Rutland State Park

March 22, 2020 Sunny

Rutland State Park consists of two ponds – Whitehall Pond and Long Pond. The two ponds are divided by the Midstate Trail. This park is a popular destination for fishing, boating, swimming, and picnicking.

When we visited, the park was closed (this is during the Covid-19 quarantine period), but a lot of people parked on the side of the road and walked in.

From the entrance, Whitehall Pond is on the left beyond a small wooded picnic area, and beyond the picnic benches there’s a beach with changing facilities.

Since the weather was chilly, we didn’t see any swimmers, but many people fishing and enjoying the sun. We walked partly along the beach and partly around the pond, and saw more picnic spots.

We consulted our GPS, and saw a trail around Whitehall Pond past all the picnic areas. The trail was narrow but easy and mostly flat. We had a lot of opportunities to see the pond, which didn’t seem super clear or pristine. There seemed to be a lot of debris in the water.

We saw evidence of beavers and the kids tried to help a beaver to fell a tree.

The trail was pretty short and unimpressive. Overall, this is a park that’s best enjoyed swimming and picnicking in the summer days.

• A short walk around a lake. Pleasant surroundings, picnic spots, and a small beach.
• It was an easy walk around a lake. Nothing too special.
• I was glad it wasn’t too long because they all start to blend into each other after a while. Like one will have forest and the next will have forest and lake and then forest and mountain and then forest and river and they all seem the same.
• Just another walk around a lake.
• There was a three-legged dog at the end and we were walking around the super-long lake.

For more information: Rutland State Park official site