Absolutely lovely, albeit small, state park - but definitely one of the BEST places I've found to…read moreenjoy the fall colors!! I visited in early October and it was phenomenal!! I drove the main road quite a ways and also hiked Table Rock - highly recommend (see my review of the hike for more info)! But even if you aren't hiking and you just want to drive through, it's totally worth it for the colors! There are numerous pull outs and stop offs - some even have picnic tables and beautiful, reflective lake views! One of the lakes had a sizable resort on it that made for some gorgeous photos! There are a couple of waterfalls in the park but I didn't visit them this trip so I can't speak to them but I'm sure they're lovely! The view from Table Rock was incredible! Fun fact about the surrounding town of Dixville: apparently it's the first town to cast votes in the presidential election haha!! There are historical signs throughout the park that tell you history and fun facts- worth reading! I didn't find any fee stations or staffed entrance booths - and their website doesn't list this park as a "day use fee area" so I think it's pretty much free to enter. The roads are very well maintained and in excellent condition. They were doing road work while I drove through but it was a non issue. There was very little traffic as well. I didn't see any bathrooms anywhere so come prepared! Overall it's totally worth a visit even though it's a small park - especially for the fall colors! And the hiking - highly recommend!!

The best in town St Johnsbury My son he love here. A lot of…read morefun! and nice parents too

Super cute playground for any ability level. We brought a two year old here and she was able to…read moremaster most of he climbers, slides, bridge, and pop up on the swings. Set back from the main road and nestled between a church and community center this playground felt safe to bring kids during anytime of the day.

We were looking for somewhere to tent camp up north and came across the Lake Francis page on the NH…read moreParks site. We made a reservation and eagerly awaited our trip. It's a beautiful drive up to camp from the Sunapee region. From the moment we arrived, we were pleased with the park. The lake and grounds are absolutely beautiful. The showers and bathrooms are immaculate!! Not a speck of trash anywhere. There are water locations around the park as well as fire pits and picnic tables in each site. Some sites have full hookups. The park itself was active during the day, but by 10pm everyone is quiet and respectful. There is a boat launch as well ATV trails right there. The little store on site has necessities and fire wood. I highly recommend this park. We already scheduled another trip, but in one of the lake front sites! Can't wait.

Came here for weekend camping in early June. Because it is not a busy season, most sites are not…read moreoccupied. So we were able to have a quiet night. We are tent camper so it was normal site and so glad that was far from RV site which can be noisy. The site has plenty room, a firepit, and picnic table. Usually we are backpackers not car campers, but sometimes nice to car camping. Bonus is very close to Lake Francis: we did kayaking.

This is a very interesting place with a chapel built for folks to honor their dogs. The chapel is…read morecovered with pictures and notes from around the world of people's dogs. The stained glass is beautiful. The gift shop/ gallery next door is nice with a lot of cool things. Definitely worth a stop for all animal lovers.

I absolutely love this place. There is no requirement for leashes and more than enough room for the…read morefur babies to get that energy out! They just put up a fenced in park which is nicer for the dogs who are unable to roam off leash. There are amazing views all throughout the mountain, there are also multiple small hiking trails that are well marked and maintained. Everyone who I have met here has been very friendly including the staff, dogs and other individuals. Although every time I walk into the dog chapel my eyes begin to water, the pictures and notes for the pets who have passed is so unbelievably special. I think the idea of letting the community/visitors be able to give their special friend a memorial that will be seen is something very important. It is completely FREE to go and hangout at the mountain, donations are accepted and most definitely appreciated.

We stayed here with two other groups of people for a long weekend…read more We booked a leanto and tent site. The biggest thing talked about his past weekend was how not a one out of the 7 of us would be coming back. We've always booked state parks throughout the summer in VT but this one was new to all of us. We all, separately, had extremely rude interactions with the staff and were not happy with the way we were treated or how unhelpful they were. It was ridiculous the rudeness we were met with during simple interactions such as passing by a staff, getting wood, going to the bathroom, and just sitting at our site. Bathrooms: The water faucets don't shut off in either of the men or women's bathrooms so they are running constantly, leaving their water pump on constantly which was quite noisy They would close the bathrooms down between 7:30 and 8:30 every morning. Just as soon as the park was waking up and there were many people waiting to use them. They were always covered in mud on the floor and the sinks full of hair even when they left from cleaning and we were finally allowed in. They wouldn't put new toilet paper on the rack, just placed the rolls on top of empty ones. Road: the park was not very booked and we had lots of empty sites around us but the road was considerably busy due to the park staff constantly circling the park in trucks, personal vehicles and on UTVs. Wood: We were given a hard time getting wood. Which shouldn't be a problem, I'm giving you money for the item you're selling. We had two sites, and we wanted 12 bundles for 4 day stay. After playing 20 questions with the staff woman, she finally allowed me to pay for the wood. "How many people?, how many days?, what site are you on? you know it's supposed to rain tomorrow right you won't be having a fire tomorrow.. Are you sure you need that much? How many people do you have there? If you don't use it you have to bring it back to us... I'm going to have to call someone now if you think you need that much.. ugh, you're paying cash...". # of people: we were asked and stopped multiple times by staff asking how many people were on our site. We had two sites and 7 people. The max PER site is 8 people. Pets: There is no area that dogs are allowed to be in the water and there were signs at the one small beach that said no pets. We respected this but one day we left the dogs behind and went down, there was a group of staff there who had their pets with them! So the rules didn't apply to them apparently. Dogs: One of the staff followed behind us when we first checked in to our site as we were arriving. We got out of the car, opened the back door to let our dog out and she immediately came running over screaming that the dog needed to be tied up. The dog was less than a foot from my car and had just gotten out. Cleanliness: many of the sites I saw had not been cleaned properly including a fire pit that was full of trash someone partially burned and staff left. The one small "beach" area was very dirty and not maintained. The "trails" were not maintained or trimmed back. Anytime we were driving through the park to leave, explore, get wood etc we were stopped by staff and asked "can we help you?" No... just exploring. It felt like we weren't able to enjoy ourselves nor leave our sites. Sites: another lean was so close and facing towards ours. You could see directly into their lean to and they could into ours. The upsides: The leantos inside were nice, had a coat rack in them which was a cool add on we utilized, and it was a very quiet park at night. Had the staff been nicer, or even willing to be personable, we all would have had a better time and been writing a different review. Unfortunately, this park was not one we will return to, nor recommend to others. It's one thing to have one person have a rude interaction with a staff ranger but it's a whole different thing when all 7 of us had separate conversations with staff during various times of our stay and each been shocked at how we were talked to and treated.

One of the BEST experiences I've ever had in a state park! The sites are beautiful. Our lean-tos…read morewere swept out, clean fire pits, they even raked the site! What other state park does that?! And don't even get me started on the restrooms. The shiniest I've ever seen! Every where we went, the staff was so friendly. They would ask if we needed help, like they genuinely wanted to help us. I love that so much! The park was really busy because it was a holiday weekend, but you wouldn't know. It was so quiet and peaceful. The loons calling at night lulled us to sleep. They have 2 really nice beaches. A smaller one, inside of the campground and a larger one that's just outside on another lake. The only issue we had was somebody brought their dog down to the beach inside of the park and it was running everywhere. The staff came down about 15 minutes later and talked to the owner and they left. There were 2 signs that said pets prohibited. I don't understand why people think they can do what they want, anyway. Some things I took note of: $9 for a bundle of wood/decent size $5 for 5lbs cubed ice (it's $3.50 in town for same size) $6 for 10lb block ice (blocks are hard to come by, glad they had them) .50 cents for 4 minutes in a clean, hot shower They don't sell bait, but the grocery store in town does for $3.50 They don't have a camp store, but town is 2 miles away and you can get groceries or pick up supplies at the outdoor store. Trails are for hiking only. You can ride bikes on the road in the campground, but honestly, how much fun is that? I did find out that popular mountain bike trails are about 20 minutes away. You can rent kayaks, canoes, etc on the lake that's inside the park, only. Prices seemed reasonable. There's a nature center that's great for rainy day activities. We had 13 people in our group and all of us had a great time! Our first time, here and we are looking forward to coming back. Plenty for everybody to do and if you love races, the town has a canoe race and a marathon on labor day weekend. Concerts, too! Great little place with a great little vibe!

It was a wonderful hike, it felt between light and medium intensity. We took the short trail due to…read moremy mom's health condition. It was about one hour and half. The weather was perfect; it wasn't scorching hot. We went on the suspended bridge, supposedly it's the longest suspended bridge in the world. The bridge itself was beautiful. It was super sturdy, and I am usually scared of heights but this one was pretty easy for me. So we continued on the trail, we went inside of a little cave; and it was fun. Definitely a fun workout and fun outing with family. Every picture that I took was beautiful; the nature was picturesque!

This is an interesting park that is about 20 minutes from the Vermont border. Admission is C$8 per…read moreadult. Once inside the park you will walk on a crushed stone or cement trail that follows the Coaticook River. There are great views of the river. At one point you reach the main attraction, a suspension bridge that takes you hundreds of feet above the river. It's terrifying if you are scared of heights. In another area, you can climb the stairs up a tower and look out over the countryside. There are restrooms along the trail. At night they have an interesting light show. Coaticook is an interesting town. They have a museum, an ice cream manufacturing plant (and ice cream stand), a microbrewery, a small hiking mountain, restaurants, and shops.

Grafton Notch State Park occupies 3,129 acres (1,266 hectares) surrounding Grafton Notch, the…read moremountain pass between aldpate Mountain and Old Speck Mountain. The drive to it along ME 26 was beautiful, despite the intense and brutal heat on the day of our first visit. There are roadside turnouts for both Mother Walker Falls and Screw Auger Falls; the water flow at the falls was markedly curtailed due to the current drought conditions. You'll find signage that explains this area's glacial and geologic history. The trails leading to the waterfalls are short and well-marked, with uneven rock and forest flooring. Tip: Apparently Screw Auger Falls is so named because it looks as like someone took a giant auger and drilled large quantities of rock out of this quite sizable granite rock formation formation Tip: Dogs are allowed here for no additional fee. They're permitted throughout the park and on the trails; but not on the beaches I totally enjoyed everything I saw here on my first visit, and have already gone back a week ago. I expect to make visiting this very special destination a regular habit :-)

Grafton Notch State Park, one of Maine's scenic byways, is always going to have a really special…read moreplace in my heart: it's the first time I stepped on the Appalachian Trail! And, I don't know, you don't forget that do you? Screw Auger Falls - Anytime I get the chance to play on rocks and waterfalls, I'm going to! The Bear River has areas of expansive smooth rocks that may or may not be accessible (depends on how much water is flowing). On one side, there's a tinier waterfall; the other side, the gorge where Screw Auger spills down. The rocks here are so interestingly carved and worn because of the years and years (and years) of water washing over them. Mother Walker Falls Turnout - I think this is where The Abandoned Road is, an interesting stone stairway, a wee cave, and some information about "this section of Bear River in the deep gorge below is called Mother Walker Falls. Roaring over broken rocks and falling into little pools, the river gradually drops a total of 98 feet." You can't see much because of the density of the trees. Moose Cave - This is a 1/4 mile loop of mostly packed surface, stairs, some boardwalks and planks, and a few steep drop-offs. There's a reindeer moss garden before Moose Cave which was formed when a great slab of granite broke away from the mountainside. Supposedly at some point an unlucky moose got trapped here. Eyebrow Trail/Table Rock - So now we get to some hiking. I did some research that suggested Table Rock (2380°, 2.4 miles; specifically going orange to blue to white [AT]) was slightly easier than Eyebrow (2600°, 2.1 miles; specifically going orange to white [AT]). Either way, you get to spend some time on the AT, and some folks are here just to step foot, snap a photo, and move on. We decided to do Eyebrow Trail and it was one of the toughest hikes I've ever been on in the best way possible; it ignited a passion in me I didn't know I had! There were areas where you had to scale the mountainside with an iron cable bolted into the ground; other areas where you had to climb vertically on a rock surface via an iron ladder. The summit's views reminded me of areas of the Highlands in Scotland; and, I don't know that I've ever smelled pine so raw and cold and crisp before. I will never forget this hike; maybe sometime I can come back and do Old Speck (4180°)! Spruce Meadow Turnout - We stopped here to have lunch. If you walk a little further then where most of the picnic tables are, there's a lone table facing an expanse of stunning mountain. It's a good place to have a good meal with a good friend. Scenic Turnout - There's not much that here, a trio of signs/placards that talk about the area. What a beautiful Maine spot this is!

Stunning water and mountain views in the middle of nowhere Vermont. Plenty of space for grilling,…read morechilling, or avoiding crowds. Shaded space set back from the beach available (under trees). Relieved that the entry fee was not too steep.

Just like Lake Willoughby...crystal clear water. I guess it's appropriate it's called Crystal Lake…read more $4 to get in (it's a state park). Lovely beach and there are picnic areas with grills, though those were not in use due to COVID. They have a bath house where you can change and use the restroom. Such a nice place to enjoy a swim and relaxing in the sun.