A donation-based ferry operates in the summer months carrying trail users over the gap.

In 1963, the state of Vermont purchased the abandoned, but not torn-up, Rutland Railroad lines from Burlington to Rutland, North Bennington, Hoosick Junction and Bellows Falls, leasing them to the Vermont Railway and the Green Mountain Railroad to resume freight service, but the state chose not to acquire and reopen the Island Line.

Ultimately, all of the swing bridges on the route were removed, but the roadbed on the causeway across the lake survived, as it was heavily built with much use of granite and marble tailings.

[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] In May 2019 the Island Line Trail was damaged by a period of 70 mile-per-hour winds and 7-foot waves.

The lone pilot escaped the wreckage and was taken to UVM Medical Center with minor to moderate injuries.