Thetford Hill State Park

Thetford Hill State Park
Roadbed built by the CCC in Thetford Hill State Park
Type	State park
Location	Thetford, Vermont
Coordinates	43°48′44″N 72°13′59″W / 43.8121°N 72.233°W / 43.8121; -72.233Coordinates: 43°48′44″N 72°13′59″W / 43.8121°N 72.233°W / 43.8121; -72.233
Area	262 acres (106 ha)
Operated by	Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation
Open	Day use
Website	http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/thetford.htm

Thetford Hill State Park is a day-use state park in Thetford Hill State Forest in Thetford, Vermont.^[1] The park includes a day use area for hiking and the 5-km Woods Hill Trail, a world-class cross-country running and skiing trail. Activities includes hiking, picnicking, cross-country running and cross-country skiing.^[2] The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 for its historic facilities, some of where were developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Vermont Adventure Camps, a private summer camp, operates in a former campground in the park.

Setting

Thetford Hill State Park is located in south-central Thetford, south of the village of Thetford Hill, and directly abutting the campus of Thetford Academy to the north. It occupies part of the eastern slope of a short ridge of hills, extending to the summit areas of Sunset Hill near the northern end of the ridge. The park is bounded on the east by Academy Road, from which the main access road rises to the west.^[3]

Facilities

Entrance gate

Although the park was originally developed with a campground, it is now a day-use park, with picnic areas and hiking trails. The road passes through a CCC-build gate, and runs nearly directly west, passing a wood-frame ranger contact station, near which a road branches south to a campground area now used by Vermont Camp Adventures. From the contact station it rises to a parking area, from which short trails reach areas for picnicking. The road is crossed and recrossed several times by the Woods Hill Trail, a multi-use hiking and cross-country ski trail that extends onto the Thetford Academy campus. Near the parking area are also the fragmented remains of a CCC-built campground, in which little more than stone fireplace remnants are to be found.^[3]

History

Before the park was created, the land was somewhat open, having been logged in the 19th century and only partially replanted. The state acquired the land in the 1920s, and it was developed in the mid-1930s by crews of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Facilities built out then include the road and gate, and the picnic areas and campground in the summit area. In 1964, a new camp loop was built near the present contact station, which was also built around that time, and the old campground was abandoned.^[3] The picnic area also included a group pavilion, which is no longer extant.

References

↑ "Thetford Hill State Park". Vermont State Parks. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
↑ "Thetford Hill SP – A Tough Sell". The Park Explorer. January 11, 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
1 2 3 Jennifer J. Bunting (2002). "NRHP nomination for Thetford Hill State Park" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-09-16. with photos from 2002

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thetford Hill State Park.

Official website

Protected areas of Vermont

Federal	Appalachian Trail Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge Green Mountain National Forest Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge White Rocks National Recreation Area

State Parks	Alburg Dunes Allis Big Deer Bomoseen Boulder Beach Branbury Brighton Burton Island Button Bay Camel's Hump Camp Plymouth Coolidge Crystal Lake D.A.R. D & H Rail Trail Elmore Emerald Lake Fort Dummer Gifford Woods Grand Isle Green River Reservoir Half Moon Pond Hazen's Notch Jamaica Kamp Kill Kare Kettle Pond Kingsland Bay Knight Island Knight Point Lake Carmi Lake Shaftsbury Lake St. Catherine Litte River Lowell Lake Maidstone Molly Stark Mt. Ascutney Mt. Philo New Discovery Niquette Bay North Hero Quechee Ricker Pond Sand Bar Sentinel Rock Seyon Lodge Silver Lake Smugglers' Notch Stillwater Sweet Pond Thetford Hill Townshend Underhill Waterbury Center Wilgus Woodford Woods Island

State Forests	Aitken Albert C. Lord Arlington Calvin Coolidge Cambridge Camels Hump Charles Downer Darling Emerald Lake State Forest Grafton Groton Hapgood Hazens Notch Jay John J. Dorano Jones Mathewson Molly Stark Morristown Mount Carmel Mount Mansfield Okemo Proctor-Piper Putnam Roxbury Rupert Thetford Hill Townshend Victory Washington West Rutland William C. Putnam Williams River Willoughby

Private	Babcock Nature Preserve Eshqua Bog Natural Area Hogback Mountain Conservation Area Mountain Meadow Preserve

Vermont Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation

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