Vermont State Parks

Saturday June 2nd, 2012 is National Trails Day! This is the 20th annual National Trails Day. The event was created as a trail awareness program by the American Hiking Society. We encourage you to get out and hike, bike, or paddle your favorite route on June 2nd, or find a new favorite! Vermont State Parks is also co-sponsoring a National Trails Day event, and YOU’RE INVITED! Location : Branbury State Park and the Moosalamoo National Recreation Area in the Green Mountain National Forest. Meet at Branbury, the hike/bike will start there and head into the National Forest. When : Saturday, June 2nd from 10am until 2pm (Feel free to stay longer and enjoy the park and trails on your own!) 10:00 am : Your choice of an easy to moderate guided hike to Silver Lake or an advanced 11 mile mountain bike ride (bring your own bike) on the newly re-opened and reconstructed Leicester Hollow and Chandler Ridge Trails within the Green Mountain National Forest. You can also choose to hike on you...

Leaves of Brilliance and Pain by Eric Bouchard, Assistant Ranger at Maidstone State Park Every autumn thousands of tourists flock to Vermont to enjoy the breathtaking views Mother Nature has to offer. With the changing of the seasons come the most brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow. The awe-inspiring views are enough to attract individuals from hundreds even thousands of miles away. However, what happens to that leaf litter after peaking and falling to the ground? After a snowy Vermont winter does it all simply disappear? I know two Maidstone State Park Rangers that would say “Heck NO!” Beginning the season April 29, both Mark and Eric, strapped with 2 high powered leaf blowers, have spent nearly 80 hrs a piece clearing leaves from campsites, beaches, roadsides, culverts and all other park facilities, getting it ready for the Memorial Day weekend opening. Let’s just say that after a long days work leaf blowing and fighting off swarms of black-flies, a good meal, a few po...

A park visitor emailed us this question today: Hi, I was walking in the woods behind my house in Fairfield, Vermont today and I noticed white foam on a number of our trees especially most of the yellow birch and also some hemlock. On some of the trees there was quite a bit of this foam. Is this something that we should be concerned about? I don't remember ever noticing it before. Thank you for your help. Rebecca Phelps, our Conservation Coordinator, replies: You are very observant, and what you were observing was Chemistry in action! What you saw on the trunks of these trees was the formation of a crude soap. It has been really dry for awhile in Vermont, and when it is dry particles from the air deposit themselves on the surface of tree bark (like dust). This dust includes bits of salts, acids and other particles in the air. When it rains, these particles dissolve into a liquid solution. Soap is essentially a chemical mixture of salts and acids formed into a molecule, and tha...

We recently received an email from our co-worker, Jay Maciejowski, Forestry District Manager. He writes, "When I found out that my daughter, who works for marketing for Burton Snowboards, was setting up this Burton display at the US Open Snowboard Championship, I asked her to send the pics of the display so that Parks knows what a big fan Jake Burton is of the Stone Hut .   The "All Nighter"   Kate Maciejowksi, elaborates, "Hey Dad, Here are the photos from the Stone Hut shop at the US Open. We chose to model it after the Stone Hut at the top of Stowe because of an idea that Jake had. The exterior of the tent itself was printed with an actual photo of the Stone Hut , and for the inside, we merchandised product on fixtures that we thought went along with the look and feel of the interior of the hut. Display interior  Big talking points throughout the event were that we used the same exact "All-Nighter" stove that's in ...

Every year or so, we review park Rules & Regulations and make changes as needed. Part of the process is soliciting feedback from you on proposed changes. We would like to share with you the proposed changes for this year, and let you know how you can comment and give us feedback. The main rule change for this year is a proposal to designate smoke-free zones at playgrounds and some busy day use areas in the parks. This is in direct response from requests from park visitors, and known health concerns.Smoking would still be permitted elsewhere in the parks, except for these specifically designated areas. Another proposed change is to increase the fees for Burton Island waterfront lean-to's from $25/per night to $35/per night. Dock fees would go up 25 cents per foot, and a $2.00 ferry rate for day users would be established. Because Burton Island is,well, an island, it is more expensive to operate than our mainland parks, and we hope these increases...

Are you looking for outdoor adventures for your family but aren’t quite sure about taking on the adventure by yourself or would you like to add something new to your outdoor experience? Join us for the 15th annual Becoming an Outdoor Family Weekend – June 1-3, 2012! You’ll join many other families taking part in workshops presented by expert instructors providing basic hands on experience for a variety of topics including outdoor cooking, GPS skills, wildlife photography, kayaking, kite making, making jam & jellies from wild Vermont fruit, fishing,building rustic furniture, birding by ear, trail running,  mountain biking, lots of family time, and much much more. There are over 50 workshops to choose from and something for every age group is sure to be found. Some families have been joining us for over 10 years and for many this will be their first year camping with us. We’ll stay at both Stillwater and Big Deer State Parks on beautiful Lake Groton. ...

Here at Vermont State Parks , we often get requests for information about our parks. Recently Courtney from Michigan contacted us for information about our parks for a school report on Vermont. We love speaking with students about everything Vermont State Parks has to offer, and we were even more thrilled when we received a drawing and note from her this week! Thanks Courtney for the beautiful drawing and note! We like fairies too and we especially love that she is wearing Vermont State Parks colors!