Exploring Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park in Vermont

Vermont has only one national park, and I was definitely planning on visiting it during my recent trip to the state! After spending two nights at Mount Ascutney State Park, we headed north to the cute town of Woodstock, home to Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park.

I had never heard of Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park before, and wasn’t sure what to expect. But I usually enjoy visiting national historical parks (like Harpers Ferry in West Virginia, which we visited a few months ago) and I’m always excited to learn about the history of a place!

The national historical park is described as highlighting the history of conservation in the United States. I expected to find historic buildings (and there are), but I was surprised to discover that it also has an extensive network of hiking trails!

The national historic park is named for three people who developed and protected the property: George Perkins Marsh, considered an early environmental thinker and who grew up on the property; Frederick H. Billings, a businessman and philanthropist who developed a progressive dairy farm there; and Mary French Rockefeller, who continued Billings’ forest management practices.

The property has been a national park since the 1980s and today protects a diverse forest of maple groves and hemlock trees that are over 400 years old. There are about 20 trails, a few lookouts, a large mountain pond, and even a small mountain (Mount Tom).

Of course I wanted to hike, so after walking around the historic Marsh-Billings House, built in 1805, we headed out on the trails.

We started off on Mountain Road, a wide, easy-to-follow trail. I was immediately enchanted by the beautiful forest. It was nice to walk under the big maple trees, and the green ferns that covered the ground gave a magical look to the forest.

Since I have a slight obsession with mountains, I naturally wanted to go to Mount Tom. So from Mountain Road, we continued to follow a series of wide trails to get to the start of Precipice Trail. This trail follows a small precipice on the side of the mountain. Nothing too difficult, but I really enjoyed this steeper section.

In fact, this section even offered a spot where we had to climb up a large rock with ropes. We thought this hike was going to be pretty easy, but we were surprised that it was offering us a bit of a challenge!

Precipice Trail eventually allowed us to reach the south summit of Mount Tom (South Peak). And there, we were treated to some breathtaking views of the village of Woodstock and the surrounding hills. Although we were not at a dizzying height (only 381 metres / 1,250 feet above sea level), the landscape looked like the perfect postcard-view of Vermont.

Since the hike had enchanted us so far, we decided to continue our exploration of the national historic park. So after South Peak, we continued along Mount Tom Road, an old carriage road.

We came across a trail leading to North Peak (the main summit of Mount Tom), but since it apparently does not offer any views, we preferred to continue our way towards The Pogue, another of the park’s main attractions.

Along the way, we passed through different types of ecosystems, occasionally crossing tall century-old trees, or beautiful meadows, with views of the distant mountains. Once again, I was surprised by the beauty of the surroundings, and I better understood why this place is considered to preserve one of the most beautiful landscapes in Vermont.

We finally reached The Pogue, a man-made large pond located in the heart of the national historic park. There is a trail (the Pogue Loop) that goes around it, so we followed it. There were several other walkers and runners on the trail on this beautiful sunny day.

After we finished circling The Pogue, we headed back to the park entrance, following Mountain Road again. When we finally finished our hike, we had covered a distance of 6.5 kilometres (4 miles), with an elevation gain of 295 metres (960 feet).

The national historic park is free to enter, but there is an entrance fee to visit Billings Historic Farm, located across the road (we didn’t visit, we instead decided to go walk in beautiful historic Woodstock). Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park was definitely one of my favourites of our Vermont road trip!