• Students at South Peak

    Marsh - Billings - Rockefeller

    National Historical Park Vermont

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  • June 18-26 Road Maintenance Work Ongoing in Park

    During the period of June 18th - June 26th road maintenance (gravel and grading) work will be taking place in the park in various locations. Large trucks may be present on the roads and trails (some open hours and after hours). Please use caution.

The Forest

A couple walk hand-in-hand along a dirt two-track road at the edge of a sunny meadow. A gold-leaved tree beside them seems lit from within. Photo by Nora Mitchell.

An autumn stroll in the lingering sunshine.

Nora Mitchell

Twenty miles of scenic carriage roads and trails crisscross the gentle forested slopes of Mount Tom, one of the oldest professionally managed woodlands in America. Walk under the cool canopy of centuries-old hemlocks, beech and open-growth sugar maples to visit the Pogue, a 14-acre pond perched near the mountain summit. Don't miss Mount Tom's South Peak, where you can enjoy a bird's-eye view of Woodstock.

The roads and trails can be accessed from the park entrance on Route 12 or from the parking lot on Prosper Road. They are open from dawn to dusk. Pets must be leashed, and no bicycles or motorized vehicles are allowed.

2006 marked the 50th anniversary of the enrollment of the Mount Tom Forest in the American Tree Farm System as Vermont's Tree Farm #1. The park's program of responsible forest management is Forest Stewardship Council™ certified (FSC®C004011) - the first for any national park.

Forest Management

  • Sugar Maple Sugar Maple

    Read a local high school student's award winning essay on the working forests of Vermont. Read More

Did You Know?

Black and white Carleton Watkins photograph, showing Yosemite's massive granite Cathedral Rock. Billings Family Archives.

Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. wrote to George Perkins Marsh in 1857, asking his advice on promoting "free soil" settlement in Texas to challenge the westward expansion of slavery. Strongly anti-slavery, both men would also champion land stewardship and public access to places like Yosemite Valley.