Green Mountain National Forest Lincoln Gap Road

Lincoln Gap Road earns its reputation as Vermont’s most challenging public mountain road, climbing from Route 100 in Warren to Route 17 in Lincoln with gradients that’ll test your transmission and your nerve. The eastern approach hits a brutal 24% grade — the steepest public road grade in Vermont — as it claws up through hardwood forest to the 2,424-foot summit. Stone walls and old cellar holes mark abandoned hill farms, reminders of when Vermonters farmed these impossible slopes before heading west.

This is a moderate technical challenge requiring good brakes, low gearing, and patience. Stock vehicles with manual transmissions handle it better than automatics, though modern 4WDs with hill descent control make the descent manageable. The road’s typically passable May through October, but check conditions — frost heaves and washouts are common. What you get is bragging rights and some of the finest mountain views in Vermont, plus access to excellent dispersed camping in the national forest.