Davis Road , Bethel, VT 05032(Windsor County)

- Best use is for an off-grid camp used for hunting and outdoor recreational pursuits.

- Long road frontage would allow for options to explore woods trails to locate a good building site.

Location

Getting to Old Stage Road Forests access road is easy, although you will need a four wheel drive truck with good clearance to navigate the length of the road. Access is via VT Route 12 and Davis Road which turns into Old Stage Road near the property boundary. Interstate 89 is just a 10-minute drive from the property. This makes Boston MA and Hartford CT both only a 2.5 hour drive and, New York City NY a 5 hour drive away.

Access

To get to the property you turn onto Davis Road just outside of the town of Bethel VT. There is no street sign on the road, but the house at the bottom of Davis Road is 811 Pleasant Steet. (Rte. 12 is also called Pleasant Street). To get to the property, a four wheel drive truck with good clearance is necessary. There are waterbars cut into the road to help facilitate drainage, and these must be driven over very slowly.

Site Description

Old Stage Road Forest sits on a hillside just below the Heap Pinnacle and is situated about a mile up a decommissioned town highway in Bethel, VT. This large parcel of forest land is an off-grid piece of property best used for recreational purposes and as a future timber resource following the Current Use plan. Hunting on this parcel would be phenomenal, with deer, turkey, bear and grouse all being native to the forests ecosystem. You can hike to the propertys highest point at about 1500 and snowshoeing and cross-country skiing would be an option in the winter.

The White River is the predominant natural feature of the area with several branches of the river meandering through the valleys and mountains on its way to the Connecticut River. Enjoy canoeing, tubing and fishing from locations along the riverfront just a few miles away. This property offers both incredible privacy while being close enough to shops and I-89. Building an off-grid camp in the woods would provide a base for years of future enjoyment.

Timber

The property is currently FSC-certified, attaining the gold standard for responsible forestry practices. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) sets standards for responsible forest management worldwide, and FSC certification ensures that forest products come from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits.

The propertys forest management plan delineates 2 forest stands. One of the stands has a higher percentage of hemlock which is generally quite old, in excess of 100 years of age. The other forest stand is dominated by maple and this stand also has trees well in excess of 100 years old.

The forest was last harvested in 2020 with small group cuts and thinning conducted. As such, the woods trails have been re-opened creating good walking conditions through the forest.

The propertys Current Use plan was updated in 2022, and wont need to be updated for another 8 years. The forest has been on a 20 year thinning cycle so it will be roughly 15 years before the next thinning. Despite the recent silvicultural activity, the forest resource has considerable value. A copy of the forest management plan is available upon request.