Category Archives: Points of Interest

points of interest, locations and attractions related to the history of the Lake Champlain Valley

Lake Champlain’s Burton Island State Park Named in Top 10 New England Parks

Lake Champlain’s Burton Island State Park Named in Top 10 New England Parks

In a recent article the guardian.com named Burton Island State Park in Lake Champlain as one of the top 10 parks in New England. Here’s an excerpt from the article that features the piece about Burton Island State Park.

Burton Island State Park, Vermont

Lake Champlain's Burton Island State Park Named in Top 10 New England Parks

Sometimes called the sixth Great Lake, Lake Champlain drains most of Vermont’s Green Mountains, as well as New York’s Adirondack Mountains to the west. Stretching south from the Canadian border and forming the Vermont-New York state border, Champlain’s deep open waters, secluded bays and numerous islands offer a variety of boating opportunities. One of the best places to experience Champlain’s waters is Burton Island state park, near Saint Albans. No cars are allowed on the 253-acre island: it is reachable by boat, either in a canoe or the 10-minute long passenger ferry ride that runs from Kamp Kill Kare state park on the mainland. Several miles of well-signed scenic trails help you visualise and understand the island’s history: it was covered by glaciers, then became a peninsula, was inhabited by Native Americans, became a farm and is now a state park.

Top tip If you want to stay overnight on Burton Island, plan ahead. The campground offers 26 lean-to shelters and 17 tent sites but reservations are recommended and can be made up to 11 months in advance. The park also rents row boats, canoes and kayaks. Keep an eye out for “Champ”, Lake Champlain’s mythical version of the Loch Ness monster.
• vtstateparks.com

For the rest of the article and the other parts that were included from around New England go to: Top 10 national and state parks in New England, USA

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


A Paddling Long Trail: The Northern Forest Canoe Route

The Northern Forest Canoe Route

Various parts of the Trail are appropriate for paddlers of every level of expertise from novice to expert. My canoe buddies and I have paddled many of the sections in the Adirondacks, a few in Vermont. Our favorite Vermont trip is a spring paddle in the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge where the Missisquoi River enters Lake Champlain. One day we saw over 100 nests and their occupants – Great Blue Herons and Cormorants nesting in the trees in the river delta. From the mouth of the river in Vermont, the view shed of the Adirondack Mountains as they tower over the lake is spectacular. The Trail from New York to Vermont crosses Lake Champlain from the Saranac River in Plattsburgh to the mouth of the Missisquoi River near Swanton.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.adirondackalmanack.com

See on Scoop.it – Lake Champlain Life

Champlain Islands | Vermont Scenic Drives

Champlain Islands

Vermont Scenic Drives

The Champlain Islands sit amidst Lake Champlain, America’s sixth-largest, freshwater lake. Passing five quaint towns, discover a rich history, friendly people and a vast array of recreation opportunities, such as hiking, biking, boating and fishing or just absorbing the captivating water views, wildlife and dazzling sunsets. A four season wonderland, spring and summer bring theater and musical performances to the parks and the fresh scents of farms and orchards.

Fall is renowned for its flamboyant display of color, and winter winds wisp across sun-glistened snow — and cross-country ski or snowshoe tracks. This spectacular region is just a short drive from the larger cities of Burlington, Plattsburgh, and Montreal. Our scenic drive travels US-2 from Colchester to Alburg, but can be done in either direction.

Read more

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.myscenicdrives.com

See on Scoop.it – Lake Champlain Life

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

Lake Champlain Atlantic Salmon Run Underway

Lake Champlain Atlantic Salmon Run

Salmon can roam wild across lakes and oceans, yet somehow find their way back home to spawn in the same waterway where they were born.

Lake Champlain is hosting this miracle of nature this week, as thousands of salmon swim up a swift, narrow brook that leads to their birthplace, the Ed Weed Fish Culture Station at the Grand Isle Fish Hatchery.

Fish Culture Operations Chief Adam Miller with a landlocked Atlantic salmon from the Lake Champlain Atlantic Salmon Run at the Ed Weed Fish Culture Station in Grand Isle, Vermont

Fish Culture Operations Chief Adam Miller with a landlocked Atlantic salmon at the Ed Weed Fish Culture Station in Grand Isle, Vermont

State fish biologists are waiting upstream in the spillway and netting some of the fish for inspection and measurement.  About 85 pair of male and female salmon will be removed and moved by truck to the hatchery where their eggs will be fertilized and grown into sac-fry over this winter. 

 

In eighteen months about 20,000 salmon will be released back into the lake  and the cycle will begin again.

 

“There’s very little natural reproduction of salmon (in Lake Champlain) — we’re trying to encourage it but really the fishery couldn’t be sustained without stocking. We’d see very few salmon in the lake without stocking.”  Brian Chipman, fish biologist 

Lake Champlain Atlantic Salmon Run. Lake Champlain Salmon Restoration Successful in 2014The salmon restoration program in Lake Champlain has seen tremendous successes over the years. 2014 was the most successful year yet for the salmon restoration program. This year the salmon returning to the brook look healthy, with only about 15 percent showing any sign of parasitic lamprey wounds. 


Kevin Kelsey, who runs the hatchery, said this is the highest run he’s seen since he started work here in 1997, and this indicates positive results for the salmon hatchery and the lampricide treatments in the lake.

View WPTZ video report of the salmon run.


Other Lake Champlain Wildlife Articles:

 

 

The Sinking of the General Butler

The Sinking of the General Butler – a video with Art Cohn

In this video Art Cohn, founding director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, tells the exciting story of the sinking of the General Butler, which sank in the Burlington harbor over a hundred years ago.

 

About the General Butler

The General Butler was built in 1862 in Essex, New York. The boat was named after Benjamin Butler, a Massachusetts lawyer and businessman. Who was also a general during the Civil War. General Butler fought in some important battles at the start of the war. The ship was a typical Lake Champlain sailing canal boat – designed to sail on the lake and when masts were removed and centerboard raised, could travel though the Champlain Canal.

She was under the command of her third owner, Captain William Montgomery of Isle La Motte on her last voyage on December 9, 1876 when a powerful winter gale struck while sailing up the lake. Upon approaching Burlington, the Butler‘s steering mechanism broke. The captain rigged a tiller bar to the steering post in an attempt to maneuver the ship around the breakwater. But the attempt was unsuccessful and the schooner crashed into the breakwater. The force of the water was so great that the craft was repeatedly lifted on top of the ice-covered stones. One by one each of the ship’s crew made the perilous jump onto the breakwater. The captain was the last to leave the ship which immediately sank into the 40’ of water where she now rests.

sinking of the General Butler

Sonar image of General Butler. from LCMM

After narrowly escaping death by drowning, the Butler‘s survivors now risked freezing to death on the breakwater. They all would have perished but for the heroic intervention of Burlington ship chandler James Wakefield and his son, who rowed out in a 14’ boat and took all five to safety. The Butler was declared a total loss. Artifacts from the General Butler are now on display at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s Basin Harbor facility.

 

 

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