The two hills with the retreat tower in Brattleboro VT & Harris hill ski jump

A cool spot to visit in Brattleboro Vermont just over the New Hampshire line. We start out our day by parking at the Harris hill ski jump and that alone is something to see. For 99 years people have been ski jumping off this huge ramp during the winters. But we are heading across the street to the Brattleboro retreat center to find what is called the retreat tower. The Brattleboro retreat center was established back in 1834 for people suffering with mental health issues. On the hilltop behind the center a lookout tower was built in 1887 to give patients a place to walk to and get some fresh air and exercise. Unfortunately the tower became a place for people to jump off and end their lives which is terrible. Some interesting history here and a nice place to visit now.
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The two hills with the retreat tower in Brattleboro VT & Harris hill ski jump
Not Thursday hiking exploring history metal detecting New Hampshire VlOG Fisher F19 metal detector

[@wightwater5656]

Thanks for the wonderful visit to Brattleboro. It brought back wonderful memories.

[@markthervguy]

Wheelock Vt is where my 6th paternal great grandfather is buried. B.1709-D.1802 The family had settled in VT sometime after the Revolutionary War was over. I do not know the where the farm was, but one day I will tour the area to find his grave and maybe the farm. Nice to see you are in an area where my ancestors lived and died in the late 1700's

[@martinmarsola6477]

Beautiful tower. Thanks for the tour. 👍🇺🇸

[@malyman24]

That was cool. Thank you for taking us along. That was awesome sir.

[@babsbylow6869]

That ski jump would make one hella water slide. 😜 I like the hiking videos. When the trip is more the point than where you've gone.

[@BigEdsGuns]

Great spots for Drone footage! Cheers!

[@rogerdempsey7227]

Awesome adventure Charlie great history about this amazing story 👍

[@joyceclark8476]

Cool video Charlie. I’ve been to Brattleboro but never knew that was there. Thanks for the hike. Joy ❤️🇺🇸

[@impunitythebagpuss]

Up is not so bad...down is a different matter! Lol! Lovely ramble in beautiful country.

[@RCBuildaholic001]

You could have gone down the hill towards the retreat itself because there’s a cemetery with people who died in the retreat. We cleared it as teenagers after finding it and then the state came in and fixed it all up. Nice to see you in my neck of the woods Charlie

[@babsbylow6869]

That was cool of your brother and yourself. Makes the world a better place. 😊

[@stanbarrett5552]

Neat place. Sad story, but neat place. I hope to retire in Vermont one day. Thanks for taking us with you!!

[@michelehurt9258]

Charlie went there in the 60's to watch the ski jumpers. Didn't know the tower existed. Thanks for the video, found out more history of Brattleboro, VT.

[@jonathanp1884]

There was a time when one could climb up the circular stairs and take in the view from the top. I did back in the 70's. View of the meadows and Rattlesnake Mt in NH. [Where I did hear a rattler one day hiking the trail]. This tower is close to downtown. The graveyard downhill to the east is pretty scary. There are some nice houses a short hike to the south and a reservoir that I skated on, good times. The hike up to the top of the ski jump is or was very nice also.

[@Swamp-Fox]

That retreat tower is beautiful. The ski hill is very intense!

[@earlmenefee3603]

Awsome Charlie wish you could have taken us up 😀

[@jerrydineen2827]

That's a beautiful but sad place!

[@rogerbamatutz1927]

I know it's expensive to drive around these days but seeing more like this video would be nice.

[@deedeejohnson3452]

I’m not sure if anyone else heard it but the woodland sounds or maybe creatures sound human , it gave me chills . A beautiful place Charley I would love to see more like the institution a place like that was my place of employment for a few yrs and they are sad places .

[@robertkusek4407]

I have driven by the retreat many times, never knew the tower was there, thanks for the history lesson.

[@normawinton6832]

I guess too many people jumped so they had too lock it up. Insurance reasons too! Nice area though and probably a tad haunted lol😳 i would love too see a video this winter of the ski jump! Thanks Charlie!

[@truckerdaddy-akajohninqueb4793]

Bookmarked. Have to go see this

[@davebuc4823]

that is some nice tower to have been built that long ago! i found an article from 2015 that said they may open the tower for climbs to the top 2x a year. sure would be nice to get the all around view from the top. i also saw a drone pic from off the tower showing the top and a big body of water down below and maybe a lodge or some big building. that shot or another also showed what looked similar to the big stones lying at the bottom in the top center. great video.

[@megoodrow6299]

Hello, I m new to your channel. I definitely appreciate these trips that you take- I’m older now and was never a great navigator, but I was always in nature everyday after school and love your theory of getting outside everyday to explore. I also would like to say thank you for sharing these videos with us. I’ve had many surgeries on both feet from my degenerative osteoarthritis, and I definitely want to get to those beautiful places but , I’m definitely not up to those challenges anymore. Thank you for sharing your journey s . 🌲

[@oldwoodentrunkadventures]

Awesome video! Glad to watch you in Vermont. Love that place. Went the exact same way in when I visited the tower. Very confusing trail system up there. We explored for hours. The back side of the hill has a couple things to see to. You will find a nice set of old stone stairs down. Then there is a cemetery of patients that died there between 1842-1901. Also there is a old Spring House. Very cool looking building. Keep up the good work. I watch em all.

[@jonathanp1884]

Is that what that building is, a spring house. I thought it may house some of the 'patients' from the Retreat. There are some pretty crazy stories of what happened in that Retreat many years ago.

[@daisymay4183]

What a beautiful tower. Nice little hike too. I bet the view from the top of that tower probably stunning. Thanks for the trip to Vermont. I have never been there.🌳

[@TheReal-HeeHaw]

Awesome. Enjoyed watching N.T once again 👍

[@Griffinburtt]

It’s cool to see this place on video I have visited there many times and it has an eerie feeling around the tower

[@sendguns]

Hi Charlie: Thank you for taking us to the Brattleboro, VT Retreat. You will notice the stones on the ground each have a slight pyramid type cut. This was intentional to ensure water runn-off from the top of each stone, as each of these stones once sat atop the castellated piers at the top of the tower. Thanks Again - Michael

[@sadielevens1144]

Very neat little explore.

[@Silligoose501]

Looking at the old ski jump photos, I would love to know what treasures those folks dropped in the parking lot in the snow. Would make a nice summer hunt.

[@atbhill]

I’ve been there as a kiddo cool place!

[@fredclemons8923]

I enjoyed the hike 👍🏻

[@Carolbearce]

Awesome place. So sad that people would jump off it. The ski jump was really cool also.

[@mezellenjohnson2753]

The ski hill looks very interesting though I have never had the opportunity to learn to ski when I was young I would have loved to ski down that lol, I was a daredevil when I was younger and my older brother and I used to love to see what we could do though I was thinner and could climb trees higher than him lol. I could also jump better hence he broke his wrist when we both jumped off a high platform and I didn't even hurt myself lol. That tower is lovely to look at though it has a sad history, it was a great idea but not without proper safeguards. A lovely and interesting hike Charlie that takes the mind with you as you explore your world thank you. Good luck and happy hunting and hiking Charlie, God bless you and NinJen love and hugs to you both Mary-Ellen LFOD

[@davidinghram2494]

Beautiful area

[@DigginWithDeej]

Very interesting location Charlie

[@jamesschultz5299]

Looks like a lighthouse in the middle of the woods!

[@georgekimballakafluffy486]

That's awesome I grew up on cedar street good luck. We used to slide on that hill such great memories thank you for sharing.

[@jennywalborn7769]

Please go back in winter....def. wanna see some chuckin!

[@johndodson4527]

Love the rain vids.hope you are well c.

[@davidroeder7027]

Very impressive tower and another great video. This makes me think of other non dig videos that might be interesting to do in your off season. Maybe an illustration or museum display showing colonial clothing and where and how the various buttons and buckles were worn. Also maybe some sort of diagram of colonial NH farm layouts showing the types of homes they built, the cellar layout compared to the house footprint, or even a typical field layout. I love your videos but sometimes I have a hard time envisioning what things looked like at the time. Thanks for the entertaining, fascinating, and educational videos.

[@sandcoils4232]

awesome tower!

[@jonathanp1884]

yeah, great place for making out on a beautiful summer evening.

[@johns280]

There’s a neat stone tower in Hubbard Park Montpelier, last I was there it was open to climb. Too bad that tower was closed.

[@steveinthemountains8264]

Very nice stone tower. Charley - I want you to go back to Mine Ledge and find the shaft.

[@danafredrickson42]

they never thought of that? it was the first thing I said and then you said it..... even I knew what they would do!

[@sm5405]

My old house in Hinsdale NH predates the tower. I thought the tower was older but I guess I was wrong.

[@johndodson4527]

Man u ve evolved into a great commentator!

[@brianfitzpatrick6554]

Mebbe they werent so crazy afterall,having read some of the history behind mental asylums. Thanks for sharing 👍👍

[@falco485]

I used to go there to watch them ski jump

[@jonathanp1884]

I used to live there and belonged to the BOC. Brattle Outing Club. Tennis courts at south end of field.

[@brotherskeepers111]

Looking at old photo of the jump, looked like a lot of old cars used to park all up and down the hill. Looks like a great spot to coin hunt if you could get the permission

[@jbernardize]

There is a similar tower in Shelburne Falls, Mass, a place you have explored before (you visited the scenic potholes at the river). That one was a fire lookout.

[@thehobbymaster8796]

They are one of the towers that looks just like that in the Chickamauga battlefield ln Chickamauga Georgia It was a watch tower back in the Civil war

[@rickmessina5396]

Have you ever hunted those ski runs and jumps. I have managed to hunt 3 in Wyoming and one in Colorado. Oh my. Good stuff… thanks…..

[@jonathanp1884]

The area he explored is practically in the middle of town [Brattleboro]. Not cool or legal to hunt there.

[@MNpicker]

I kinda wanna go down that hill in my Leavel Betty🤘😬😁

[@notrightjohnnydetectingjun8028]

The original bounce house.

[@scottfoss716]

Got to be a geocache somewhere up there.

[@markattardo]

Interesting places!

[@ZooomaCW]

1st comment of substance -- Good stuff. Cool tower. I never knew there was a ski jump in Brattleboro. Nice hike. I wanna go! I kinda wish I was closer to Vermont but there are a few good hikes here in New Hampshire . . . at least a few?

[@jonathanp1884]

Annual winter carnival attracts ski jumpers worldwide. They did a major overhaul years ago to a 90 meter jump. I believe it is in early Feb. I grew up in Bratt but haven't lived there in 35 or so years.

[@gaylenealis7268]

Needed a drone to see the top of the tower.

[@terryarchibald2467]

Charlie. Have you ever thought about taking a compass with you?

[@chuckjenkins4348]

Kool looking tower. Sad history. Shame they don’t put a fence around the top or make a Lexon guard around the top so the public could at least enjoy the view that are not gonna throw themselves off of it.

[@willownoel5017]

Looks like a shot tower

[@kabilkurbardovic9673]

3:45-3:50 listen carefully

[@irenefitzkee535]

How high is the tower?

[@Cheese-wb9tw]

Do you have a drone?

[@rapiddog1491]

Who Built The Tower?

[@charlessharrardiii7086]

You should have metal detected around the tower.

[@davidnough705]

How the Rail Road's would have been build up with small blocks & lots of motar; [had not an endless supply of massive Megalithic Blocks]! been there to plunder! 🤔 lol.

[@n__neen]

"mental health people"

[@mezellenjohnson2753]

2nd like 1st comment?

[@stokely418]

4th like 2nd comment