Vermont State Parks

Sound artist Craig Calorusso is bringing his latest musical performance project, Sun Boxes, into five state parks for five weekends this summer. It's comprised of twenty speakers spread over a large, open lawn operating independently, each powered by the sun via solar panels. Inside each Sun Box is a PC board that has a recorded musical programmed to play continuously in a loop. Because the loops are different in length, once the piece begins they continually overlap and the piece slowly evolves over time. Participants are encouraged to walk amongst the speakers, and surround themselves with the piece. Certain speakers will be closer and, therefore, louder, so the piece will sound different to different people in different positions throughout the array. Allowing the audience to move around will create a unique experience for everyone. In addition, as people wander through the speakers, they alter the composition. Given the option, two people will take different paths through the...

Won't You be our Neighbor? Quechee State Park is hosting a free community event on Saturday, June 30th from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. Park entry is FREE for this event. Get to know what's around the neighboorhood to enjoy at Quechee Gorge State Park. Here's some of what's on tap: Green Mountain Rock Climbing Center - Climbing wall, low zipline, rappel line, ropes course EMS - Proper gear for camping and the outdoors LL Bean - How to set a camp and Leave No Trace Hartland Yoga Center - Gentle Yoga Sugarbush Farm - Sample and learn about Vermont-made cheese and maple syrup USA Karate - Demos from students North Hartland Dam & Recreation Area - fun stuff to do Marsh-Billings Rockefeller National Park - more fun stuff to do You can also enjoy a hike in the gorge and many fine local shops.  Everyone is welcome, even if you're not a neighbor. Check out our events page for more fun stuff going on in the parks this summer.

Parks are wonderful in many ways. They inspire people, they are relaxing and, for many species of wildlife, the final bastion of survival. They are often hotbeds of biodiversity and a place many go to study the natural world around them, gather samples and eat outdoor lunches. However, their ability to provide hands-on learning to children about the environment and biology is one of the most valuable functions of parks. First, the issue of hands-on learning as a viable form of teaching must be established. For this, we turn to Katie Ash, who authored an article about an experiment where students were taught hands-on about a water purification system, while others were merely lectured about it. The results are telling. “The researchers found that students who built the hands-on water purification system had ‘a deeper understanding’ of the concepts than the students who had lecture-based lessons, especially in students for whom English was not their first language.” Hands-on learning...

The life of a Vermont State Parks employee working at Elmore State Park has its perks. On any given day my job description may consist of kayaking out into the lake to take water sample, working alongside our knowledgeable and engaging park staff, and enjoying being outside in the most beautiful state in the country. One thing that is unfortunately not in my job description is using all of our toys and equipment that we keep in the closet of our contact station. One day while getting myself situated for work I stumbled across this closet that I never knew existed. It was filled with a badmitton set, horseshoes, a croquet set, and more frisbees than I had seen in my entire tenure of walking the quad at college. I picked a horse shoe off of the shelf, and feeling its heft in my hand and saw a faded set of initials written on it. This made me think of the owner who might have left it. Why did they leave it? Did the tent not go in the back of the station wagon as elegantly as it fit ...

Do you love Vermont's trails? Do you want to return some of that love? If so, grab a tool or two and meet at Big Deer campground at 9:00 am, June 16th for a fun filled day of building a trail followed by a BBQ at Boulder Beach . Come see first hand what our summer trail crews do all summer long and learn how to build a trail. Our summer trail crews roam around the state building and maintaining many of Vermont's trails.  We will meet at 9:00 AM and work till 3:00 PM. For more information: Contact Jack Brooks- Jack.Brooks@state.vt.us  Thanks for the enthusiasm and we look forward to the weekend! What to Bring: - Wear older clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty - Hiking boots or closed toe shoes - Gloves - Hat/ Sunscreen/ bug spray - Tools: We will have tools but if you bring a tool or two we would probably use it. That includes; loppers, shovels, McClouds, pic-mattocks, garden rakes, etc. We’ll have a chainsaw and 1 is enough. - Your ...