The DVPSA is a group designed to promote the needs of pedestrians throughout the Deerfield Valley in Vermont by identifying and increasing awareness of problematic areas, developing, advocating for and helping fund solutions to pedestrian safety issues, and helping foster a vision of Dover and Wilmington as great places to walk, hike, run, bicycle, backcountry ski and explore.
If you are interested interested in being a part of our mission, please visit our Facebook page.
Arugably, the most dangerous place for pedestrians in the Deerfield River Valley is the bridge at the bottom of Dorr Fitch Road. No other location in the valley has the combination of high traffic, low shoulders, and limited visibility of this section of road, and we believe it needs to be fixed.
Find out more about it HERE, or read the March 2023 report.
There are several other dangerous areas for pedestrians including Dunn’s Curve in Dover, Fat City curve in Wilmington, and sections with narrow shoulders at the Dover-Wilmington Border.
See identified areas HERE.
We want to help build on existing infrastructure to make the Deerfield Valley one of the most preeminent hiking and outdoor locations in southern Vermont.
Find further discussion HERE.
Some other resources, listed under their respective headings in rough alphabetical order.
Deerfield Valley Trails
Dover Horace Hill trail MAP and information on the Catamount Club website: https://catamounttrail.org/bc-zones/bc-zones/horace-hill-sovta/
Dover Town Forest MAP and information on the Dover website: https://www.doververmont.com/community/page/dover-town-forest
Information on the Haystack Mountain Trail from the U.S. Forest Service website (2013): https://wilmingtonvermont.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Wilmington-Trail-Map.pdf
Molly Stark trail MAP and information from the Vermont.gov website.
Valley Trail 2016 MAP and information on the Dover website (Newer than the next map, and also shows the complete trail to Wilmington): https://www.doververmont.com/community/page/valley-trail
Valley Trail 2011 Crosstown Trail MAP and information on the Dover website (older, and mainly limited to Dover but it shows the Crosstown Trails with contour lines): https://www.doververmont.com/community/page/crosstown-trails
Wilmington Hiking Trail MAP on the town of Wilmington website (2020): https://wilmingtonvermont.us/about/trails/
Wilmington Trail map on the town of Wilmington website (2013): https://wilmingtonvermont.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Wilmington-Trail-Map.pdf
Related Organizations
Dover Trail and Recreation Committee: https://www.doververmont.com/bc-tar
Dover Town Website: https://www.doververmont.com/
Dover Economic Development Website: https://www.discoverdover.com/
The Green Mountain National Forest is one of only two national forests in New England. Here is the official website, which has the latest updates and closures: https://www.fs.usda.gov/gmfl
The Southern Vermont Trail Association (SOVTA) plans and maintains many of the trails in the area: http://www.sovta.org/
Vermont Department of Transportation: https://vtrans.vermont.gov/
Wilmington Website: https://wilmingtonvermont.us/
Future Developments
The Somerset Integrated Resource Project is helping develop a new set of trails on the Mt. Snow ridgeline along with making many other improvements in the area. You can find the Dover MAP here, and an additional MAP here from the Dover site visit on 8/2/22.
The development of a disc golf course and trails on Horace Hill. You can find an early discussion and proposal with maps here. There are also reportedly plans to open an additional enrance to the trail from Crosstown Rd.
Other
Information on the Deerfield River with a nice map is on the Wikipedia site HERE.
The 2012 Dover Landscape Master Plan with appendices.
Let us know if any of the links above cease to work at john@dvpsa.org.
Individual pages on this website provide more information about the West Dover Village Bridge, Dangerous Areas to walk and the Long-Term Vision of this Organization.