We live about 20 miles south of Burton Island and sailed there late
last spring for a weekend. Here's the scoop:
It is an absolutely wonderful park to stay at, whether you are tent
camping or sleeping on a boat. It is located in the "Inland Sea" portion of
Lake Champlain, so you should have no difficulty reaching it from any nearby
location regardless of how rough it may be on the "Broad Lake".
The facility starts to fill up quickly after school lets out in
June, but when we were there last May or Early June, there was only one
other family staying on the whole island. My then 3-year old son caught a
very nice bass from the marina dock, but alas it was a week before the
season opened so we'll try for him again next year. He said to my wife,
"Mom, I think I have a bite" and Laura agreed, based on the fact that the
tip of his pole was by then bent well under the water!
They have a general store/snack bar there so provisioning is not an
issue if you prefer to travel light. The island is served by a ferry from a
point of land that is only a few thousand yards away, near St. Albans,
Vermont.
If you want to go during high season, it could be a zoo, but
off-season it was marvelous and we will be going again in a few weeks. I'm
sure I can dig up the brochure from the place if you would like me to scan
it in for you and email it. Just let me know what further information you
would like.
Warning: There is extreme shoaling near the eastern tip of the
island, so you don't want to circumnavigate it unless you are familiar with
the privately maintained buoy that (sometimes) marks a 20-foot wide or so
cut. If you are approaching from St. Albans bay (the Southeast), you want
to go clockwise around the island 3/4 of a turn and approach the marina from
the NorthWest.
They do monitor VHF, in case you want to check on slip availability
as you approach. Please let us know your plans, and let us know any way we
might be able to help you with your trip.
The other islands are also great to stay on, but availability is
questionable from late june through august. You'll want to call to see if
reservations can be obtained. Either Knight Island or one of the other ones
to the south of Burton is at least part a privately owned island with tent
sites available for rent from the owner. I believe it's Grand Island Marine
or South Hero Marine or some such business that does the reservations. If
you want more information, please let me know and I can make some calls
locally for you.
Stuart & Laura Meyer
P-23 Betsy Rose
Williston, Vermont
-----Original Message-----
From: John Haley [mailto:haley@sgenab.cc.geneseo.edu]
Sent: Friday, April 23, 1999 1:18 PM
To: wwpotter@tscnet.com; precision@puremagic.com
Subject: Precision: Burton Island
Greetings,
Anyone familiar with Burton Island State(VT) Park in northern Lake
Champlain Vermont? Charts show a small marina, dockage and mooring and
plenty of camping. Vermont Park information shows nearby Woods Island and
Knight Island as also being State Parks but with primitive camping only.
Any first hand knowledge would be appreciated.
Regards,
John Haley
P18
Rochester NY
John Haley
Systems Manager
Administration and Finance
SUNY Geneseo
haley@sgenaa.cc.geneseo.edu
716.245.5548
"Fenwick & West, LLP <fenwick.com>" made the following annotations on 04/26/99 06:51:13
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