Jamaica State Park is one of the few places in this state that I’ve had the honor of experiencing in different years, during different seasons. It is actually the first place I ever visited in the state of Vermont! My husband (then boyfriend) and I went on a weekend trip here back in the fall of 2014, when we starting consider where we’d like to “settle down” in the future. We also returned this past spring for a quick weekend trip to celebrate our two-year anniversary of married life. Both times were highly enjoyable escapes from the pressures of daily life.

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Both of our visits involved camping in tents. We slept in a tiny tent during the first visit, but we’ve upgraded to large tent for 2019, for comfort as well as for accommodating our puppy Fiddle, who adores adventures. Both visits also involved great luck with the weather, though to be fair early fall (before the snows of late fall) and late spring (after “mud season” has come to an end) are both goods bets for some ideal Vermont weather.

Jamaica State Park can be enjoyed with a day pass for $4.00 per adult, and camping is reasonably priced, too – it’s an $18.00 per night base rate for tents and/or RVs, and the pet fee is a modest $1.00. It’s a truly serene place, and I felt like I was truly “off the grid” both times I went camping here, despite its proximity to towns such as Brattleboro and Manchester. There is plenty to do in nearby areas – during our first visit we went down the alpine slide at Bromley Mountain multiple times and happened upon the famed Peru Fair completely by accident – but there are things to do within the campground as well. There is a swimming hole, as well as an easy trail to walk along, following the West River. This trail eventually leads to Hamilton Falls, which is more of a challenging hike (when we hiked to the falls we kept seeing signs declaring how many people had died there, which was rather unexpected…).

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Though it is a beautiful park and feels like a great getaway even for a few days, the park is not perfect. The park’s website states that “there are two restrooms with flush toilets, hot and cold running water and coin-operated hot shower” yet the latter option did not appear to exist at all when I visited this past spring. I was quite frustrated to have thrown two quarters in the shower and receive exactly zero minutes of hot water, but ten full minutes of freezing cold discomfort. I don’t blame a campground if they don’t have hot water – it’s camping and it’s not about luxury – but I am not a fan of false claims. This would have been more of a big deal if we had stayed for longer than a weekend either time, so the brevity of our visits helped out in this regard.

In general, I think this park is absolutely worth a visit for its secluded feeling, reasonable prices, and the beautiful natural surroundings. It would make an excellent day trip for adults and families (and dogs!), and it’s a pretty sweet place to camp as long as you don’t go in expecting this “hot water” promise to deliver.

Freshly Vermont rating: four out of five stars. ★★★★☆