I remember when Cady Hill was a bunch of washed out trails going straight down the fall line, with a couple of huge ladder drops hidden back there for good measure. They’ve done a lot of good work back there. Cady hill is kind of the center of it all because of Flo. Even still, there is good stuff back there that’s been purposely left off of the maps and left unmarked.
Cady Hill is just a small part of what’s available and really where everyone goes. So much more good riding In Stowe and the surrounding area, that’s lightly ridden. I can put a 20-mile ride together that doesn’t even touch Cady Hill. Then there’s Perry Hill, the reservoir, etc. Most of the “incidents” happen in Cady Hill. It’s fun to watch the Canadian Enduro Bro’s show up in their Converted Sprinter vans and $10k bikes get all geared up to ride Flo (I’m a little jelly of the gear though).
I think some of those manicured flow trails are cool, but also bring in a lot of riders because they make the terrain so accessible. If it was all steep gnar with killer climbs to get the top as the price of entry (like Perry Hill), traffic would be low. Let’s be honest here, the accessibility of places like KTA and Cady Hill is what brings in so much traffic. People aren’t lining up at the places where you have to climb within an inch of your life or cheat death on the descents.
