust named the Equinox Preservation Trust as its easement manager. In that role the trust handles blowdowns, invasive plants and trail washouts. The resort, the Vermont Land Trust and The Nature Conservancy of Vermont all approved the plan. Any amendment has to go through the same drafting, review and approval process.

The plan sets these terms, and they apply under any owner.

• Hiking on every trail. The plan opens all trails to walkers. The trust can close some temporarily for repairs or during mud season.
• Winter use. When there is enough snow, most hiking trails are open to Nordic skiing and snowshoeing.
• Dogs. The plan notes that dog walking has historically been allowed. Dogs must stay under the owner's control and be leashed on the Pond Loop or when approaching other trail users.
• The connection to SVAC. The Trillium Trail links the Pond Loop to a loop through The Nature Conservancy's SVAC Forest, which ends at the Southern Vermont Arts Center.

The 18.2 Acres the Easement Left Out

The conservation easement excluded one piece of the mountain, the 18.2 acres of Equinox Pond and the land around it. This is where the hotel's own decisions show up on the trail. Under the plan, access to the pond and its casting bank is reserved for resort guests or people with the resort's permission, and swimming is not allowed. The hotel privately owns the pond and the Pond Pavilion and can set them aside for private functions.

Walkers notice the boundary during Pavilion events. The resort may close a short stretch of the Pond Loop, from the kiosk west of the Black Gate to a point 95 feet south, if it expects the event to conflict with trail use. It must post signs at both ends saying when the trail will reopen. The rest of the 0.75-mile loop stays open. It is a level walk through hardwoods around the pond, marked with white and green blazes.

The rest of what a new owner decides day to day is on the hotel side. That includes the Marsh Tavern, which the resort lists as serving breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. It also includes the local spa memberships that come with pool, hot tub, fitness center and class access, and the seasonal memberships at The Golf Club at Equinox, a Walter Travis course redesigned by Rees Jones. The Village Manager told the Journal that the Village had not yet been introduced to the presumed new owners.

November's Real Variable Is Above 1,300 Feet

From November 7 through December 13, three deer seasons fall on the calendar, and the upper Preserve is open to hunters during them. The plan permits hunting anywhere on the Preserve above 1,300 feet, on both the Land Trust and Nature Conservancy parcels. It says deer hunting currently helps the mountain's ecology because deer browsing is a significant threat to native forest regrowth. The trust's Trails User Guide says hunting is discouraged but may occur above that elevation. It describes the line roughly as running from Robin's Lookout across the Trillium Trail to SVAC, and it asks trail users to take precautions.

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife 2026 deer season guide sets this season's calendar:

The trail descriptions show which routes stay low. Equinox Pond sits at about 1,100 feet. Flatlanders Pass is a wide, flat half-mile that follows the 1,200-foot contour from the Red Gate to the Black Gate. The climbing routes go well above the line. The Mountain Bluff Trail reaches 1,580 feet. The 3.1-mile Blue Summit Trail, which many people call the Burr and Burton Trail, climbs to the Yellow trail and Lookout Rock, with views across the Manchester Valley toward the White Mountains, Mount Ascutney and Mount Monadnock. The resort and the trust may post "No Hunting" or "Safety Zone" signs restricting hunting below 1,300 feet.

Getting On the Mountain This Month

Parking is limited, and in November one of the usual lots is only available on weekends. The plan lists these access points:

1. The Red Gate. This is the main entrance. Drive west on West Union Street and turn right at the end of the pavement toward the Town's water tower. The lot holds 10 to 11 cars. Cars parked along West Union Street can be ticketed by the Manchester Police Department.
2. Burr and Burton Academy. A trail from the back corner of the student lot connects to the Red Gate and Blue Summit trails. The plan encourages using it only when school is out, which during the school year means weekends.
3. Behind the Equinox Hotel. The plan describes ample parking at the rear of the hotel lot. A kiosk there marks the West Union Trail, which leads up to Prospect Street and West Union Street, and from there it is a walk to the Red Gate.
4. Southern Vermont Arts Center. This is the northern entry, using the trail connection through the SVAC Forest.
5. The Black Gate. It sits at the end of Equinox Pond Road, a private residential street. The road has no parking and is open on foot only.

What the Trust Is Working On in Its 30th Year

In August the Bennington Banner reported that the trust marked its 30th anniversary this year, with a display tent at Manchester StreetFest. The trust's board is led by president Jennifer Deck Samuelson, and Rick LaDue serves as Forest and Trails Steward.

Most of the trust's current work is forest health, not the sale. In October 2025 it reported finding emerald ash borer and beech leaf disease on the Preserve. It planned to start removing symptomatic ash within 50 feet of trails in November 2025 and to keep removing trees as the infestation spreads. Its Protect the Preserve 2026 campaign lists four goals: hazard-tree removal, an updated forest management plan, water-bar repairs on the Blue Summit Trail, and continued monitoring for beech leaf disease. Leftover tree work is most likely to show up along the trail corridors, and repaired water bars on the Blue Summit Trail will reduce erosion on its steep lower section. The trust's guide also says it may close some trails temporarily for repairs, and that applies under any owner.

This piece is general information about the Preserve's published rules and Vermont's hunting calendar, not legal advice. Check the Vermont Fish & Wildlife guide and the trust's posted notices before you go.

Wohler Realty Group follows changes in Manchester at this level of detail, from the Red Gate lot to who owns the hotel at the bottom of the mountain. If you want to talk about how the Equinox's next chapter affects property in the Village, contact us.