Vermont State Parks

A chickadee eats from a snowy feeder at Knight Point. Is your New Year’s resolution to spend more time outside, but you need a little motivation to brave the cold?  Whether you’re at home or in  a state park , j oining an online wildlife watching community is a great way to learn more about the natural world, to connect with other nature enthusiasts, and to encourage yourself to get outside this winter. 

Start 2022 on the right foot with a beautiful hike. On January 1, 2022, 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. Please dress for the weather and bring traction aids and/or snowshoes depending on conditions. Please bring beverages and snacks. Contact hike leaders to pre-register. Hike leaders will contact you with more details and information about your hike. Check out our Facebook and Twitter feeds for more information and more hikes as they are added. Guided Hikes to Join Allis State Park Hike Guide: Rebecca Roy, I

A porcupine scuttling through the Vermont woods. I’ve been seeing lots of porcupines lately while wandering in the woods, watching the movement of white- tailed deer and the changing of seasons here in Vermont. Evening visits to Gifford Woods State Park and Allis State Park are overlapping with porcupine activity more and more. Porcupines don’t vanish out of view quickly like coyotes or other nocturnal animals. I frequently see them because they are not in a hurry to get away from me; they waddle along very slowly. Their defense is not speed or agility, but the prickly quills garnishing their backsides. If you have experienced a curious dog and a close porcupine encounter, you already know why I sweep the trail ahead of me carefully with a bright headlamp during evening walks in porcupine territory. I don’t want to find out how it feels to take a shin full of barbed porcupine quills. There is one porcupine I have been seeing regularly on my favorite walking loop. The very first encou