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Coolidge State Park |
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 Coolidge
State Park
855 Coolidge SP Rd
Plymouth, Vermont 05056Park Phone: 802-672-3612
Coolidge State Forest contains a total of 16,166 acres scattered
throughout seven towns, and is divided by Route 100 into two districts. The
recreational center of the forest is Coolidge State Park, which consists of
about 500 acres in the eastern district. The park includes a campground, picnic
area, and an established hiking trail system. Slack Hill is on the west side of
the park and includes two remote lean-to campsites. Brooks in the vicinity are
Whetstone Brook, across from the park entrance, and Pinney Hollow Brook, running
along the entrance road, across 100A and into Whetstone which in turn flows into
the Ottauquechee River.
Nestled in the mountains to the south is the community of Plymouth, birthplace
of Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States. Here, the Coolidge
Homestead is maintained by the Division of Historic Sites complete with the
furnishings that were present the night of his inauguration in 1923.
In 1925, when Perry Merrill purchased for Vermont a tract of land in Plymouth,
he began to put together his dream of Calvin Coolidge State Forest. Because this
land was near the Calvin Coolidge homestead, an historic site that interested
many people, he believed that funds could be obtained to develop the area.
Camp Calvin Coolidge, located in the Coolidge State Forest in Plymouth, was
established June 9, 1933 as the third Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp to
be set up in Vermont. The original Coolidge State Park was built solely by the
CCC.
Much of what is now Coolidge State Forest was once cleared for tilled land and
pasture, as evidenced by the extensive stonewalls and numerous foundations. In
the late eighteen hundreds there was a small town immediately adjacent to
Coolidge State Park (later becoming part of the Forest). Businesses known to
have located there were a store, blacksmith shop, and the Glen House Hotel.
Now the abandoned town of Five Corners offers park visitors a chance to try
their luck at gold panning. Several people have obtained small nuggets and a
good deal of gold dust from the streams in the vicinity of Five Corners. The
best way to view Plymouth Five Corners is to hike up the brooks where one can
easily view the stone foundations built up to the edge of the streams. One may
even run across the remains of an old cellar hole while hiking these woods.
There are 35 lean-to sites and 25 tent/trailer sites arranged in two camping
loops. There is a total of five rest rooms providing modern plumbing, two of
which have hot showers ($). There are two large picnic shelters, a picnic area,
and a play area. There also is a sanitary dump station for RVs, but no hookups.
Many day hikes are available in the park.
Area Attractions: Art galleries, Bridgewater Mill Mall and Chaffee, Rutland;
Wilson's Castle, Vermont Marble Exhibit, Proctor; Cheese Factory, Calvin
Coolidge Presidential Homestead and Historic Site, Plymouth; Okemo Mt.
Recreation Area; Pico Alpine Slide; Killington Gondola, Sherburne, Sugarbush
Farm Cheese & Maple Farm, Woodstock. Coolidge State Park is located near Camp
Plymouth State Park, which offers swimming and picnicking. |
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