Wheelerville Road – Somerset Reservoir Circuit

Wheelerville Road drops into the flooded ghost towns of the Deerfield River valley, where entire communities were sacrificed to create Somerset Reservoir in the 1960s. The trail starts innocuously enough near the Molly Stark Trail but quickly deteriorates into a technical 4WD route with multiple stream crossings, including a particularly nasty ford at Beaver Brook that’s claimed more than a few oil pans. Stone foundations and old cellar holes peek through the hardwoods, remnants of farms that once thrived in these valleys before the dam builders arrived.

This is genuine technical terrain requiring 4WD low-range, skid plates, and recovery gear – those stream crossings are no joke, especially during spring runoff. Summer and early fall offer the best conditions when water levels are manageable. The payoff is spectacular dispersed camping along the reservoir’s remote eastern shore, miles from the crowds at the dam. Fuel up in Wilmington before heading in, and don’t expect cell service until you’re back on pavement. This route delivers Vermont’s wild side in spades.