Joseph Battell Wilderness is a protected backcountry area in Vermont within the Green Mountain National Forest and one of the forest’s eight designated wilderness areas. Covering 12,336 acres, it has been managed by the U.S. Forest Service since the New England Wilderness Act of 2006. Named for Middlebury philanthropist and environmentalist Joseph Battell, who died in 1915, it includes lands he gave to Middlebury College as a park. Later sales of most of those lands to the Forest Service helped lead to creation of the northern unit of the national forest. Its rugged, mountainous terrain and trails, including the Long Trail, make it important both for recreation and for Vermont’s conservation history.

Goshen, Vermont · USA