Burton Island State Park - Vermont

Address:St. Albans Bay, Vermont
Tel: (802) 524-6353

Once used for farming and as pasture, 253-acre Burton Island State Park boasts three miles of shoreline, hiking trails, and a fantastic nature center. Visitors can reach the island by ferry and once there, are welcome to swim or rent a canoe or rowboat to enjoy in Lake Champlain. Hikers will enjoy the North Shore Trail, which is filled with raspberry bushes, Staghorn Sumac, and boulders, which are remnants of ancient glaciers. The park also has 17 tent sites and 26 lean-to sites for overnight stays as well as restrooms with running water and showers. A trip to Burton Island is a definitely a unique island park getaway!

Burton Island is a 253-acre island off the southwestern tip of St. Albans Point in Lake Champlain's "inland sea." An 1874 Lake Champlain navigation chart refers to it as Potter's Island, though C. C. Burton owned a farm on the mainland in the 1840s and the island was used for pasture. A descendant, Sydney Burton owned the island through the early 1900s and leased it to tenant farmers who typically kept livestock such as cows, pigs, and chickens on the land while raising staple crops like beans and peas. Today, walking the island trails, you'll find old fence lines and stone piles, rusted farm implements, and the foundation of an old barn - all remnants of the island's agricultural past.