Gifford Woods State Park is a night in the hardwoods above Killington, on Route 100 through the Green Mountains. The Appalachian Trail and the Long Trail still share the ridge here. They split at Maine Junction just north of US-4 near Killington (Green Mountain Club).
At Quechee, the Ottauquechee River is far below the Route 4 bridge, and you sleep at the state park campground next to the overlook. Woodstock is the town on the road between Gifford Woods and the bridge, on the Route 100 stretch people drive for fall color.
Vermont State Park campgrounds do not have electric, water, or sewer hookups, as of September 2026. Reserve the Gifford Woods site before you book the van, because those tent and RV pads go when the ridges start to turn. If you need more bunks than a campervan holds, look at RV rentals in Vermont.
Camping season is short, from Memorial Day weekend into October depending on the park. Fall color starts in higher, cooler country and spreads down into the valleys, moving north to south, and the Northeast Kingdom is often among the first places to turn (Vermont Dept. of Tourism).
Lake Willoughby and Groton State Forest
People swim at the south end of Lake Willoughby, a glacial trough between the cliffs of Mount Hor and Mount Pisgah. Car camping and RV camping are not allowed at Willoughby State Forest as of September 2026, and camping near the lake is not an allowed use.
The van sleeps in Groton State Forest instead, at Stillwater State Park, Ricker Pond, or Big Deer. Stillwater and Ricker Pond have sanitary dump stations, and Big Deer is tent and lean-to camping that checks in at Stillwater. Reserve the Groton site before you book the van.
Emerald Lake, Woodford, and Fort Dummer
At Emerald Lake State Park you camp beside a lake that allows non-motorized boats only, in the hills between Manchester and the Green Mountains. Up on the plateau, Woodford State Park is the campground Vermont State Parks calls the highest-elevation campground of any park in the state.
Fort Dummer State Park is the night for Brattleboro, and Bennington is the other southern town on this leg. Fort Dummer closes after Labor Day weekend as of September 2026 (Vermont State Parks).
Lake Bomoseen has state park camping on the west side of the Green Mountains. Mount Ascutney has it too, above the Connecticut River.
Lake Champlain, the islands, and Smugglers' Notch belong on a Burlington trip. Lebanon is the New Hampshire handoff across the river, Albany and the Adirondacks are the New York side, and Boston is the Massachusetts one.