Simonds Hill & Cleveland Hill(Town of Pawlet, Vermont)

Just north of Manchester in the middle of nowhere in Vermont sits a small group of peaks known as the North Pawlet Hills that are all accessible to the public-and all have a little something to offer!  The only trailed peak out of the bunch is the highly popular Haystack Mountain, but a couple years ago I had bushwhacked up to its northern neighbors, Lincoln Hill, Bald Hill and Middle Mountain, and found awesome views.  The two remaining peaks that I haven't hiked, Simonds Hill and Cleveland Hill were the two I'd be climbing today.  I parked at the end of rough Rees Road in a large field(Elevation 640 feet), the NW entrance to the North Pawlet Hills.  I hiked the continuation of the road uphill, beyond the Nature Conservancy signage and into the woods.

The road begins in pretty decent shape, steadily climbing past a small cabin, but deteriorates fairly quickly into a rough woods road and even just a foot path.

 

I climbed the road heading generally east, then south on a lesser woods road, before simply bushwhacking up towards Simonds Hill.  The summit ridge was actually very nice and open, and easy walking through sedge grass right up to the 1210 foot summit.

I headed over to the south facing slopes, which were also fairly open and steep, offering up decent views towards Cleveland Hill, my next destination.

From the same clearing, enjoyed this view towards Haystack Mountain, towering over 700 feet higher to the SE.

 

From my drive in, I thought I had seen some ledges on Simonds, so I descended west to an area just below 1000 feet and found what I was looking for.  A long, wide open area of west facing ledges stretching out over the Route 30 valley below.

To the north, the view stretches as far as Lake Saint Catherine, with the eastern Adirondacks on the horizon.

SW views.

After enjoying the great views on Simonds, I headed over towards Cleveland Hill, contouring along Simonds steep south slopes.

I utilized a combination of bushwhacking and some rough woods roads to make my way over to Cleveland Hill's 1384 foot summit, which was wooded but fairly open.

I explored the southern slopes just off the summit and found a nice framed view south over the Pawlet countryside.

The south slopes were wide open and great for exploring.

From a steep area of ledges, I found a killer up close view of Haystack Mountain!

Just below the ledge views towards Haystack, I found another view south towards Pawlet over Haystack's long south ridge.  With the leaves off, these ledges would have incredible views!!

After enjoying all of the views, I made my way back around Cleveland and then Simonds, eventually descending a rough old woods road that I found to be called Oak Ridge Road. 

Hiked a touch over 5 miles RT, with 1100 feet of combined ascent for the day and of course didn't see another soul.  In addition to that, there were no bugs and no humidity, making for a picture perfect summer day!  

Map below.  Red P=Parking   Blue X's=Summit's hit today