Gifford Woods State Park — Attraction in Killington

Been here probably a dozen times over 15 years. This trip was different. Vt State usually runs a tight ship in their campgrounds. Especially in regards to quite hours. It's always so quite at night, the occasionally laughter or quite music somewhere is the norm. But Friday and Saturday nights were not quiet this time. A large party was still going on and woke me up for the 2nd time at 12:45. I let the staff at the office know, and the told me if it happened again, to drive down to the office ( in the middle of the night) and alert them of the situation and they'd take action. The 2nd night was a different group that chatted and laughed loudly until midnight when I put my ear plugs in. I did not get out of bed and get dressed in 40 degree weather to start my car and shine headlights thru the whole campground to drive to the office to report them. They never drove thru the campgrounds ( except to clean bathrokms) to monitor during the day or the evening as is often done at other vt campgrounds I've stayed at. ( and I've stayed at 3/4 of them over 15 years) Staff was friendly and polite while checking in and purchasing wood. Kind and engaging with questions and listening to my complaint on Saturday morning. Just not effective in enforcing rules. Also nothing to do with staff or the campground, but this trip we were really surprised at the road noise in the campground. Rte 4 is just outside the park and we heard trucks and motorcycles often. Between people partying and the road, it was not a very quiet campout. Beautiful spot none the less. Plenty of space between sites and a choice between tent sites, some even big enough for a camper or RV, lean to's or cabins. Bathrooms are flushing toilets with coin hot showers to boot, as is the case with all the VT state park...

We stayed for 5 nights at this park while doing some activities around the area.

The Good: The park is very nice and clean. The sites are a bit small but not to bad. The bathrooms are probably some of the best campsite bathrooms, very very clean.

The Bad: The downside to our trip was some of the park staff. Particularly a guy by the name Dominic. They kept nagging us about different things. They first said we left the camp with our fire going and then realized we had someone on site when they tried to put it out (which was only a small smoke) Then they said we were being to loud (the neighbor actually thanked us for being so quite) they then told us we couldn’t walk through the woods “it’s federal land” he said, then I told him it’s actually state land so he back stepped his comment. Then they proceeded to tell my buddy he needed to pay for the wood when he had already paid for it. The only staff we had dealings with that was nice was the lady at the office. We believe Dominic was trying to push his weight around and think he has power. If it wasn’t for the staff and how we were treated then it would have...

I've camped in State run campgrounds for nearly 50 years. I can honestly say this campground is IMPECCABLE! The restrooms & showers are spotless. There is NO trash anywhere but in the bins. The Rangers and volunteers work hard to be sure EVERYONE is enjoying their stay. They are strict with the 10pm quiet time which, is appreciated after a long day of hiking or swimming at the waterfalls. There are no amenities here (pool, arcade...) which likely helps keep this campground so pristine and peaceful. The cabins are beautifully built, roomy with electricity and windows. The bunk beds are comfortable but, the futon mattress feels like you're sleeping on the hard ground. The leantos are also beautifully built and large. The campsites are large, flat and clean of debris with a firepit. Plenty big enough for 2 cars and 3 tents with a hammock or two! We were a large group of 25+ people and we would come...