I had such a poor reception, I drove home, 4 hours away. I got the feeling that this small park is a friendly place only for local Vermonters and not welcoming to non-residents. The 2.5 hours I waited to check-in, not once did the park staff person get off his lawn mower to talk to me. No cell phone service, no WIFI service, no way to communicate with staff.
This park has a lovely lake where you can rent canoes, kayaks, or pedal boats. Also, people can freely swim in the lakes. There are mostly families here with their children, but you can find a quiet nook around the lake to have a private barbecue or go for a dip in the waters.
Silver Lake state park was just an average lake at your typical state park. It is not different than what you can experience anyway in PA or NJ where I live. If fact, it is probably worse than some.
We spent a night in this place with a RV. We arrived late but we manage to enjoy the peaceful lake shore and the nice playground nearby. We were placed in a nice and isolated spot where we enjoyed the night. The place is clean and tidy. The staff was efficient and very pleasent. There's free WIFI (not all around the place). In the morning we went down to the beach again. It is clean and offers swimming site, boat rental ( row boats, kayaks pedal boats and more) and snacks. We had a great experience. For the staying we payed 27$ (for 2 adults and 2 older kids), for the pedal boat 5$ (half an hour), for a kayak 12.75$ (for an hour). We had a great experience.
We rented a vacation home about ten minutes south to explore the Woodstock area, and our kids dragged us to Silver Lake for an afternoon swim nearly every day of our visit. The swimming area is a bit small, but there's also a playground, and the lake is just the right size to paddleboat or canoe around on a whim. Beach access cost us $10 for a family of four, boat rental is by the hour & varies by type.
Silver Lake is small. I didn't expect a lot from it. Entering the state park was an eye-opener. The campground, which we did not use, appeared to be well maintained and was well used. We were there to take advantage of the picnic area. It is nicely tucked among the pine trees and suited our needs perfectly. The beach was busy while we were there, attesting to the good conditions. At the beach there are concessions selling food and renting boats (pedal, kayak, and canoe, no power), as well as changing rooms and bathrooms. All were kept clean and in good condition. The facility was well staffed, and the staff were helpful and friendly.The only wrinkle was the closing of the boat concession during the lunch hour. I thought it odd that some of our party were turned away when they went to rent a boat, and told to return after lunch. It was a minor wrinkle, but could be easily corrected and might result in more revenue for the park.Overall, I consider this park to be a gem, a great place to camp, picnic, or bring the family for an outing. Thank you, Vermont!
I have been going to the lake forever. I have often loved the staff, they have been friendly and courteous. And the park volunteers have been super! Not this year. The gate house looks like a fortress- all locked up and orange cones around it. And the staff are grumpy at best and grouchy more often than not! Even though I have a pass I have stopped going!
we swam and relaxed at his pretty little park up the road from Barnard. It was the perfect relaxing afternoon.
Plenty of parking available here. Boat rentals available. Small concession stand has limited items available. Clean, rustic-looking restrooms.
We spent a day just fishing at Silver Lake. The cost was very reasonable. The lake was clean . There were picnic tables close enough to the lake that my husband could fish and I could sit at the table and read and still talk to him. We were there during the week and it wasn't crowded. It looked like many people were taking advantage of boat and board rentals.