Vermont State Parks

Winter sun at Gifford Woods State Park --Rebecca Roy, Conservation Education Coordinator  Thursday December 21 is the shortest day of 2017, the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. There is optimism in knowing we will are gaining more sunlight in our days after this darkest day. This is reason to celebrate even if you are not a big fan of wintertime. The seasons we experience are caused by the tilt of the Earth and not by the proximity of the Earth to the sun. We are closer to the sun during our winter months, but the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun during winter and that is why our days are shorter and our temperatures are lower. The tilt of the Earth was caused by the planet colliding with huge space junk billions of years ago when it was forming. The tilt causes us to get less direct sunlight from September to March, and more sunlight than the Southern Hemisphere from April to August. On our Winter Solstice, our neighbors in the Southern H...

Check out this great video captured by Game Warden trainee Kyle Isherwood found on his day off exploring the woods in Warren, Vermont.  A moose being a moose. Thanks to Vermont Game Wardens Association for sharing this post!

White pine covered with snow  By Rebecca Roy, Conservation Education Coordinator  We received a foot of beautiful snow this week, reminding us why we love winter in Vermont.  The snow coated the rolling hills and valleys, clinging to evergreen branches with festive white icing. This made these special trees stand out. I saw some beautiful evergreen trees at Allis State Park when I dug out my cross-country skis and glided my way up to the stone picnic shelter for some hot chocolate and cookies. Like other woods in central Vermont, Allis has deciduous and evergreen trees growing together. All our deciduous trees—maples, ash, beech, and oak among other broad leaf trees, turned brilliant colors and dropped their leaves in October. Meanwhile our hardy evergreen trees continue to be green all year long. The evergreens growing in Vermont are also called conifers, because they grow seeds in cones. People also call them softwood trees because their wood is, well,...

UPDATE: Several hikes have been cancelled as of Friday, December 29th (Bomoseen, Underhill, Camp Plymouth, Groton Nature Center, Seyon Lodge bike only , and Owl's Head). See details below. FOR MOST RECENT INFO, please call the First Day Hike Hotline on December 31st for the latest status on all hikes: (802) 249-1230. Start the new year on the right foot with a hike in a Vermont state park. On January 1, 2018, everyone is invited to join a free, guided, family-friendly hike taking place at many state parks and forests across Vermont. Hikes will be led by professional guides and outdoor educators eager to share their knowledge and love of Vermont’s outdoors. Don’t need a guide? No matter where you live in Vermont, a state park or state forest is always close by, and you can still get outside to enjoy it. State park entry is free on New Year’s Day (and all winter long). You’ll discover a whole new world in winter. This year, a First Day BIKE option is available at Seyon Lodge...

Festive wild cucumbers make great decorations!  By Rebecca Roy, Conservation Education Coordinator I love receiving nature related questions from friends and family. There was that one time my mechanical engineer sister wrote to me in panic about dying pine trees along the interstate (it was fall and they were tamaracks turning yellow), and recently I got a “what the heck is this?” message from my geologist brother. He sent me a photo of wild cucumber vines growing on his woodpile. These leafy vines and spiky fruit are an interesting spectacle. Wild cucumbers catch your eye in edges and disturbed places, growing up and over trees and shrubs, grabbing on with their curling tendrils. Although they have very fragrant and numerous whitish yellow flowers in June—it is the spiky pods that catch attention. Wild cucumber seed pods look like very spiky cucumbers. The scientific name for wild cucumber, Echinocystis lobata means hedgehog bladder, which accurately describes th...

Every summer, individuals and families participate in the annual Venture Vermont Outdoor Challenge . Rather like a state-wide outdoor scavenger hunt, participants complete a variety of outdoor activities to earn points. Once a participant reaches 250 points, the prize is a coin that offers free admission to any day-use state park, for all of the current year and all of next. This year, more than 175 people participated from locations all across Vermont… and from a few other states too. One great thing about Venture Vermont is that participants are able to pick their own activities & go at their own pace. There is always something new to learn! Activities for 2017 included taking a bird walk, trail-running, tying knots, and going on a day-long adventure. Some challenges are park-based, but most can be completed anywhere, on vacation or in your backyard. Thanks to everyone who participated. We hope to see you all again in 2018, for a new year of Venture Vermont with brand n...

Turkey tail fungus at the base of a tree By Rebecca Roy, Vermont State Parks  Conservation Education Coordinator  Fall and winter are wonderful times to look for the world’s most numerous woods growing mushroom, turkey tail fungus. These beautiful mushrooms are versatile and abundant in human cultural history, and in our autumn woods. You can spot turkey tail mushrooms growing on rotting trees just about everywhere trees grow, including these excellent specimens I found recently in Gifford WoodsState Park . I love it when the names of things in nature describe their appearance. Turkey tail fungus falls in that category because the variety of earthen colors in concentric circles on the mushrooms looks like the colors on turkey tail feathers. The mushrooms, or fruiting body of the fungus looks like a whole bunch of tiny turkey tails growing together in layers on dead and decaying wood. I found these on a standing dead tree, but they are found most often on logs an...

Vermont State Parks invites you to #GetOutside this Friday after Thanksgiving and turn Black Friday Green. Instead of waking up at the crack of dawn to jostle among the hoards at big box stores and shopping malls searching for cheap deals on consumer goods, why not #GetOutside in a Vermont State Park? Entry at Vermont State Parks is FREE and we invite you to spend time with friends and family exploring and discovering the wonders of Vermont’s beautiful outdoors. For more information on trails near you, visit  https://www.vtstateparks.com/hiking.html . PS -- Support your local Vermont merchants on Small Business Saturday!

By Rebecca Roy, Conservation Education Coordinator Recently I wrote a blog article about white pine cones, which we are seeing in really high numbers this year. In that article I mentioned that some other trees are producing way more seeds than typical. One of those are our beautiful oak trees. The drought laden, super hot weather in summer 2016 is responsible for this phenomenon too. Oak trees come from two family groups--the red oak group, and the white oak group. Red oak trees have leaves with pointed lobes, while white oak leaves have rounded lobes. Red oak group trees are the most common oaks in Vermont. Like white pines, red oak trees take two years to develop seeds. White oak trees develop acorns in one single season. So one factor in this really numerous acorn year is the trees all over producing as a reaction to the 2016 growing season, a very stressful and challenging growing season for all our trees because of the drought. There is more to this story with ...

Media Contact: Rochelle Skinner Parks Sales & Service Manager Vermont State Parks Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation Agency of Natural Resources rochelle.skinner@vermont.gov 802-522-0841 Day Tripper Package MONTPELIER – This holiday season, Vermont State Parks invites you to purchase holiday gift packages, park passes, and gift certificates for friends and family. Not only will they benefit the recipient, but they’ll benefit the parks, too. Weekend Getaway Package This year’s popular gift packages are all new with colorful, useful gear designed to make your outdoor adventures both stylish and fun. These packages come fully wrapped and ready to give. They can be ordered online, and shipping is free.  This year’s offerings are: Day Tripper $59 Includes one punch card good for 10 park day visits, a notebook and pen set, and a Vermont State Parks travel mug. Weekend Getaway $89 Includes 2 nights of tent, lean-to or RV camping, ...

By Rebecca Roy Vermont State Parks Conservation Education Coordinator Our white pine trees--taller than every other tree in the Vermont woods, are heavily laden with cones this year. These giants of the forest started the summer months growing bright green female cones in large clumps at the ends of all the upper branches. The cones were so plentiful, they weighed the branches into curved arches pointing down. Throughout the summer, the seeds hidden under the cone bracts developed, the cones turned brown, and the seeds came sailing out with their adapted wing--hopefully planting some new white pines. At least that is the goal of the pine tree as it grows more and more cones, and more and more seeds. The summer of 2016 we saw a drought. Remember how low the lake levels dropped that summer? Well, our trees are reacting to that stress by producing way more seeds, nuts and fruits than normal. Our pine trees started developing this year’s cones in 2016, so the drought trigger...

“Can I still go into a park that’s closed for the season?” This is the most common question we get during the fall and winter months. The short answer is “yes!” Staff have gone home, and parks are officially closed for the year, but late fall has a start beauty all its' own, and the off season is a great time to visit- for hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, ice fishing, or even a late season picnic.  Basic Rules & Things to Remember: No facilities or services available: restrooms, running water, etc. Carry-in and carry-out everything that you bring with you. Please park only in a manner that allows access by others and please drive only on established roadways or parking areas. This means that when a gate is closed, park outside without blocking, and walk in.  In winter, plowed parking is available in certain locations. List of winter access areas can be found here.  Park staff are only present sporadically during the off-season. We invite you to ...

The indoor shelter at Mt. Philo By John Frigault (Mt. Philo park manager)  In honor of Halloween, we asked Mt. Philo Ranger John Frigault to share any park ghost stories. He sent us the following story:  Mount Philo is Vermont’s first State Park generously donated back in 1924. The Civilian Conservation Corp constructed the Lodge and Rangers quarters back in 1935-1936 atop of the summit where we currently reside as park rangers for the summer. I have been fortunate enough to be able to utilize the old lodge in the mornings for my budding Tai Chi practice. It has always been a very powerful spot on top of the mountain overlooking the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain. The Lodge itself has been a coveted spot for weddings, life ceremonies and special events throughout the decades. It has a sense of antiquity with its massive stone fireplace, vaulted ceilings, and rustic interior that people are drawn to. It is this energy that attracted me to its welcoming interior. Tai ...

Fall scenery in Quechee, VT Gifford Woods State Park, Killington VT Love trees? As the name suggests, this park is known for its’ woods and old- growth forest, which has been an attraction since the 1930s. Take a leisurely hike around Kent Pond, or a more strenuous one up nearby Deer Leap Trail. Gifford Woods is open for camping and hiking through October 16th. There are 22 tent/ trailer sites, 21 lean-tos, and 4 rental cabins at the park. Mt. Ascutney State Park,Windsor VT Camp at the base of 3,144 Mt. Ascutney, and hike one of the 4 trails to the summit. There are twelve miles of trails in all, and many spots to take in the views, which include the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire, the Connecticut River valley below, and the Windsor Cornish Covered Bridge that spans the river.   Trail map for the Mt. Ascutney area.   Mt. Ascutney State Park is open until October 16 th . There are 38 tent/RV and 10 lean-to shelters available to reserve. Mo...

Coolidge State Park in fall from the Bradley Hill Shelter  Top 10 reasons we love fall camping: Warm days and cool nights (perfect for sleeping) Less crowds than at midsummer Opportunity to try a new park. Maybe your favorite closes after Labor Day- about half of our parks are open later, so this is a good chance to try someplace new Prime leaf-peeping opportunities. Take a drive, go for a walk in the woods or get out on the water for a fall paddle Ideal hiking weather (but do bring a jacket for the higher elevations!) Good excuse to stay in a cabin or cottage No fewer bugs! Fun way to go through all your clothes in one weekend- start off the morning in a sweatshirt, track pants, socks & hat, by mid-day down to t-shirt Fall is one of the best times of year to spot migrating birds   A chance to see a different side of a park you may think you know well. Many of us are familiar with camping in July and August, and it’s inter...

View of Elmore in fall Mt. Philo State Park in Charlotte Summit Trail Campground Trail This park is one of the most popular hikes in the Champlain Valley, with easy access to Burlington, and stellar views of Lake Champlain from the top in any season. A good spot to take your friends from out of town! Camel’s Hump State Park, Duxbury VT Burrows Trail Probably the most iconic mountain in Vermont. Several trails lead to the top from moderate to strenuous. If you want a less difficult hike, the Camel’s Hump View Trail is .08 miles along a wide, flat path, universally accessible, and with pretty views of the summit.  Camel's Hump trail map:  https://vtstateparks.com/assets/pdf/camels_hump_trails.pdf Brighton State Park, Island Pond VT Northeast Kingdom Nature Trail For those looking for a short hike that is a good choice for families, try the nature trail at Brighton State Park. This is an easy hike and also a good way to learn about the surr...