Bomoseen State Park

By America's State Parks Editorial TeamFebruary 5, 2026 · Updated October 4, 2026

Bomoseen State Park is a public state park in Vermont near Castleton. It holds a long stretch of the western shore of Lake Bomoseen, the largest lake lying entirely within Vermont.

Quick Facts

Location & Getting There

Bomoseen State Park is located near Castleton, Vermont. The park’s coordinates are 43.6500, -73.2000.

Things to Do

Lake Bomoseen is the largest lake lying entirely within Vermont — 2,400 acres and 65 feet deep at its deepest — and the state park holds a long stretch of its western shore. The sand beach comes with a snack bar, a free beach wheelchair (call ahead), and rentals of canoes, kayaks, rowboats and pedal boats; motorboats are welcome on the lake, and Vermont Fish & Wildlife runs two public access areas with seasonal docks (Kehoe and Thomas Evanoika) for trailered boats. The fishing list is long — largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike, yellow perch, brown trout, rainbow smelt, crappie — and it doesn’t stop in winter: the department’s own ice-fishing tip is to set up 40 to 50 yards off the park beach along the south shore in 5 to 8 feet of water.

The land side is a ghost town. Inside the park’s roughly 3,500 acres lies West Castleton, the company village of the West Castleton Railroad and Slate Company: 43 houses, a store, a school and quarries in 1853, and by 1868 one of the country’s largest slate mills, turning out purple and green flooring, billiard tables and sinks until the mill closed in 1929. The self-guided Slate History Trail walks eight numbered stops through the ruins, from the quarry and rubble piles to the stacked-slate houses. Beyond it, Glen Lake and three smaller ponds sit within the park boundary, and Half Moon Pond State Park — the park’s second, quieter campground — is tucked into the same acreage in Hubbardton.

Best Time to Visit

Note the short season: Bomoseen’s campground runs only from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend, earlier closing than most Vermont parks — for a fall foliage stay on the same land, book Half Moon Pond instead, which stays open into October. Summer is beach-and-boat time on the big lake; ice fishing for smelt and pike takes over once the lake freezes, well after the park gates close.

Visitor Tips

Vermont’s statewide rates apply: day use $5 for adults and $2 for kids 4–13; the 55 tent/RV sites cost $20 a night for Vermont residents and $38 for everyone else, the 10 lean-tos $30/$49, plus $2 for prime sites, $8 per extra person and $3 per pet — as of September 2026, booked at vtstateparks.com. There are no cabins here. Facilities include flush toilets, coin-operated hot showers and an RV dump station. Pets are allowed throughout the park except the beach, swim area and day-use areas.

The entrance is at 22 Cedar Mountain Road, Castleton — from Hydeville, 4 miles north on West Shore Road. The park owes its existence to Martha Warren, great-granddaughter of the Lake Shore Slate Company’s founder, who gave the original 365 acres to Vermont in 1959 as a wildlife refuge with hunting and trapping barred; the park opened the following year.

Fees, seasons and facility details verified against vtstateparks.com and vtfishandwildlife.com on September 2, 2026. Fees change — confirm before you travel.

Explore More Vermont State Parks

Bomoseen State Park is one of many outstanding state parks in Vermont. Discover more parks in our Best State Parks in Vermont guide, or use our Park Finder to search by activity, location, or features.

Wildlife & Nature

Bomoseen SP — on Lake Bomoseen, the largest lake entirely within Vermont — provides camping and water recreation. The lake — surrounded by the Taconic Mountains — has a storied history of slate quarrying. Common loons nest on the lake. Bald eagles fish from above. Great blue herons wade the shallows. Largemouth bass and northern pike provide excellent fishing.

Nearby Attractions

Castleton — adjacent — has Castleton University. Fair Haven — 5 miles south — has the marble and slate heritage. Rutland — 15 miles east — has the Vermont Marble Museum. Lake St. Catherine SP — 10 miles south.

More parks nearby: D&H Rail Trail is a short drive away, while Half Moon Pond State Park lies a short drive away.

About the Author

America's State Parks Editorial Team

America's State Parks is an independent online guide to state parks and other public lands in the United States. Our editorial team compiles park profiles from official agency and operator sources and other identified references, and follows our published editorial policy and review methodology. Where a profile shows a source-check date, that date applies to the detail it names. We correct errors when we find them or when readers report them.

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