Category Archives: Islands

Knight Island – Lake Champlain Islands

Knight Island

 

Knight Island - Lake Champlain Islands

Knight Island – Lake Champlain Islands

Knight Island – located in northern Lake Champlain) can only reached by boat. This 185-acre island is a mile long and nearly a half mile wide.

It is one of three neighboring islands in Lake Champlain’s “inland sea” just east of North Hero, Vermont that are part of the Vermont State Park system. The other two are Burton and Woods Island State Parks.

Knight Island State Park includes all but 10+ acres of private land on the island’s southern tip. When on Knight Island, please respect the rights of the park neighbor and keep off the southern end.

You must make your own arrangements to get to and from the island.

 

Knight Island - Lake Champlain Islands

 

About Knight Island State Park:

Historically the island was farmed, then was uninhabited for many years. It was a privately operated primitive campground through the 1980’s. The owner lived year-round on the island and began a timber management program to supplement the camping operation.

Knight Island was acquired by the State of Vermont in 1990. Under Vermont state ownership, remote area camping is being continued on seven sites dotted around the island. Land management activities are those which will keep the island unique and unspoiled.

Knight Island is a “remote area” campground. Remote area campsites, while beautiful, are not for everybody. There are composting outhouses and is no potable water supply. The island’s seven campsites, six of them with rustic log lean-to’s, are situated approximately equidistant around the 2 ½- mile shoreline, and are connected by a trail system. This gives you great privacy, but it also means you’re going to have to walk. From the State dock, it’s anywhere from 1/3 of mile to a mile to the campsites, and while your water taxi operator may be able to get you closer, you shouldn’t bring anything you’re not prepared to carry in and carry out.

Camping is by reservation only on designated sites. A permit may be obtained at the caretaker’s residence on the west shore, and is necessary before setting up. Reservations (2-night minimum unless traveling by paddle-craft) made within two weeks of your proposed stay are handled through Burton Island State Park. Maximum eight (8) persons per site; fourteen (14) night maximum stay.

Fires are permitted in designated fire rings.

Knight Island - Lake Champlain Islands

 

Getting to Knight Island State Park:

Knight Island is 2 miles east of North Hero village, and 5.5 miles northwest of Burton Island/Kill Kare State Parks. If you do not have a boat of your own, you will need to arrange water taxi service. Driftwood Tours, (802-373-0022) features a USCG-licensed captain and operates from Grand Isle County, Vermont. Rates vary by group size and pickup location.

If you have your own boat, be advised, there are no docks, so you’ll need to either beach it (it’s fairly rocky) or anchor off. Visitors should also be aware that weather conditions do occur which can make travel on Lake Champlain hazardous. Delays in getting to and from the Island are not uncommon.

Options for Knight Island parking include Knight Point State Park in North Hero (a three-mile crossing) or Kill Kare State Park in St. Albans (a five-mile crossing), where there is no parking fee for Knight Island campers.

If launching a power boat, Kill Kare is your best option. Knight Point is fine for kayaks and canoes. The closest access (2 miles) is from North Hero village, where you may arrange private parking ($) through Hero’s Welcome General Store: 802-372-4161. If traveling to Knight Island via water taxi, you should make your own parking and pickup arrangements through your water taxi operator.

Other Articles About Lake Champlain Islands:   List of Lake Champlain's Islands

Cave Island – Lake Champlain Islands

Cave Island

Cave Island - Lake Champlain Islands

Cave Island, circa 1906

 

Cave Island is located in Mallett’s Bay in Colchester, Vermont. The island is southeast of Marble Island and east of the head of land that forms the entrance to Mallett’s Bay.  The caves that give the island its name are visible in the photo above.

Cave-Island - Lake Champlain Islands

Island, as it appeared in postcard from the 1930’s

History: 

Tiny Cave Island has some strange rumors around it of stashed loot and secret activities, but in all likelihood that’s because its topography seems the ideal setting for tales of buried treasure, mystery and adventure. Perhaps some of the legends about the island surround the mysterious Captain Mallett?

 

Cave_Island today.
Photo of Marble Island Marina area
(Cave Island in lower right of photo)

Other Articles About Lake Champlain Islands:   List of Lake Champlain's Islands

Carleton’s Prize – Lake Champlain Islands

Carleton’s Prize

Carleton's Prize. Lake Champlain Islands

Carleton’s Prize

Carleton’s Prize is a small rock island in Lake Champlain’s Vermont waters. Carleton’s Prize was conserved in 1978, and it was the first property that was donated to the Lake Champlain Land Trust.

It is a plateau that rises 30 feet from the water in Crescent Bay off the southwest tip of South Hero. Located between Stave Island and Providence Island, it has been called Carleton’s Prize since the American Revolutionary War when it was named after Sir Guy Carleton actions following the Battle of Valcour Island on October 11, 1776,

 

History of Carleton’s Prize:
 

Legend has it that it was very foggy on Lake Champlain as Benedict Arnold escaped from behind Valcour Island with the remnants of his small fleet. The British didn’t think that the Americans could have slipped by in the dark and so  they searched to the north and east of Valcour Island. In the heavy fog they spotted what appeared to be a ship and opened fire, unleashing a fierce bombardment on what was believed to be a ship. No doubt the smoke from the black powder added to the poor visibility.

After an hour or so and no returning fire, either a breeze came up or the fog burned off, and the British realized they had not been firing on a ship after all. This misdirection let Arnold escape up the lake to Addison, Vermont, where he scuttled and burned the remnants of his battered fleet to prevent capture.

Some say that the locals had erected logs on the island to resemble a ship’s masts, but this is unlikely. Rust marks are visible on the rock to this day. Whether the rust streaks on the sheer cliffs of the islet are from oxidizing iron ore within the rock outcroppings or the cannonballs showered down by the British gunners is part of the mystery of Carleton’s Prize.

 

 

Vermont’s earliest inhabitants, the Abenaki, knew Carleton’s Prize as odzihózoiskwá, or “Odzihozo’s wife”. Odzihozo, “the transformer”, was the supernatural being who created Lake Champlain, the mountains and all the lands that made up their homeland.

According to the legend, Odzihozo was an impatient deity, and before he was even completely formed with a head, legs and arms, he set out to change the earth. His last creation was Lake Champlain, which he considered his masterpiece. He was so pleased with his work that he climbed onto a rock in Burlington Bay and turned himself to stone so he could watch and be near the lake for the rest of eternity. The rock in Burlington Bay, and is known to boaters as Rock Dunder – several miles away from his wife.

 

Other Articles About Lake Champlain Islands:   List of Lake Champlain's Islands

Signal Buoy Island – Lake Champlain Islands

Signal Buoy Island

 

Signal Buoy Island - Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex (LCIMC)

 

Signal Buoy Island is less than 1 acre in size. It is the southernmost island of the Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex (LCIMC) – owned and operated by the State of New York.

Signal Buoy Island is located 2.5 miles south of Sheepshead Island in the Town of Ticonderoga, New York. This small island has a Coast Guard signal buoy set in the water (for which it is named) and has no recreational facilities.

Other Articles About Lake Champlain Islands:   List of Lake Champlain's Islands

Tom

March 10, 2017

Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex (LCIMC)

 

Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex (LCIMC)

 

The Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex (LCIMC) is comprised of six islands owned by the State of New York and managed collectively. LCIMC is located in the northeastern Adirondacks in the towns of Ausable, Peru and Plattsburgh in Clinton County and in the towns of Crown Point, Chesterfield, Ticonderoga, Westport and Willsboro in Essex County.

The six islands are: Valcour, Schuyler, Cole, Garden, Sheepshead and Signal Buoy. The six islands contain about 1,130 acres of Forest Preserve land. LCIMC maintains about 13 miles of hiking trails and 34 designated campsites. The LCIMC also maintains three boat launch sites located at Peru Dock, Port Douglas and Willsboro Bay.

 

Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex (LCIMC) Bluff Point Lighthouse

Bluff Point Lighthouse

The six islands that make up the LCIMC contain 13 miles of hiking trails, 34 designated campsites and offer a variety of day-use opportunities that include hiking, picnicking, wildlife and bird watching or visiting the Bluff Point Lighthouse on Valcour Island.

 

The Bluff Point Lighthouse is the only lighthouse on Lake Champlain to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It overlooks Valcour Bay, the site of the 1776 Battle of Valcour Bay (the first naval battle of the Revolutionary War). The Bay is also a National Historic Landmark. The light continues to serve as a U.S. Coast Guard aid to navigation.

 

 

Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex Unit Management Plan

Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex (LCIMC)

Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex (LCIMC)

 

The Lake Champlain Islands Management Complex Unit Management Plan includes: Valcour Island Primitive Area (968.5 acres); Schuyler Island Primitive Area (161.4 acres); Champlain Islands Wild Forest (4 acres);  Peru Dock Boat Launch Intensive Use Area (10.5 acres);  Port Douglas Boat Launch Intensive Use Area (2.5 acres); and Willsboro Bay Boat Launch Intensive Use Area (15.1 acres).  Champlain Islands Wild Forest consists of four islands: Garden Island, Cole Island, Sheepshead Island and Signal Buoy. Each is less than one acre of land surface.

 

 

Other Articles About Lake Champlain Islands:   List of Lake Champlain's Islands