Colchester Pond

This natural area has been designated an Important Birding Area (IBA) by the Lake Champlain Birding Trail organization. The Pond itself, a natural pond that was enlarged by a manmade dam in the mid-1900s, is a mile in length and covers 182 acres, about a quarter of the whole park property. In addition to anglers, canoeists and kayakers, the pond is also visited by many water birds, including Canada goose, mallard, great blue heron, Virginia rail, and the uncommon American bittern. Beavers also frequent the pond, so remember to bring your binoculars! Barbed wire fences and stonewalls scattered throughout the forest indicate that much of the property was pasture at one time. Other signs of past human land use include an overgrown apple orchard at the northwest corner of the property, and an abundance of early successional trees such as bigtooth aspen, throughout the forest from past timber harvesting. An aspect of Colchester Pond that sets it apart from other WVPD parks is its situation within a large tract of contiguous forest, extending from Indian Brook Reservoir to the Milton Town Forest. It is the only WVPD property where definite signs of bobcat and moose, two wide-ranging mammals, were found. In all, 111 vertebrate wildlife species have been documented at Colchester Pond.