Mt. Philo

Mt. Philo State Park

    We visited Mt. Philo during the first week of April on one of the clearest days of the year. The mountain is located in Charlotte, VT and is about 1000 feet high. One of the unique parts of the mountain is its isolation which means it has great sight lines for viewing many of the higher mountain ranges. Philo provides a great view of the Adirondack and Green Mountains especially on the day we went where visibility was as long as 100 miles. 

Snake Mountain

    Philo along with many of the surrounding mountains were created when tectonic plates collided and created a peak. It is estimates that hundreds of millions of years ago the mountain and its surrounding counterparts stood higher than the Himalayas. Since that time they have been worn down by glaciers, and various elements of weather. The top of the mountain was formerly an island when much of Vermont was covered by the Champlain Sea.

Old Growth Maple

     The path heading up to the summit had a very old maple tree. This tree was not cut because it was used for sugaring but most of the mountain was clearcut for agriculture hundreds of years ago. Much of the mountain was used for sheep and forested but the CCC replanted much of the forest in the 1930s.

Adirondack Mountains

    Upon reaching the top of Mt. Philo we could see much of the surrounding farm land which was in a flat valley meaning the soil was fertile. Beyond the farmland was Lake Champlain, the Adirondacks and some of the Green Mountains. The high level of clarity meant that we could see almost as far south as Massachusetts.