north beach park

Visiting from Australia we were amazed by the great Autumn colour. The shore of Lake Champlain gorgeous even on this nippy and cloudy day.

There is no better place to be than at North Beach for the first nice day of Spring. The whole campus comes down here and creates what I think is the best day of the year. The water is quite cold still -actually it is freezing- but going in the cold water is part of the allure. For the rest of the year North Beach is good but it will never be able to stand up to this day.

There is an entry fee which we did not expect. The beach itself and surrounding area is pretty average.

A lot of locals come here. Water is pretty clear this year, but the beach is a bit rocky and glass in areas. There is a campground in the entrance to the park. Decent spot if you want to swim and stay local but there are definitely better beaches if you drive a bit.

This is a place to relax. The beach is nice, as is the park. Shade trees provide a break from the sun. The facilities are clean. Review the recommendations for parking to save money.

Pay $6 to park, or park at the school (during summer) and walk down for free. In addition to a nice sandy beach, this place is nice and scenic. Quite large for a Vermont beach. Has a small boardwalk, Nice picnic areas, playground, food vendor, restrooms, and camping available. A great time at little or no cost to relax in the summer!

this park is a gem of a find. there appeared to be nice camping sites for RV's and car camping. we walked along the beach/boardwalk until we reached the end - where there is kayak rentals. interesting rental company, make sure you know how to kayak and/or do a recovery should you tip out. the gentleman didn't appear interested in knowing for sure if we knew anything about kayaking or swimming. the rock formations north of the beach from the water are spectacular views.

We went to North Beach Campground over July 4th Weekend. The campground was nice. The sites are well maintained and mostly level (the campground is owned and operated by the city of Burlington). We were tent camping so I can't comment on the electric or water service. We had no trouble accommodating our tent and screen house and vehicle on the site. We camped with family and friends and had three sites grouped together in a little triangle. The bike path is very convenient to the campground and the beach on Lake Champlain was a short walk or bike ride away. The bathrooms were well maintained but typical campground wood cubicles and given how busy the park was for the holiday the cleanliness was actually a thing of beauty but the floors did tend to be wet and sometimes muddy just before cleaning. They tended to clean just after breakfast and I think in the late afternoon. The trash receptacles were convenient to all sites and emptied regularly. Camp staff drove around regularly to inspect and enforce rules. They were good about enforcing quiet hours. Downtown Burlington was also only a quick drive or if you preferred a quick bike ride away. My teens rode downtown for an ice cream at the Church St. Ben & Jerry's and were there and back in under an hour and a half. The campground has no camp store - only selling ice and wood but a grocery store and hardware store are a quick drive away, are in the same plaza as each other and are well stocked with reasonable prices. There is also no rec area for teens just the beach and bike path - which is fine if it's sunny but we had an afternoon of torrential rain which left nothing for the kids to do but hang out in their tents or the car. The pathways do tend to wash away in torrential rain but the staff came around the next day and swept up and filled in the holes. The squirrels are very aggressive and stole food. There showers require quarters to operate (though this in itself was not entirely awful as instead of the mist you got a full on blast of water) it was just one of those things that we had to plan ahead for. The trash receptacles are open barrels and with a good stiff wind a strong odor could sometimes be smelled and we did at one point have to ask to have the bag replaced even though the bag was not full. If you had small children I would avoid the sites 32 to 37 as there is a steep drop off behind them. We do plan to go back.

My wife's family camped here way back when in the days when her dad came from Montreal to study for his Masters at the University. Money was scarce, so the family stayed here, and had a great time.It was just as Lori remembered. Lots of trees and forests to play in, a great beach. And the rates are low (8 for a day pass), which may explain why there are so many young people,who can get here from town by bike.The view of the lake and the mountains is great.My one quibble, as you might imagine from the author of an e-book called Food and City Building, is that the food dates way back to the 60s when my wife camped here as a child. The rest of the state uses food as a way of defining the special care and values and pride of the citizens, but junk food has holed up here. Not a sign of anything unique to the area, let alone anything that is healthy.They're missing an easy chance to sell local food at a government-run park, and give people good-tasting and health-producing food they can remember this park by.

My husband and I stayed at the North Beach Campground for an extended weekend. From the time that I made my reservation until we left after extending our time, everything was exceptional. Pauline took our reservations and helped with information and encouragement. We had little to no information about our camper and that is where Gary helped us with tons of info. and sources to check out.The camping was fun but the view from the beach is amazing. The water was clear and the mountain views were outstanding. There were sailboats, kayaks, and paddle boaters to watch. A playground for the kids is a great touch. The snack bar was reasonable.The bike trail is right there and yes, we did go out in both directions to bike along the lake. The first day we biked into the Burlington Harbor area. The second time we did about 6 miles toward the Winooski River. This is a beautiful path but busy on weekends. It goes for miles and miles.This is a great place to camp and enjoy so many events and just to relax.

North Beach is on Lake Champlain, a most beautiful spot. I have been there many times. THis past summer, we watched Burlington's 4th of July fireworks. In addition to a nice beach, there is a playground for children with a grassy section and a snackbar. It is conveniently located off the Burlington Bike Path and there is camping available on the other side of the Path. It's great for families and friends.

This is a great public park with beachfront access and camping on the property. There's a large playground with well maintained equipment and lots of parking. The view is amazing. What I liked the best, though, is the sand in the water is incredibly soft and the water is only knee deep for several feet off-shore. That makes it a perfect place for families with kids to play and play safely. No lifeguards on duty, but that wouldn't stop me from bringing my daughter here.

We went to North Beach four years ago and my young kids raved about the cheese fries from the snack bar. It was kind of a running joke in the family that they remembered them so fondly. Well, we went back at ages 49, 48, 16 and almost 12. The girl told us no one was ordering them any more so they were dropped from the menu. Oh well. The swimming is great. We had some beachfront at our rental, but it's very rocky and seaweedy. North Beach is nice and sandy to wade in and is really great. We only had to pay $8 to park. We sat in the shady, grass area just beyond the beach all the while enjoying a cool steady breeze and a complete absence of bugs. Beyond the end of the beach there is a hiking trail that takes you to the edge of the cliff looking down at the lake. Awesome. The changing rooms are nice. The employees were very courteous. What a day. Wow.

This is Burlington's beach. Very clean facilities, parking is usually available. The beach is free, the parking is not...but it's less than a day on the cape. You can walk easily from downtown Burlington along the bike path (1/2 mile?). Warning...in the spring on those first gorgeous days of warmth...about 5,000 college students skip classes and go to North Beach...they're all pretty much gone by May 15th, so it returns back to normal until the college kids get back in late August.

I stumbled on Burlington's north beach by accident while on the bike path. I rejoiced at the quality of the sand, the security of the entire installation, the vastness of the beach and the parking lot, and especially the view on lake Champlain. The water was reasonably warm, and there were very few visitors. I could not believe they managed to protect such a pristine paradise so close to downtown from the appetite of real estate speculators and developers. One problem: the ice cream served at the dairy bar was one of the worse I've ever had. Definately not Ben & Jerry's...