Contact Information
P.O. Box 123
St. Albans Bay, VT 05481
802-524-6021
Recognizing the need for a mainland base from which to service Burton Island State Park, the State of Vermont purchased the 17-acre Kamp Kill Kare property in 1967. A three-story building in the center of the park was built in the 1870's and operated as a summer resort hotel until about 1900, when a boys' camp was founded. Today, the building serves as housing for the park staff and a bathhouse for park visitors. The park is a popular day use area offering a boat launch, swimming and large picnic space with concession and a shelter. The park and its ferry dock provide a vital mainland link to Burton, Woods, and Knight Island State Parks' operations.Kamp Kill Kare State Park is named for Kamp Kill Kare, a summer camp for boys, which operated on this site for some fifty years through the mid 1900's. Located on the southwestern tip of St. Albans Point, a three-mile peninsula which defines St. Albans Bay, Kamp Kill Kare is surrounded on three sides by the sparkling water of Lake Champlain. In the 1840's, the property was part of a farm owned by C.C. Burton. The three-story building in the center of the park was built in the 1870's and operated as a summer resort hotel until about 1900, when the boys' camp was founded.
Recognizing the need for a mainland base from which to service Burton Island State Park, the State of Vermont purchased the 17-acre Kamp Kill Kare property in 1967. The boat ramp was blasted out on the east shore, and the breakwater, to protect the launch ramp and ferry dock, was built into the lake. Some group picnicking was permitted on the grounds but the primary purpose of the park, in the early days, was to support Burton Island. It wasn't until the mid 1970's, a period during which water quality within St. Albans Bay was particularly poor, that the public began to come swimming and picnicking at Kamp Kill Kare and to appreciate the park for its clean water and cooling summer breezes. Visitations were such by the early 1980's that modernization was a necessity. The old hotel was renovated in 1982. Park staff live in apartments upstairs, while the first floor includes modern rest room and changing facilities and two public lobby areas with reproductions of historic photographs of Kamp Kill Kare in the old days. The group picnic shelter, the paved entrance road and parking lots are more recent additions. It is a popular day use area and continues to be the vital mainland link to Burton, Woods and Knight Island State Parks' operations.
Kill Kare State Park offers access to Burton, Woods, and Knight Island State Parks' via ferry or your own boat that may be launched at the park's site. A large picnic area is offered along with a picnic shelter and beach area. The historic home offers an area for changing. A concession is also on site. Cross-country skiing permitted in winter by walking around entrance gate; all facilities closed including restrooms.
Winter daytime temperatures in the lower half of the Lakes / Kingdom region averages 14 to 16 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 to -9 Celsius). The upper half of this region experiences winter temperatures ranging below 14 degrees Fahrenheit (below -10 Celsius). Summer daytime temperatures are cooler along the western area of Lake Champlain averaging 66 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (19 to 21 Celsius). The central area of this region expects temperatures from 66 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit (19 to 20 Celsius) with the eastern area of this region experiencing the coolest summer time temperatures of less than 66 degrees Fahrenheit (below 19 Celsius). The yearly precipitation for Lakes and Kingdom Travel Region vary from less than 36 inches (91 centimeters) along the western line to more than 44 inches (112 centimeters) along the eastern border of New Hampshire and Canada.
