In a dispute between landowners and the Town of Turnbridge, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that townships in the Green Mountain State have the authority to maintain and repair public trails that cross private property.
Background
Public right-of-way trails in Vermont are trails on private properties which are open to the public under state law for recreational use and access to neighboring properties. Over the past half century, changes in laws related to municipal management of town highways led to confusion among landowners and town managers as to who had a right or was required to maintain public right-of-way trails.
When a group of bicyclists sought permission from the Town of Turnbridge to use bicycles on town trails on private property, owners of those properties stopped maintaining trails to make conditions incompatible with bicycle use. The Town of Turnbridge, responding to the landowners, allowed individuals to apply for permission to maintain and repair the trails on the Town’s behalf. Landowners sought court intervention and a lawsuit followed.
What’s Changed?
The Echeverria decision solidified a change that the Vermont Legislature made to statutes related to public rights-of-way in 2025. That legislation, effective April 1, 2026, explicitly gives towns the “authority to exclusively or cooperatively maintain” trails. Coupled with the Vermont Supreme Court’s decision, Vermont law now unequivocally permits a municipality to take any actions necessary to ensure proper maintenance of these town trails for the benefit of the public’s access.
How Are Property Owners Impacted?
Property owners of lands which include public rights-of-way should be aware of this change in the law and not impede their municipality’s efforts to maintain public trials on their land. However, landowners are not entitled to their municipality’s maintenance of public trails on their property and are encouraged to work cooperatively with municipal officials to ensure compliance with Vermont law on public trails.
Please contact Robert H. Rushford (rrushford@gravelshea.com) at Gravel & Shea PC if you have questions or would like assistance.
