Vermont State Parks

A fall view from Big Deer State Park of Peacham Pond Off-season camping and day use is a magical experience. The parks have a stillness that you can't get in the summer. Many animals are hibernating, there is little rustling of the trees, the bugs are gone, and you can sometimes go a whole day without bumping into another visitor. The best part is that it is FREE! Both day use and camping in Vermont State Parks in the off season are free to all visitors. The only thing visitors need to do is park outside the gate, and for camping, make sure you fill out a request form in advance of your stay. During this time of year, the views are wonderful (since many trees are leafless), winter sports like snowshoeing and cross-country season begin, and at night, the campfire never felt so good. A bohemian waxwing Some fun activities to do in the parks this time of year include: birding, tracking, finding bird nests, and hiking! Keep an eye out for grouse, tu...

At Allis State Park I met an employee Frank, who restores structures at the state parks by replacing damaged places, such as rotting wood, while keeping the original structure as authentic as possible, resembling how it would have looked up to 80 years ago! Many structures in the state parks were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the late 1930s. Allis State Park has a large historic pavilion with a magnificent fireplace Frank was working to restore. He explained various techniques and styles of the CCC construction. I’m not using the right vocabulary, but some are notched together by the logs themselves while others are pushed together to make it look like the logs were notched together when in fact they are actually stabilized using large nails. You can see these different styles in the historic lean-tos and shelters that are in state parks like Gifford Woods and Coolidge . A cool CCC structure can be found on the top of Owl’s Head Mountain near Stillwater and B...

Jerry helps direct the large group of volunteers Jerry Prevost, sophomore dean at St. Johnsbury Academy, challenges his students to do more for the community and the outdoors. As freshman, students at the academy perform community service in the St. Johnsbury area. Once they became sophmores, Jerry wanted their experience to be further from home. "We wanted students to think more about stewardship of the Earth and Groton came to mind". Jerry continues that many of his students live near and use Vermont State Parks and with summer just around the corner, it seemed a timely opportunity for the students to help an organization that in turn protects undeveloped land and educates on some of Vermont's greatest natural resources. Special touches by the volunteers helped to make the parks even better On April 29th, Jerry along with over 175 students and faculty traveled the short distance to Groton State Forest where the group helped out Kettle Pond , Ricker Pond , Bou...