Camping at Grout Pond
Julie and I spent a weekend at Grout Pond in the Green Mountain National Forest. It was a bit muddy, but we nearly had the place to ourselves and the bugs weren’t yet in full force. Check out the view of the pond from campsite #9.
Summer Blues posted on 2005-07-10 (source):
Shit dude! I wanna go camping! The four of us should go sometime.Justin posted on 2005-08-01 (source):
Grout Pond is one of the greatest places to go camping. Campsite 7 is probably one of the best sites to get because of the location on the water and the size. For a free campsite, it can't be beat. You have almost total seclusion from everything. It does get a wee bit muddy at certain times of the year, but the upkeep they are doing should make it more managable. The greatest part is you are close enough to Bromley Mountain to spend a day doing alpine slides, deval carts, water slides, mini golf, etc...and if you time your stay right, you could enjoy the local fair and feast on excellent food and buy some inexpensive stuff at all the cool street vendors. This is my seventh year going and I would suggest it to anyone looking to get away for a few days...or more.justin simoneau posted on 2005-09-21 (source):
i was just wondering if we r related my name is justin simoneau...if u could email me that would b great...Boozehag_11@hotmail.comIlMare05 posted on 2007-10-01 (source):
It sounds like a great place to camp. By any chance, would this place good for a small camping trailer? Or strictly for tenting? Do they have any shower or toilet facility? Thanks!mathmom posted on 2007-11-05 (source):
Grout pond is tent camping only. (There are also a couple of lean-tos). You cannot drive to the sites. It's up to a 1 mile walk from the parking area in to the farthest campsites. But -- you can drive to a canoe launch, and canoe to the campsites. There is a pit toilet at the parking area, and a couple of outhouses farther up the trail. No showers. It is pretty primitive, but because of the canoe access, you can bring a bit more than a usual primitive camping trip (if you have a canoe to carry it in). It's a lovely place to camp. Our very favorite. Very quiet and peaceful, and there are loons that nest on the pond. There's a wonderful loop trail around the pond. Lots of frogs, salamanders and red efts, and raspberries growing wild in season.New York Camp Jobs posted on 2008-10-26 (source):
- Any camping area with little to no bugs, low on offensive scents, and clean are in my eyes a pristine area to camp in. Glad you guys lucked out on that. - I'm real big on having a family camping outing within a shout of other people for safety's sake, but when I go with my husband, I would definitely be interested in sites such as Campsite 7 that Justin commented on. - Nothing wrong with taking a bit of a hike from your car to a specific campsite as long as you have what you need (including a dual power (ac/dc) heating appliance with a trusty generator to make things nice and cozy.Vermont Livin' posted on 2008-11-28 (source):
Dear Matthew, After taking your advice and visiting Grout Pond, I'd like to express my profound disappointment with the camp site - specifically campsite #7. There was more than just a bit of mud Matthew, there was a river running underneath the firepit! Thanks my great advice, Matthew - as dense as you seem, I'm sure you're recognizing my sarcasm. Not only did my friends and I have to lug all our camping equiptment through a virtual stream-bed, when we arrived at the site we were deeply troubled to find broken glass and empty beer cans strewn all over the tenting areas. We were also quite displeased to find out that by your over promotion of Grout Pond, we were accosted by a number of rude out of staters - we could only assume that your blogging efforts made this site known to many people who apparently have next to no respect for Mother Nature. So, thanks again for totally blowing the lid off of a spot that was ONCE cool and turning into a sickening tourist trap. Matthew, please please cease and desist with your blog and stay out of Vermont and keep your riff-raff crowd out of this great state as well.WoodChuckHunter posted on 2009-02-07 (source):
Bad INfo is right! 1st Grout Pond is HEAVILY used, and the poor trail and site conditions show that heavy use, Senator Leahy's office stated that over 70 MILLION PEOPLE use the Green Moiuntain National Forest! 70 MILLION PEOPLE! prisitne? quiet? get real. I live in arlington and have a camp on moose run road not far from Grout and we towed out over 300 cars stuf last year alone...it is our ONLY job, towing city people back out $2500 a tow in winter when road is closed, $750 in summer, not responsible for damages. ALSO Grout Pond is open to RV and trailer camping, there are not less than 50 Fifth wheels, RVs and tin trailers in the southern Green Mountain NF from airport road to Grout all season long. the crossing does not open until Memorial Day friday night or Sat morning, the culverts wash out every winter and spring, the road is closed all winter and spring to repair these damages, SO that means everyone that wants to camp in the GMNF HAS to go to Grout or Airport Road or Red Mill Pond. in May 1-9th 2009 we are hosting the Annual Woodchuck Tradtional Turkey Hunt, we will be camped at Red Mill Pond, and Grout Pond, RVs can and do get to all sites except the backside of the lake and site 20, the rest are going to be filled (first coem first served and we live right there with 5 cars, so guess who will be first? LOL, not the jackhole from Connect the Dot! LOL) If you are into home brew and home smokes, and like to shoot alot and hunt turkeys sign up for the Hunt, we also are doing two more in the year too, Grout is excellent for this as any vehicle can make it in there, it is a paved town road right to the forest road, all the skiiers at Stratton pay for the plowing. Snowmobiling is great this year and the ice fishing today was pretty damn good. AND we got to tow out one Masshole in a taurus...yeah, no we dont do triple A, cash pal....and then towed out a Chevy truck from NH looking for moose...he was a hunter so no charge. Come on up the water and mountains are GREAT in Vermont we will be tapping trees here this week and have cider donuts too. my wife makes quilts and knits sweaters, we also have some goat's milk cheese and some smoked trout! COME TO VERMONTdave posted on 2009-06-07 (source):
been going there since the early 70's when it was a boy scout camp. still going after almost 40 years..... a bad day at camp is better than a good day at work,...:)MrCoffee posted on 2009-08-25 (source):
While several people have claimed their dismay at the review of Grout Pond, a few things should be pointed out. First off, my wife and I have been camping there since the early 90's and THIS review was posted in 2005. A lot of things have changed in the last few years. Rivers of mud? Well that didn't start happening until about a billion mountains bikers started using the trails all the time. Then the 4wheelers started. About half the campsites are now closed due to flooding/erousion. Most of the trails are completely torn up. It is a simple fact that if in summer you allow mountain bikers/4wheelers to use the trails, and in winter, snowmobilers, then you are going to end up with torn up hiking trails. Not that they shouldn't be able to enjoy the area, but some of the hike in trails should have been kept to foot traffic only. But in 2005, the place was still beautiful, and early in the season, it was pretty quiet. After the middle of May, it starts to get packed. Hugely different from what it was. Pretty sad all in all, because watching it go downhill year after year, running into more and more rude people from NY/CT/MA has taken it's toll. Not the place it once was.Graybeard posted on 2009-09-14 (source):
I'm planning my first solo autumn trip to Grout Pond at the end of September '09. Can anyone give me some feedback about what I might encounter on the human impact side?Gabe posted on 2010-08-29 (source):
We had a wonderful family vacation at Grout Pond. We're not very experienced campers or backpackers, and the hike to the camp site was only about 15 minutes from the parking lot and beach. Our spot was totally secluded in the forest and right on the edge of the lake. It was gorgeous at all times of the day and night, and dead silent except for the drunken party that went on in camp site #1 on Friday night, August 27, 2010. The party echoed back and forth across the water until 3 in the morning. The next day they hung two US flags for all to see, as if to say it was OK for them to disturb everyone because they're so patriotic. People like this are a disgrace to everything our country stands for, and they defile our beautiful national treasures. Unfortunately, they are the way the rest of the world has come to see us: aggressive, dominant and out of control. In all fairness, everyone else at Grout Pond was decent, friendly, and respectful of their surroundings. Green Mountain National Forest inspires a reverence for nature and American history. I would definitely go again, but only on weeknights!posted on 2010-11-22 (source):
Woodchuckhunter, thats cool you didn't charge the dillhole from New Hampshire. I laughed my ass off when i read that!