Emerald Lake State Park — Attraction in Dorset

Camping up in the mountains on a hot day I figured I would check it out. The sites are very nice, very wooded. Not so great for my starlink or solar, although I have a generator which is allowed at certain hours.

That being said they charge double for out of state residents like all VT state parks do. Honestly I think it should be the same for everyone. Charging double for someone coming into your state to visit is quite frankly dumb. Mind you, this is how I feel in general and is not directed at this one specifically.

Friendly staff and since my family has a house in Vermont I could have used that address. It really came down to the sites being heavily wooded. Which is nice if I wasn't reliant on technology.

Grabbing a day pass for $5 I headed to the emerald lake. It was refreshing. Especially when you realize why everyone is concentrated in a specific area. The muck as the bottom although probably great for you is not fun to step in. I could stand in the water but I was knee deep in sludge wondering what was on the bottom. Moving towards the group of people I found a sand bar that stretched almost to the island.

This is a great spot to cool off and explore. I will say it is family and very kid friendly. A bit disheartening to someone alone and single but whatever.

I would definitely come back and possibly stay a few nights. The facilities are well kept and the staff very pleasant.

If it wasn't for my open spot in the mountains nearby that had no noise I would have. They also do not allow dogs on the beach so that's great. The only thing that ruined my 5 mile hike to the pond the day before we're dogs... Something I didn't say. But yes. Go. Camp. Swim. Stop screwing out of staters.

There are also water snakes, fish,...

Overall great campground: Clean facilities, great location and beautiful scenery, but lots of ambient noise and sites don’t have a lot of privacy.

We camped here during the early foliage peak and it was gorgeous! Our site (Sumac) had a lean to and was rated a “prime site.” It did have a fantastic view, but ended up being quite noisy as the road (route 7) is only about 100 yards away through the trees and down the hill. There’s also a train track, which we were reminded of at least twice during the weekend.

My other complaint is that the sites really aren’t very private - you can see directly into your neighbors’ sites at almost all of the sites I walked by (including ours).

Otherwise, the campground is very clean and well managed. There’s life and firewood available for purchase and very nice / eco friendly trash facilities.

Nearby there’s great access to hiking, orchards and restaurants/ diners, and the lake is also very pretty and made for a nice place to cool off after our hike! Overall would recommend, but do your research when...

Emerald Lake State Park is my favorite campground! I go here every year because there is a lake and it is a unique camping experience. It is very fun to go up in the mountains and enjoy a couple of days. After a certain time, you cannot make loud noises. This is so people can sleep and not be woken up. I think that quiet time starts at like 7:00pm or 8:00pm. There are canoes and kayaks that you can rent out on the lake. There are also paddle boats. There used to be a playground, however, it has been taken down. I am not sure if they are planning to build a new one but I hope they do. There are plenty of picnic spots and you can even buy wood from the campground! There are plenty of restrooms scattered around the campground. If you go to a map it will tell you which campsites are dog friendly. This is a unique feature. It also says if the campsite is camper accessible. Overall, lt is a very fun...