Bald Top Mountain in Fairlee, VT is a relatively easy 6.6 mile out-and-back hike, mostly on the Cross Rivendell Trail. I recommend starting by heading up the Glen Falls Trail to view the waterfalls along the first 0.4 mile of the hike. You can then join the CRT and follow it up and back. Directions to the trailhead are at the bottom of this page.

It is only a short walk along the Glen Falls Trail before you reach the Lower Falls of Glen Brook. They only drop 12 ft, but they are impressive none-the-less.

Climbing a bit higher, the larger Middle Glen Falls is reached. Here the brook pours out from between two small cliffs for a 25 ft plunge into a nearly circular pool. Some consider this THE Glen Falls and the Lower and Upper go unnamed.

Upper Glen Falls are really a series of plunges and cascades.  It is hard to find a great viewpoint. Here are two photos taken on separate trips 2.5 years apart.

If you would like to see more photos of the Glen Falls Trail and the falls, you can CLICK HERE.

The climb above the Upper Falls is a bit steeper, but it is not bad. Cutting to the right you meet the Cross Rivendell Trail.  The CRT heads west, swings south, then west again and then north to Bald Top Mountain. The trail thus stays in the Fairlee Town Forest, avoiding a large private parcel.

During an early November hike I photographed the leaves on the trail. Then I processed the image to simplify it, minimizing details.  Here is the result.

We got to a spot where we could see Smart’s Mountain through the trees, barely.

Two hours into the hike we reached Bald Top. Although the day was fairly warm, there was still a bit of radiation-cooled ice on a large puddle that covered part of the trail.

There was a new bench that afforded a nice view to the northeast. The peaks that are labeled here are all in NH.

Here are two cropped versions of the labeled 5-shot panorama above.

We lingered on the summit for around 30 minutes.  I took some more photos.

Here are some of the other photos I took heading up and down.

DIRECTIONS: The trailhead is in Fairlee on the west side of Lake Morey just above a VT Fish and Wildlife boat launch. There is a parking lot on the west side of the road. From here there are several options. The one to the north is the Cross Rivendell Trail. But if you want to start the hike along Glen Falls Brook, which is highly recommended, the best way is to walk south along the road a short distance, then head right into the woods to the west keeping north of the brook.