Our Favorite VT Camping Spot: Jamaica State Park

Our Favorite VT Camping Spot: Jamaica State Park. This is a hidden gem of a spot: Jamaica State Park in VT has a playground, swimming hole, rail trail and a sweet nature center with programming for kids. We visit this campground yearly. Nearby is Winhall State Park which also is a beautifully maintained park with great camping amenities. (Photo courtesy of vtstateparks.com).

Camp Sites

Bathrooms are clean & campsites are well maintained. We like the lean-to sites because inevitably we get rain one of the nights we are there and it is nice to have a dry place to keep our things. We tent camp but we travel with others who bring campers. Sites are big enough to accommodate campers. The fees are very reasonable.  See fees here.

Things to Do

A river runs through Jamaica State Park and there is a nice but small swimming hole for families to access. There is also a good spot up river to put in tubes and tube down the river – when the water is high enough. The river is also home to trout and small mouth bass which makes for good fishing.

There is a rail trail that runs through the park as well. It is perfect for bikes or strollers. Along the rail trail, you can catch the trail head up to Hamilton Falls for a (cold) beautiful swimming hole. We recommend wearing bathing suits to cool off at the foot of the falls. Also we typically bike

to the bottom of the trail and then hike up the trail without the bikes.

Manchester, VT and Stratton Mountain are both quick drives away for fun afternoon outings. We love the bookstore in Manchester and the other outlet stores. The kids enjoyed the Gondola ride and hiking offered at Stratton Mountain.

Jamaica State Park also has kid focused programming like creating “tree cookies,” story walks, evening movies at the nature center and more. The kids spend most of our camping time riding bikes around the campground and playing at the playground. Other members of our group play volleyball or horseshoes or organize a game of wiffle ball.

If you can’t get a spot at Jamaica State Park, we have camped at nearby Winhall State Park which is equally well maintained.

Jamaica State Park