Vermont's abandoned landscape is New England at its most quietly melancholy — logging ghost towns swallowed by second-growth forest, hilltop farms where the family left for the factories in the 1850s and Cold War radar installations rusting on mountaintop summits. A ski resort whose chairlifts stopped in 2013, the trails already reverting to woodland. A 19th-century marble quarry town. Here are 5 of the best abandoned places in Vermont, selected from our Abandoned Places Map USA — 5,000+ GPS locations across the United States.
Why Vermont Is a Hidden Gem for Abandoned Buildings & Urban Exploration
Vermont's urbex landscape is distinctive for its layers of abandonment — hilltop farms left in the 1840s-1880s when western land opened, logging towns emptied in the early 1900s when the forests were cut, and Cold War military infrastructure abandoned on the Green Mountain summits. In every case, the Vermont forest has been growing back over what was left behind, creating the characteristic New England experience of discovery in the woods.
1. Glastenbury Ghost Town – 1761 Logging Community Abandoned by 1900, Forest Trails Now Run Through Where Streets Once Were, Bennington County (Known Location)
Chartered in 1761 and briefly prosperous during the late 19th-century logging boom, Glastenbury grew to support lumber mills, schools, a post office and homes along a railway line before the overexploitation of local forests ended the economy. By the early 20th century the town was largely abandoned; by mid-century it was one of the least populated townships in Vermont. The railway and most buildings have long been reclaimed by the Green Mountain forest — what remains are cellar holes, stone walls and the old town road network now serving as hiking trails. The surrounding forest's reputation for disappearances — the "Bennington Triangle" — adds an unusual layer of local folklore. One of the most atmospheric abandoned places in Vermont.
🔗 Learn more: Wikipedia – Glastenbury, Vermont
2. Abandoned Vermont Cold War Radar Station – 1950s Air Defense Summit Installation, Tower and Buildings Still Standing, Green Mountains (Known Location)
A 1950s SAGE air defense radar installation built on a Green Mountain summit to track Soviet bombers approaching from Canada — the radar tower now silent above the tree line, the station buildings in weathered decay and the summit access road reverting to forest. Vermont's mountaintop radar stations were part of the continental air defense perimeter during the height of Cold War nuclear tension; the combination of abandoned military infrastructure and spectacular New England mountain scenery makes these sites among the most atmospherically dramatic abandoned places in Vermont. The elevation and summit setting create photography opportunities found nowhere else in the state.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Best Abandoned Places in the USA →
3. Maple Valley Ski Resort – 1963 Ski Area Closed 2013, Chairlifts and Lodge Still Standing, Trails Reverting to Forest, Windham County (Exclusively on Our Map)
Maple Valley Ski Resort in Dummerston operated for nearly five decades — from 1963 to 2013 — before financial difficulties and poor snow conditions forced its closure. The base lodge, the chairlift towers still standing at intervals up the mountain and the old trail network now reverting to young forest all remain. The chairlift chairs themselves still hang from the cable in some sections, frozen at the moment of closure. One of the most recently abandoned and most emotionally resonant abandoned places in Vermont — a ski area that closed within living memory, its infrastructure intact and its trails still readable in the returning forest. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
4. Ricker Basin Ghost Town – 1800s Hill Farm Settlement, Cellar Holes and Stone Walls in the Groton State Forest, Caledonia County (Exclusively on Our Map)
A network of 19th-century hill farm cellar holes, stone walls and old town roads hidden in Groton State Forest in Caledonia County — the sawmill ruins near the reservoir, the overgrown cellar holes of individual farm families and the field stone walls running through dense forest that was once cleared pasture. Ricker Basin was a functioning agricultural community through the mid-19th century before the combined forces of western land opportunity and the pull of factory work emptied the hilltop farms. The Vermont forest has grown back completely; walking through Ricker Basin now means discovering the human landscape underneath the trees. One of the most quietly beautiful abandoned places in Vermont. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
5. Abandoned Vermont Marble Quarry – 1850s-1900s White Marble Operation with Derrick Infrastructure and Quarry Pools, Rutland County (Exclusively on Our Map)
Vermont marble built the Lincoln Memorial, the US Supreme Court Building and the New York Public Library — Rutland County's white marble quarries were the most productive in America for nearly a century. An abandoned quarry complex from the 1850s-1900s retains the derrick infrastructure above the quarry face, the cutting shed foundations and the distinctive emerald-green quarry pools where decades of groundwater have filled the original excavations. The combination of white marble cliffs, green pool water and surrounding Vermont forest creates one of the most visually extraordinary abandoned places in Vermont. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map USA.
Safety Tips for Urban Exploration in Vermont
- Vermont winters: Green Mountain sites are inaccessible under snow December through April — always confirm trail access and summit road conditions before visiting any elevated site
- Quarry pools: abandoned Vermont quarry pools are deceptively deep and extremely cold — never swim in or approach the edges of flooded quarry pits
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person and let someone know your location
The urbex code applies everywhere: "Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints."
❓ FAQ – Abandoned Places in Vermont
What is the most famous abandoned place in Vermont?
Glastenbury — a logging ghost town in Bennington County chartered in 1761 and largely abandoned by 1900 when the forests were exhausted. The town roads, cellar holes and stone walls are now hiking trails through the Green Mountain forest. The surrounding area's reputation for unexplained disappearances — the "Bennington Triangle" — adds local folklore to its abandonment history.
What is the Bennington Triangle?
A term coined by author Joseph Citro for the area surrounding Glastenbury Mountain in Bennington County, where five people disappeared between 1945 and 1950 in unexplained circumstances. None were found. The coincidence of disappearances in the remote forest around the ghost town of Glastenbury has made it a subject of Vermont folklore.
Why did Vermont's hilltop farms get abandoned?
Vermont's upland farms were marginal — short growing seasons, rocky soils and difficult terrain. When the Erie Canal and later the railroad made cheap western grain available, Vermont hill farmers could no longer compete. Factory work in the mill towns of the Merrimack Valley and Connecticut River offered better wages. By 1900, thousands of Vermont hilltop farms had been abandoned and the forest was already growing back.
🎯 Summary
Vermont's abandoned buildings are defined by the returning forest — a logging ghost town where trails now run through former streets, marble quarries with emerald pools and Cold War radar towers rusting on Green Mountain summits. Each of these 5 abandoned places in Vermont captures a different layer of a state shaped by logging, marble, the Cold War and the inevitable return of the New England forest to everything that humans built and left behind.
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