Directions to Silver Lake

Silver Lake is in the Green Mountain National Forest in Leicester, VT. These directions take you to the Goshen Trail from the Goshen side of the lake, which is a shorter hike in (.6 miles instead of 1.6)

Here are some maps I pulled from MapQuest. Hope they are legible. If not, write me a note and I'll see if I can help you out.

Overview/Route 7-53 Map

  1. Go south on Route 7 from South Burlington, past Middlebury, until you get to Route 53 (about 45-48 miles, give or take.) Turn LEFT onto Route 53.
    (Lat/Long: N 43 deg 55'43.7" W 73 deg 6'36.1")
  2. Follow Route 53 until you reach Route 73. You will drive all the way around Lake Dunmore, through Kampersville. Past Kampersville, you will drive past Branbury State Park (Lake Dunmore) on your right, and a quarter mile past that you will drive past the Silver Lake Recreation Area on your left. You could park here and hike up to Silver Lake, but it's a longer hike (1.6 miles) and it's better to have people hiking in from the same point...
  3. Once you reach Route 73 (several miles past the first Silver Lake parking area), turn LEFT onto Route 73 east.
    (Lat/Long: N 43 deg 49'49.1" W 73 deg 3'19.7")
  4. Travel down Route 73 for 1.7 miles. Then turn LEFT onto Forest Road 32 (north). Be careful - the forest road signs are not large, and often have only the number ("32") written on them.
    (Lat/Long: N 43 deg 50'31.4" W 73 deg 1'45.3")
  5. After a half mile, Forest Road 32 makes a left turn across a creek. This is not obvious, since another road appears to continue straight from that turn, and the turn is not well marked. Follow the road as it turns to the left. It should soon turn to dirt.
  6. Follow Forest Road 32 for an additional 2 miles. Turn LEFT onto Forest Road 27.
  7. Stay on Forest Road 27, bearing to the right at one questionable point, until you reach the Silver Lake parking area and a barricaded smaller road continuing on. You should be 4.5 miles from Route 73 at this point.
    (Lat/Long: N 43 deg 53'30.3" W 73 deg 2'33.4")
  8. The carry into Silver Lake is 0.6 miles from here, most of it gently downhill. When you get to the Silver Lake loop trail, the campsites are to the right within a few hundred yards.
    (Campsites Lat/Long: N 43 deg 53'39.1" W 73 deg 3'3.4")
Forest Road map

Local map from Topo! Northeast:

Silver Lake area