snowshoe trails in Groton State Park Vt?

[WSC]

I'm looking for suggestions for some moderate snowshoeing in Groton State Park Vt this weekend. There are several small parks inside it intersected with numerous snowmobile trails.
Any suggestions for a moderate (less than 5 mile) snowshoe, or combo? Also looking for info on Trailhead parking? First time going to Groton State Park
Thanks for reading and any suggestions.
WSC

 

[Puck]

The GMC has two littlwe books that would be of value. Snowshoeing in Vermont: A Guide to the Best Winter Hikes, 2nd Edition and Day Hiker's Guide to Vermont, 5th Edition


A hike around Kettle Pond is nice and flat. There is also a trail system on Owl's Head.

 

[mirabela]

Groton State Forest is a nice area; be warned, however, that the trails are not especially well marked, nor are they heavily travelled in winter. If you're breaking them out, you may need to be quite observant in order to follow them.

A nice trip is to park at the nature center on the road around the north end of Lake Groton (nice plowed out parking lot the last time I was there in winter), hike up the Hosmer Brook trail to Osmore Pond (around 1.5 miles one way), and then do some combination of up & back to Little Deer Mtn. (around .6 round trip), out & back to Big Deer (more like 2.0 round trip), and/or around the pond (around 2.0), then return to the TH. It's a fun area to hike in, and the terrain is comparatively mellow.

You can make a nice loop with the Clearwater Brook trail as your return route to the TH from out near Big Deer, but it can be a tough one to follow.

Have fun ...

 

[peakbagger]

I will reinforce mirabela's comment about trails in general in northern VT, when I was hiking over there a few years back, we frequently had a tough time finding and staying on less used trails with even minimal snow cover. It really slowed things down on occasion. I recently got a copy of the GMC snowshoers guide and definitely would add a comment that just because the trails are listed as good snowshoeing trails doesnt mean that you will be able to follow them. A lot of the cause for the problem is that there are a lot of relatively mature northern hardwood stands that tend not to have much understory, when traversing a slope, if there arent frequent blazes, there really isnt a good way to figure out where the trail goes. Once the trail gets in the softwoods, the "tunnel" usually gives the trail away.

 

[Jason Berard]

Kettle pond is beautiful, as are Owl's Head, and Peacham Bog.
Here is a map, which you guys may already have:
http://www.grotonvt.com/Recreation/Gen%20Info/GSF%20Map.pdf

If you go to Owl's Head, and you have time ( none of these hikes are long at all!) head off trail a bit from where the stone tower is, to the east. You'll get a great view of the Whites. From the tower, you can see Camel's Hump.
http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=32165&highlight=Groton+State+PArk+Owl%27s+Head

Have Fun!

 

[cushetunk]

The best straightforward hike in the Groton area is Spruce Mountain, in Plainfield, VT. (Although, it actually isn't part of Groton State Forest proper, but the adjacent LR Jones State Forest.) It's maybe a 2.5 mile trail up to the summit with a firetower and an excellent view. Highly recommended.

This trail gets used plenty and will be easy to follow.

I don't know offhand any resources/maps online, but it is probably in the GMC Dayhiker Guide.

The rest of Groton is excellent for exploring, but mostly for adventurous bushwhacking.

 

[mirabela]

Yeah, good point, Spruce is a wonderful hike. Hadn't really thought of it since you access it from the other side (Plainfield) but I agree, it's a lovely snowshoe trip & on a clear day the view is stupendous.

 

[RoySwkr]

hike up the Hosmer Brook trail to Osmore Pond (around 1.5 miles one way), and then do some combination of up & back to Little Deer Mtn. (around .6 round trip), out & back to Big Deer (more like 2.0 round trip), and/or around the pond (around 2.0), then return to the TH. It's a fun area to hike in, and the terrain is comparatively mellow.

I think it's Little Deer that has a giant boulder on top that I couldn't climb in summer, but there may be enough snow now to build a ramp...

 

[mirabela]

The giant boulder I'm remembering is on Big Deer ... but that area has more than one giant boulder, so we could be thinking of two different rocks.