Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park — Attraction in Woodstock

We visited on a Thursday morning in late June 2025. We parked across the street at the Billings Farm & Museum which is a private establishment but works along with the NPS. In the parking lot there is a NPS booth that gives info on the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. It is staffed by volunteers and they can give you info on what you need to know. I think a lot of people get confused and try to go into the Billings Farm & Museum. NPS does house it's short film in the theater inside the Billings Farm & Museum that is free of charge. You just walk in and turn right.

From the parking lot to get to the National Historical Park, you go up the paved walkway and then cross the street. It's a lot of up hill to get to the Visitor Center. The visitor center itself is in a newer building and is quite large. When you enter the info desk is to the right and the bathrooms and water fountain are to the left. If you walk ahead there are a ton of exhibits and it goes all the way around to the large open area more focused towards children. There are books and tables and activities. We asked for Junior Ranger Booklets at the info desk. The info desk is where the NPS Passport Cancellation Stamps are too. The gift shop is also back behind the info desk area to the right. It's a standard size for the National Historic Site like this.

We asked to get tickets to tour the house at 12:30PM when they started but the ranger said it was too early. They give you a laminated piece of paper with a time printed on it for each person in your party and I think she was afraid we would lose it or take it and not turn it in. Not quite sure. We paid $15 for 2 adults and 3 children (15&under). This was for the "Marsh, Billings, Rockefeller - The Mansion Experience (Self guided tour)".

The tour itself starts on the front porch of the mansion where a ranger gives a 15 min talk and then they let you inside where there is another ranger and you get 15 mins to walk around while the ranger outside starts the next tour group. So it's like a rolling program. The ranger inside told us that the self guided tour only allows you to explore the main floor of the house and to tour the upstairs you'd have to book those guided tours.

While we waited for our 12:30PM tour we toured the rest of the property. We went to the Belvedere and the gardens and hiked a short loop around the property. There is a shed along the path with exhibit in as well. Looked like a converted garage.

Overall it was a great visit. The rangers and volunteers were all very nice and helpful. I do not know if I would visit again but it was certainly worth the first visit. Maybe if we were driving by and able to get that guided tour of the mansion. We didn't have time to watch the entire film in the Billings Farm & Museum either. If we had more time we would've probably paid to check that establishment out but we had a tight itinerary...

Last weekend, my wife and I were thrilled to discover that Vermont is home to its very own National Park and it’s located right here in Woodstock! As longtime supporters of National Parks, we couldn’t wait to experience it for ourselves. Entry to the park is free, though ranger-led tours of the mansion run about $9 per adult.

The park’s history is absolutely fascinating. It preserves the boyhood home of George Perkins Marsh, a pioneering environmental thinker whose book Man and Nature laid the foundation for conservation in the U.S. Another interesting fact: the park includes the oldest continuously managed scientific forest in the country, originally reforested by Frederick Billings as a model of sustainable forestry.

We opted for a ranger-led mansion tour (worth every penny), which brought the estate’s legacy of stewardship to life through beautifully preserved furnishings, art, and stories of the Marsh, Billings, and Rockefeller families.

After the tour, our ranger highly recommended a scenic trail hike. It was an easy, peaceful walk that led us to a lovely lake loop - perfect for stretching our legs and soaking in nature. The trail meandered beneath shady trees and felt like a serene escape from the world.

All in all, if you’re curious about conservation history or just looking for a peaceful, enriching outing in woodland surroundings, this park is a gem. The blend of free admission, affordable ranger tours, compelling legacy, and gentle trails make it a memorable and meaningful stop...

Honestly, we have been to maybe a hundred national parks and historic sites and this was one of the most disappointing. The house and property themselves are beautiful.

I felt like the grounds in front of the house were really overgrown and in poor appearance. The museum had good information about the families.

We did the ticketed house tour (only 12 people per hour slot). I wish we could have learned more about the house and the families on the tour. Our tour lasted well over an hour, maybe 90 minutes and the house tour itself probably wasn’t 20 minutes of the tour. Most of the talk was about the conservation and stewardship of the land (which it seems is part of the legacy the family wanted included as part of their donation of the property).

Some members of our tour left before we went in the house because it had been almost an hour. It was the most un-house house tour I have ever been on. Many of the rooms were not even discussed. A painting in the hall might be discussed for 10 minutes. I was sad because I would have liked to hear more family stories about the house.

The other buildings on the property weren’t...