My Favorite Park in Vermont Is a Little-Known Paradise for Birding

According to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, Vermont has the highest percentage of residents participating in bird watching away from home than any other state in the country. In fact, the agency even compiled a list of 50 types of birds you can see in the state to help avid bird watchers add to their life list, which includes our national bird, the Bald Eagle. And while many bird enthusiasts flock (you knew it was coming) to the more than 100 Wildlife Management Areas owned by the VFWD, I often prefer to visit Coolidge State Park instead.

The park encompasses the wooded hills to the east and west of Vermont Route 100A in Pinney Hollow, which is in Plymouth. It’s hard to believe today that most of the verdant birding hotspot was once cleared and tilled farmland and pasture before the State of Vermont purchased 300 acres and established the Calvin Coolidge State Forest in 1925, the name a nod to the nearby popular tourist destination, Calvin Coolidge Homestead. Just seven years later, the forest encompassed 4,427 acres with the State Forest Service planting over 100,000 pine and spruce trees. When the Civilian Conservation Corps was formed in 1933, its development into a state park began, with it officially opening in 1944 as the third of what would be 21 state parks in Vermont. In June 2025 alone, fellow bird watchers in Coolidge State Park recorded spotting more than 40 species, including the Red-breasted Nuthatch, Black-Throated Blue Warbler, and American Goldfinch.

One of the reasons I seek out time in Coolidge when up in ski country is that it tends to be serene and uncrowded, which are, of course, ideal conditions for birdwatching. It has more than a dozen trails, all considered moderate-to-hard in difficulty. There are three more difficult out-and-back routes that summit Killington Peak, shortest and most-popular being the Killington Peak via Bucklin Trail; it’s 7.4 miles round trip with an elevation gain of 2,457 and while it delivers panoramic views of the Green Mountains of Vermont, the Adirondacks of New York, and the White Mountains of New Hampshire, it can be rather populated in the high summer months.

Better bets for birders also looking for sweeping aerial views are the longer but less popular Killington Peak via Long Trail and Black Swamp to Killington Peak Trail. The Long Trail is a 12.1-mile route with a 3,120-foot elevation gain that takes an average of nearly seven hours to complete, while the Black Swamp Trail is 11.5 miles but takes about the same amount of time to complete, thanks to an elevation gain of 3,231 feet. For those looking for a more moderate-level trail for bird watching, the one to choose is the out-and-back Shrewsbury Peak via Black Swamp Trail, which still delivers stunning views with a 1,332-foot elevation gain, but it’s just 4.3 miles long, the first mile being an easy carriage road before it becomes rockier. 

Share this article with an avid birder who needs to know about the bird watching paradise that is Coolidge State Park, or save it if you’re planning a trip to Vermont and want to add birding to your itinerary.