Picnic in the Parks: Elmore State Park

by Erin & Evan

Elmore State Park, recently voted the best state park in Vermont, is now one of our favorites.  It has everything you need to enjoy a warm summer day in Vermont.  Even the drive to the state park is beautiful, and once you arrive, there is camping, hiking, swimming, and of course picnicking!

For our trip, we decided to stop at the nearby Elmore General Store to pick up some treats. The store has tons of snacks, a post office, a popcorn machine, ice cream cones, and a sweet golden retriever that greets you at the front door.

We couldn’t take the retriever, so instead we picked up a baguette from Elmore Mountain Bread, some Cabot horseradish cheddar spread, almonds, a little pepperoni, and some seltzer.  After picking up our supplies we headed to the park to hike up to the observation tower.  The tower is located at the top of the Fire Tower Trail, which is 2.5 miles round trip.  The 360° view from the tower is worth the slightly steep ascent from the first rocky vista point. 

If you can fight back your appetite after the hike to the top, you should enjoy your picnic at the beach where there are several picnic tables and flat grassy areas to lay down a blanket.  Unfortunately, our appetites got the better of us and we were forced to devour our supplies at the rocky vista point just below the observation tower.

When we did reach the bottom of the trail, we stopped by the beach for a quick dip.  The beach is beautiful and has an amazing beach house with changing facilities and concessions (in case you are still hungry after your picnic).

We would say that Elmore State Park more than earned the best state park of the year award.  Happy picnicking!