Top 10 State Parks in Lake Champlain, Lake Champlain

December 4, 2021 Viva Honore

Discover the best top things to do in Lake Champlain, Lake Champlain including Alburg Dunes State Park, Grand Isle State Park, Mt. Philo State Park, Point Au Roches State Park, Kamp Kill Kare State Park, Niquette Bay State Park, Sand Bar State Park, Macomb Reservation State Park, D.A.R. State Park, North Hero State Park.
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1. Alburg Dunes State Park

151 Coon Pt Rd, Alburgh, VT 05440-9679 +1 802-796-4170 https://www.vtstateparks.com/alburgh.html
Excellent
67%
Good
19%
Satisfactory
9%
Poor
6%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 54 reviews

Alburg Dunes State Park

Reviewed By PaleoGypsy - Philadelphia, United States

There is definitely a mismatch between the navigation of the GPS and physical signage for this attraction. Perhaps, the locals want to keep this State Park as a hidden gem??? In the summer, July, the parking lot fills quickly. Overflow parking in a nearby field is available. Admission costs $4.00 per adult. Memberships are available. People come here mainly to swim and enjoy the sandy beach that they call the dunes. If you’ve been to Sleeping Beard Dunes in Michigan or the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado, this is not like those areas.It’s really just a small beach. Bathrooms and shower houses are available. What shocked me the most was how the majority of the beachgoers were unmasked and NOT practicing the recommended six feet of social distancing. If you live under a rock and don’t know what’s going on in the world, you would not know there is a pandemic by surveying the behaviors of the visitors.I opted to hike on the “trail”, which is really a service road. According to a sign, cable has been run through here. There are lots of bugs here, and portions of the trail are muddy. Prepare accordingly.

2. Grand Isle State Park

36 E. Shore, Grand Isle, VT 05458 +1 802-372-4300 http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/grandisle.htm
Excellent
59%
Good
30%
Satisfactory
10%
Poor
1%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 70 reviews

Grand Isle State Park

Grand Isle State Park is a camping-only park located on the shores of beautiful Lake Champlain. There are over 150 sites that include tent/rv sites, leantos, and cabins. Just like other Vermont State Parks, Grand Isle does NOT have RV hookups. The park has a nature center, volleyball court, swim beach, and boat launch. There are kayak rentals available. The season runs May through October.

Reviewed By MoniqueG1561 - Winchester, United Kingdom

We went here after tourist season, so it was closed for camping and the facilities were closed too, but they allowed us to walk around. Beautiful colors in fall. Creepy foggy lake was amazing! We had a great time on our walk with our kids chasing the chipmunks.

3. Mt. Philo State Park

5425 Mt Philo Rd, Charlotte, VT 05445-8210 +1 802-425-2390 http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/philo.htm
Excellent
76%
Good
20%
Satisfactory
4%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 106 reviews

Mt. Philo State Park

Reviewed By BikeWMa - East Longmeadow, United States

Easy & fun place for relatively short hike with fabulous lookouts & views at top. Recommend House Rock trail up, after exploring the top take the Devil's Chair trail down. You walk under the ledges. Allow 2 hr total. You can also just drive to top. $4 parking fee.

4. Point Au Roches State Park

19 Camp Red Cloud Rd, Plattsburgh, NY 12901-5407 +1 518-563-0369 http://nysparks.com/parks/30/details.aspx
Excellent
63%
Good
31%
Satisfactory
4%
Poor
1%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 143 reviews

Point Au Roches State Park

Reviewed By howards50 - Albany, United States

I love this park as I launch my kayak here from Deep Bay (Lake Champlain), as the area is uncrowded, and has a dock and parking area. There are also hiking trails, one of which goes along the cliffs and provides great views of Lake Champlain. There is also a nice public beach in the park.

5. Kamp Kill Kare State Park

2714 Hathaway Point Road, Saint Albans, VT 05481 +1 802-524-6021 http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/killkare.htm
Excellent
70%
Good
27%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
3%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 33 reviews

Kamp Kill Kare State Park

6. Niquette Bay State Park

Raymond Road, Colchester, VT 05446 +1 802-893-5210 http://vtstateparks.com/niquette.html
Excellent
46%
Good
54%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 13 reviews

Niquette Bay State Park

Reviewed By starla729 - Burlington, United States

I found this park through word of mouth and want to encourage others to check it out. My husband and I were looking to eat lunch along the lake and this was perfect. There is a short .5 mile hike that takes you down to the beach. There was even a few picnic tables at the beach which was a nice surprise. We ended up exploring additional trails in the park for 2 more miles and enjoyed it very much. The hike down to the beach was wide, easy and flat. Other trails (Ledge Trail and Island View trail) were also easy to hike with small inclines. We were looking for a relaxing easy hike and this totally fit the bill. There are multiple trails that are short making it easy to build the hike to the distance you want. The views are pretty between the lake and the woods. I recommend checking this out. We were charged $8 for 2 ppl as an entrance fee. Support your local parks!

7. Sand Bar State Park

Milton, VT +1 802-893-2825
Excellent
48%
Good
19%
Satisfactory
13%
Poor
10%
Terrible
10%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 31 reviews

Sand Bar State Park

Reviewed By hazelnut9coffee4

Amazing area nestled between the gorgeous Champlain islands and a wildlife refuge, Sand Bar is an incredible place to spend some time. I see a lot of older posts saying the water is gross, this that and the other, but here's a fun fact for you - while the vast majority of beaches in the Burlington area and in other areas of the Champlain islands were closed due to harmful algae blooms, Sand Bar was free of the toxins. There are some grasses that grow on the edged of the beach, which is expected in this region (aka not Florida or Cali), but there is a lot of area that isn't impacted by growing vegetation. The staff is super friendly and they spend hours each day raking the beach which creates soft, airy, perfect sand! Sand Bar is a great place to beat the heat and relax for a while. There area large grassy areas to play in, numerous picnic tables and grills, two bathroom buildings (old, but clean) and of course the beach. If you're trying to escape the crowds, avoid 2pm on a Saturday. Come in the evening after work for a while when things are calming down at the park. Yes, it gets busy during the "peak times" of summer like weekends, holidays, and the super sunny/ hot days, but I've had the park all to myself on numerous occasions in the summer by going during slightly cloudy days or in the evenings for a few hours. I'm writing this review in April, 2020 in anticipation of summer :) but I visited dozens of times throughout summer 2019 when I moved to VT from CO. The park ranger is an absolute sweetheart too. We've become buddies based upon casual side conversations

8. Macomb Reservation State Park

201 Campsite Rd, Schuyler Falls, NY 12985-1705 +1 518-643-9952 [email protected] http://www.nysparks.com/parks/77/details.aspx
Excellent
67%
Good
0%
Satisfactory
33%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 3 reviews

9. D.A.R. State Park

6750 Vt Route 17 W, Addison, VT 05491-8894 +1 802-759-2354
Excellent
29%
Good
71%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 7 reviews

Reviewed By C5400HUnicoleh - New Haven, United States

this was in 2016 but nothing has changed. I wanted to be married by a body of water. since i could not afford Maine, we went to DAR. The pavilion is BEAUTIFUL. loved the actual bathrooms not porta pottys. and the pavilion had power so we were able to plug in our laptop and play music. you pay 100 bucks to have the pavilion all to your self. all you have to do is pay per person to get them into the park. They have BBQs to use which we did, they were very clean and cooked our dinner beautifully. Great views of the lake and NY. Kids loved the access to the water. even some family stayed and camped after the wedding. Highly recommend

10. North Hero State Park

3803 Lakeview Dr, North Hero, VT 05474-9698 +1 802-372-8727
Excellent
33%
Good
0%
Satisfactory
67%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

3.5 based on 3 reviews

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