PUTNEY — The Putney Mountain Association (PMA) plans to open a new trail network on the southern end of their reserve. The trails - Dine, Hannum, High Road, and Hinton - are located between Holland Hill and Putney Mountain Roads, according to a news release.
The official ribbon cutting is Sunday, June 12, at the new Hannum Trail kiosk on Holland Hill at 1 p.m., with light refreshments from 1 to 3 p.m. None of the trails are difficult, and the terrain is gentle; loop distances range from 1.2 to 4.5 miles.
Prior to the Hannum purchase, the Dine trail was a lonely outpost under PMA management. Though the other parts of the network were accessible via old trails, users didn't have permission to mark, map, or maintain them.
When PMA purchased the Hannum parcel in 2014, all the elements began to fall in place, allowing the group to incorporate the off-property, pre-existing trails into their system.
Now managed by PMA, the new trail system is a collaboration between PMA, the Silvio O. Conte National Wildlife Refuge, and several members of the Hinton family, who graciously gave legal permission for PMA to mark, map, and maintain a trail - Hinton Trail - across their property.
The new Hannum Trail, off Holland Hill Road, runs north through land recently acquired by PMA and extends into the Conte Refuge. It then loops southeast to Parkman Wood Road or, a little further on, to the Dine Trail and south to Holland Hill, or north to Putney Mountain across Hinton family property on the Hinton Trail.