Middle Plains Forest
Pratt Road : Middlebury, VT 05769
Addison County, Vermont
Land Description
Most of the property has been in the same ownership since the late 1950S. Since this time the landowner has focused on producing high quality forest products which today now offers a valuable timber resource. Property highlights include:
Attractive location in Middlebury, close to the village and Green Mountain National Forest (Gmnf) lands;
Developed access leading to prime home site options;
High-valued forest resource dominated by oak species, offering exceptional asset appreciation and hunting opportunity.
Location
The property is located in Middlebury and Salisbury, at the edge of East Middlebury Village, where the vast forestlands of the Green Mountain National Forest meet the agriculturally rich lands of the Lake Champlain Valley to the west.
Middlebury is one of Vermonts most rounded towns, with a robust economy created from a diversity of private, public and non-profit institutions. Most notable is Middlebury College, whose main campus is 6 miles to the northwest in downtown Middlebury. The colleges Breadloaf School of English is situated 7 miles to the east, surrounded by Green Mountain National Forest lands. This campus is also host to Rikert Nordic Ski Center. A mile further east is the Colleges Snow Bowl Ski Area.
Middlebury has a vibrant downtown, which includes nearby Porter Medical Center. The Middlebury State Airport is 3 miles to the north. Burlington, Vermonts largest city, is a 55-minute drive to the north along Route 7. Boston is about a 3.25-Hour drive to the southeast.
Access
Access is via Pratt Road, a Class IV, non-maintained town road. Pratt Road comes off Lower Plains Road and runs southeasterly 1,000 to the last driveway serving a year-round home on Pratt Road. This section of the road is maintained and plowed privately by adjacent landowners who live on the road. The Class IV section of the road then runs another 600 to the property boundary as a graveled town road that is not maintained by any neighbors. Electric power runs to within 1,000 of the property. Once on the property, Pratt Road runs another 800 as a graveled road to a large clearing on the property.
Additional access is via a driveway access point along Upper Plains Road.
Internal trails are well developed and extend well into the Middlebury unit of the forest.
Site Description
The forest offers mostly well-drained soils with terrain that is often level, providing ideal conditions for a wide variety of property uses.
Elevation ranges from 560 ASL (above sea level) at the lands western end to 760 ASL along the eastern boundary. This slight change in elevation indicates a mostly level property with little topographical relief from one end of the land to the other. However, a short ridge runs north to south down the center and western end of the land. In between this ridge, terrain is largely level or gently sloping. Another short ridge extends north to south at the propertys eastern end.
Soil drainage is very good in most areas, the exception being close to the northern branch of Halnon Brook within the Middlebury Unit.
Various private home building options are available from the Pratt Road access at the lands southern end. With tree clearing, nice views of the Green Mountain slopes to the east are possible.
Timber
Much of the land has been in the sellers ownership since 1956 with their primary goal being the development and growth of high-quality timber. The ownership has carried out that goal by carefully managing the forest stands over the many decades of their tenure. As such, the timber is the most notable and valuable resource on the property.
Of particular interest is the propertys red oak resource, which is the dominant forest species. High-quality oak stems are present in most areas, with both growing stock diameters (8-13) and larger-diameter sawlogs in the 14-20 size class. It is seldom that such a high percentage of red oak is found within Vermont, so these oak stands are quite special. Also, large-diameter, tall white pine is widely scatted over the forest.
There is no current timber inventory available on the property.
Water Resources
Halnon Brook runs through the southern portion of the property. Its watershed is relatively small, so the brook runs low during dry periods, but rushes strong during snow melt and rainy periods. A small beaver pond exists along the northern branch of the brook (see maps for location).
