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Welcome to Mt. Philo State Park. Sitting atop 968' Mt. Philo, the 237-acre park became the first Vermont State Park in 1924. With breathtaking views of the Lake Champlain Valley and New York's Adirondack Mountains, the park is a favorite of hikers and picnickers, and includes a small campground.
Mt. Philo sits atop the Champlain Thrust fault of Middle Ordovician age. It is made up of difficult to weather sedimentary rocks-the Cambrian Monkton Quartzites-that are thrust over younger Ordovician rocks of the Stony Point Formation. The rocks that hold up Mt. Philo were originally deposited during the Cambrian on a passive margin in a warm shallow marine shelf setting along the east coast of Laurentia (Proto North America). These rocks have subsequently been thrust west during the Taconic Orogeny (~450 Ma) and perhaps again during the Acadian Orogeny (~350 Ma).Vermont was heavily glaciated and once buried beneath ice. The glaciers carved away rock and ground it into finer grained sands and gravels, scoured valleys, and left behind rounded bedrock with grooves and striations. As the glaciers retreated from Vermont, Mt. Philo was an island in an inland sea as evidenced by the marine sand deposits at its base. The State Fossil, the Charlotte Whale, is believed to have died in a shallow marsh of the Champlain Sea and been covered by fine clay sediment, providing more evidence for changes in climate and history of the Lake Champlain area. Yet all this activity is recent when compared with the 550 million year old bedrock of the Champlain Valley.
Excellent camping, hiking and picnicking.
7 tent/RV sites, 3 lean-tos, restrooms with flush toilets, hot and cold running water and coin-operated showers. There is a rustic lodge that can seat up to 60 people that has electricity, grills, tables, chairs and a nearby restroom. Drinking water is located on the mountain summit and in the campground. No camping in or around lodge. Camping on designated campsites only.
Chimney Point State Historic Site, Crown Point State Historic Site, Mount Independence State Historic Site, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Fort Ticonderoga, Shelburne Museum, Lake Champlain Ferries, Vermont Teddy Bear Factory
Park Address: 5425 Humphreys' RD, Charlotte, VT 05445
