Grand Isle County: Fossils, Nature and History

Grand Isle County brings together themes you can weigh differently on a trip: the Lake Champlain shoreline, birdwatching, an extraordinary fossil reef and local history. If you want to focus on nature and the water, you’ll find specific places to start; places and events spanning several centuries can also shape your stay. When choosing a hotel, it helps to first consider whether nature, historic sites or both are central to your trip.

Shoreline, Nature and Birdwatching

Grand Isle State Park is on South Hero Island in Lake Champlain. The park offers a 400-foot fishing pier and overnight camping; camping is seasonal. Knight Point State Park has a sandy swimming beach and boat rentals. The boulder-covered shoreline at Knight Point is designated a State Natural Area and is home to an unusually diverse group of rare plant species. At this named location, different nature-related features sit side by side: the shoreline and its plants, as well as activities on the water.

For birdwatching, the Grand Isle Birding/Nature Trail has five viewing stops. The loop is approximately two miles long. The number of stops and approximate trail length give you two concrete points of reference if you’d like to include birdwatching in your trip plans.

Fossil Reef and Geological History

Fisk Quarry Preserve is part of the Chazy Fossil Reef National Natural Landmark. The Chazy Fossil Reef on Isle La Motte formed about 460 million years ago during the Ordovician period. A short educational trail at the preserve explores the subject on site and is open year-round from sunrise to sunset. This means opening hours follow the daylight; when planning, it’s worth considering the time between sunrise and sunset.

Fisk Quarry also tells the story of the stone’s use stretching far back in time. It is Vermont’s oldest quarry and was first mined by the French in 1666 to obtain lime mortar for Fort St. Anne. Saint Anne’s Shrine is located at the site of a French fort that Pierre de la Motte had built on Isle La Motte in 1666. These two historical details both point to the year 1666 and the name Fort St. Anne, but describe different things: quarrying stone and the location of the fort.

Local History and Local Products

The Isle La Motte Historical Society campus includes the Stone Schoolhouse Museum, dating to around 1843. Fossilized organisms, said to be 480 million years old, can be seen on its exterior walls. At this building, the history of a schoolhouse meets traces of a much older natural history.

At Fisk Farm on Isle La Motte, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt learned of President McKinley’s assassination in September 1901. The Hyde Log Cabin, meanwhile, was home to Jedidiah Hyde Junior and his descendants from 1783 until the mid-1940s. In 1946, the Vermont Historical Society saved the cabin from demolition and moved it. These two stories have different focuses: a specific event in 1901 and the long history of a home and its preservation.

Hackett’s Orchard is a family-run, diverse farm market with 50 varieties of apples. Its offerings include fresh cider donuts, freshly pressed apple cider, cider slush and apple crisp. Both its products and operation are seasonal, so if you include the farm market in your plans, be sure to account for the season.

Getting There

From Vermont and areas to the east, you can reach the Grand Isle Ferry via US-2 and VT-314. If you plan to take the ferry, check the schedule for your travel date.

More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Isle La Motte, South Hero, North Hero, Alburgh, Caledonia, Essex County, Chittenden, Orleans County

For the main travel overview: Vermont.