⛰️ Mountains

Camel's Hump

Huntington, VT · Green Mountains, Vermont

About

Camel's Hump is the profile Vermonters recognize from a moving car, the double hump that ended up on the state quarter. At 4,083 feet it ties Mount Ellen for third-highest in the state, and nothing has been built on top: no lifts, no auto road, no summit tower. The usual climb is the Burrows Trail out of Huntington, 4.8 miles round trip and roughly 2,300 feet of gain, steady work rather than technical until the last pitch of open rock. The final stretch crosses about ten acres of true alpine tundra, arctic plants holding on since the ice age, which is why a Green Mountain Club caretaker spends summer days up there asking hikers to step only on stone. No fee, no gate. Trails close for mud season each spring, roughly early April until the weekend before Memorial Day, and the lot at the end of Camel's Hump Road fills early on foliage Saturdays.

Highlights

4,083 ft, undeveloped summitNo fee, no reservationBurrows Trail 4.8 mi round tripAbout 2,300 ft of gainMud season closure to late MayAlpine tundra on top

Related places

Mount Mansfield Mountains

Mount Mansfield

Stowe, VT · Green Mountains, Vermont

Vermont's high point tops out at 4,393 feet, and from the valley floor the ridge reads as a face lying on its back: Forehead, Nose, Chin, Adam's Apple, with the Chin the true summit. Three ways up. The Auto Toll Road, a 4.5 mile gravel climb running since 1923, ends in a lot near the Nose. The Stowe gondola lifts riders to the Cliff House. Hikers take the Long Trail along the spine, 1.4 miles north from the toll road lot to the Chin over open rock. Stay on that rock: roughly 200 acres of Ice Age alpine tundra survive up here, one of three such pockets in Vermont, and it bruises easily. Timing decides everything. The toll road runs late May to mid October and the gondola mid June to mid October, mud season closes the trails into early June, and VT 108 through Smugglers' Notch shuts from late October until May.

Yosemite National Park Mountains

Yosemite National Park

Mariposa, CA, CA · Sierra Nevada

Yosemite is a Sierra Nevada showpiece where glacier-carved granite walls, thundering waterfalls, and ancient giant sequoias crowd into one valley floor. From the visitor hub in Yosemite Valley you can crane your neck at El Capitan and Half Dome, chase spring waterfall spray, or drive up to a viewpoint that frames the whole high country. It is one of the most scenic and worth-the-trip national parks in the country, though summer crowds and seasonal road closures reward visitors who plan ahead.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Mountains

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Gatlinburg, TN · Great Smoky Mountains

The most visited national park in the country, Great Smoky Mountains drapes the Tennessee, North Carolina border in blue, misty ridgelines, old growth forest, and some of the richest biodiversity in North America. Drive the Newfound Gap Road over the spine of the Appalachians, chase waterfalls on easy trails, and roll through Cades Cove at dawn for black bears, deer, and weathered pioneer cabins. Entry is free, and the park stays open year round, with spring wildflowers and fiery autumn color drawing the biggest crowds.

Part of these collections

Curated guides that feature Camel's Hump.