This is a list of natural areas in the U.S. state of Vermont.
By definition, natural areas on public land in Vermont are "limited areas of land that have retained their wilderness character." [1] These areas are designated, protected, and managed by the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. [2]
Name | Town | County | Approximate area | Administered by | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
acres | ha | ||||
Babcock Nature Preserve | Eden | Lamoille | 1,000 | 400 | Johnson State College, Vermont State Colleges |
Centennial Woods | Burlington, South Burlington | Chittenden | 65 | 26 | University of Vermont, Vermont Land Trust |
Eshqua Bog Natural Area | Hartland | Windsor | 41 | 17 | New England Wild Flower Society, The Nature Conservancy |
H. Laurence Achilles Natural Area at Shelburne Pond | Shelburne | Chittenden | 1,046 | 423 | University of Vermont, The Nature Conservancy |
Helen W. Buckner Memorial Natural Area | West Haven | Rutland | 3,791 | 1,534 | The Nature Conservancy |
Hogback Mountain Conservation Area | Marlboro | Windham | 590 | 240 | The town of Marlboro |
Mountain Meadow Preserve | Pownal | Bennington | 176 | 71 | The Trustees of Reservations |
Shaw Mountain Natural Area | Benson, West Haven | Rutland | 451 | 183 | The Nature Conservancy |
Williams Woods Natural Area | Charlotte | Chittenden | 63 | 25 | The Nature Conservancy |
The Shawangunk Ridge, also known as the Shawangunk Mountains or The Gunks, is a ridge of bedrock in Ulster County, Sullivan County and Orange County in the state of New York, extending from the northernmost point of the border with New Jersey to the Catskills. The Shawangunk Ridge is a continuation of the long, easternmost section of the Appalachian Mountains; the ridge is known as Kittatinny Mountain in New Jersey, and as Blue Mountain as it continues through Pennsylvania. This ridge constitutes the western border of the Great Appalachian Valley.
The Mountains-to-Sea State Trail (MST) is a long-distance trail for hiking and backpacking, that traverses North Carolina from the Great Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks. The trail's western endpoint is at Clingman's Dome, where it connects to the Appalachian Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Its eastern endpoint is in Jockey's Ridge State Park on the tallest sand dune on the east coast. The trail is envisioned as a scenic backbone of an interconnected trail system spanning the state. As such, the trail's route attempts to connect as many trail systems and natural scenic areas as practicable. A little over half of the trail is complete in multiple segments across the state.
Mohawk State Forest, also known as Mohawk State Forest/Mohawk Mountain State Park, encompasses over 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) in the towns of Cornwall, Goshen, and Litchfield in the southern Berkshires of Litchfield County, Connecticut. As overseen by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the area is used for hiking, picnicking, and winter sports by the public, while being actively managed to produce timber and other forest products.
The Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves is an agency of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in the United States dedicated to the protection of Kentucky's natural heritage. The agency's primary focus is protecting rare and endangered species habitat. It oversees a statewide program of nature preserves, the Kentucky Wild Rivers Program, and the "Nature's Finest" license plate program of the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund Board. The program was formerly known as the "Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission", from 1976 until a reorganization in 2018.
Hazen's Notch is a mountain pass in Westfield, in the northern Green Mountains of Vermont. Hazen's Notch was named after Moses Hazen, who in 1779 led the construction of the Bayley Hazen Military Road. The road was planned to extend from Newbury, Vermont, to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, not far from Montreal, to facilitate an invasion of Canada during the American Revolutionary War; it had reached this point when construction stopped.
Smugglers' Notch State Park is a Vermont state park near Stowe in Lamoille County, Vermont, United States. The park is at an elevation of 2,119 feet (646 m) near Mount Mansfield, and is named for Smugglers Notch, which separates Mount Mansfield—the highest peak of the Green Mountains—from Spruce Peak and the Sterling Range.
Gifford Woods State Park is a state park located at the base of Pico Peak in Killington, Vermont. The wooded park provides camping, picnic, and fishing facilities, and has hiking trails, including a portion of the Appalachian Trail. It preserves an area of old-growth forest that has been designated a National Natural Landmark, and is accessible via an interpretive trail. The park was established in 1931. Part of it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, for facilities developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
Groton State Forest covers 26,164 acres (105.88 km2) in Danville, Groton, Marshfield, Orange, Peacham, Plainfield, Topsham, Vermont. The forest covers areas in Caledonia, Orange, and Washington Counties. Major roads through the forest are U.S. Route 302 and Vermont Route 232.
Hazen's Notch State Park is a 307-acre state park in the town of Westfield, Vermont, in Orleans County. The park features the height of land of Hazen's Notch, a mountain pass in the northern Green Mountains of Vermont. It is located on Vermont Route 58.
Putnam State Forest, officially known as C.C. Putnam State Forest, covers 13,633 acres (55.17 km2) in Lamoille and Washington County in Vermont. The forest is managed by the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation in parts of Stowe, Elmore, Waterbury, Worcester and Middlesex.
Granville Gulf Reservation protects 1,171 acres (4.74 km2) on either side of a six-mile section of Vermont Route 100 in Granville, Vermont. The area is managed by the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation and traverses the Granville Notch.
Willoughby State Forest covers 7,682 acres (31.09 km2) in Newark, Sutton and Westmore in Caledonia and Orleans counties in Vermont. The forest is managed by the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation. Activities include hiking, primitive camping, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, hunting and fishing.
Mount Mansfield State Forest covers 44,444 acres (179.86 km2) in seven towns in Chittenden, Lamoille and Washington counties in Vermont. The towns are Bolton and Underhill in Chittenden County, Cambridge, Johnson, Morristown and Stowe in Lamoille County, and Waterbury in Washington County. Mt. Mansfield State Forest is the largest contiguous landholding owned by the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.
Molly's Falls Pond State Park is a 1,064-acre state park in Cabot and Marshfield, Vermont surrounding 411-acre Molly's Falls Pond, a reservoir that is also known as Marshfield Reservoir. This is an undeveloped, day-use park. There is a Vermont Fish and Wildlife access area at the northwest end of the park with a concrete boat ramp and two fishing platforms for shore fishing.
The protected areas of North Carolina cover roughly 3.8 million acres, making up 11% of the total land in the state. 86.5% of this protected land is publicly owned and is managed by different federal and state level authorities and receive varying levels of protection. Some areas are managed as wilderness while others are operated with acceptable commercial exploitation. The remainder of the land is privately owned, but willingly entered into conservation easement management agreements, or are owned by various nonprofit conservation groups such as the National Audubon Society and The Nature Conservancy. North Carolina contains 1 National Park, and various other federally owned protected land including 2 National Seashores, 5 National Forests, 12 Wildlife Refuges, and the southern half of the Blue Ridge Parkway. North Carolina has an extensive system of 41 state parks, 34 of which are state parks, 4 that are recreation areas, and 3 staffed state natural areas, along with other designated units managed by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.