Mud Pond Country Park is a 113-acre public park located in eastern Williston, Vermont. The original 74 acres of the park was conveyed to the Town of Williston from the Nature Conservancy in 1992. In December 2015, the Town of Williston purchased an additional 39 acres from David and Christiane Herskowitz. The park has been under the protection of a conservation easement established in 2000 and held by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board. The Town of Williston and Vermont Housing and Conservation Board have amended the conservation easement to add Vermont Land Trust as a co-holder and primary steward, to incorporate the recently acquired land and to include additional protections.

The Management Plan and Appendices are available at the bottom of this page.

Trail Project 2022/23 with Fellowship of the Wheel

Fellowship of the Wheel (FOTW) is a non-profit which advocates for and maintains trails at Mud Pond Country Park. In fall 2022 they began upgrades in the Country Park for all trail users that are anticipated to complete in 2023. The planned work will not only improve the current user experience but also provide accessibility for adaptive mountain bikes (aMTB).

FOTW has partnered with the Town of Williston, the Conservation Commission, and Vermont Adaptive to create a work scope of responsibly-built, sustainable trails for the greater community to enjoy their surrounding environment through recreation. Over the 2017 and 2018 summer seasons, FOTW’s board and staff gathered feedback from Vermont Adaptive Sports, local trail and aMTB users, families and aMTB spokespeople within North America. With limited spaces in Chittenden County, Vermont and state-wide, the need for more trails and networks which meet aMTB criteria is palpable.

All of the tasks to be carried out by this project are designed to make the trail user experience friendlier to a more diverse group of riders while providing access to people with disabilities who would not otherwise have the opportunity to enjoy our trails and forests. Mud Pond Country Park features an already wide trail tread and moderate grade making it an excellent candidate for aMTB enhancements. Relatively few changes to the trail’s tread will be required to accommodate the 32” wheelbase width found on mainstream aMTBs; however, the loop features several bridges which will need to be widened to 48”. These bridges will be decked with rough cut hemlock which provides better grip for walking, running and riding. The increased bridge width will yield benefits year-round for walkers, runners, cyclists, snowshoers and fat bikers.