Kamp Kill Kare
Alumni
Kill Kare Today
After the camp ceased operations in 1966, the 17-acre property was sold to Vermont to serve as a state park. All the buildings except the Main House were sold at auction and removed from the grounds. (One of the two smaller Midget cabins can be seen as being part of a summer cottage that is located on the road that leads into the park from Hathaway Point Road.) The Memorial Fireplace and Dr. Perry's flower garden are two other items that remain from our camping days.
Subsequent modifications to the Main House included removing the dining-room extension that was not part of the original building, extending the front porch around the southeast and southwest corners, and refurbishing the building to include a bathhouse for park visitors and housing for park staff.
As noted on Vermont's Web site, the park is a day-use facility that offers swimming, access for boat launching, rowboat rental, and picnic space. A ferry service also provides access to the overnight-camping facilities on Burton, Woods, and Knight Island State Parks.
The ferry dock and main boat-launch site are located on the southeastern shore, between where Junior Cabin 6 and the Tower House were located. A paved parking lot now extends over the Midget Camp area to the West Shore. This parking lot runs over what was once the wooded area between the Old Barn and the Rifle Range. A second boat-launch ramp is located at the west end of this parking lot.
Picnic tables, cooking grills, and small benches are scattered throughout the park. There is also a 26' x 40' open-sided shelter available for group functions. This shelter is located to the southwest of the Main House, toward where the Lodge was located.
Other than these changes and some small facilities that support maintenance of the park, the grounds remain much as we remember them. The park is open only during the summer, but public access in other seasons, such as for cross-country skiing in winter, is permitted by walking around the entrance gate that is located midway on the road leading in from Hathaway Point Road.
Looking east from Senior Point across the waterfront. The ferry dock can be seen on the shore in the background:
A winter version of the above view, from Senior Point across the waterfront. Ralph noted that when seen in person, just as it appears in the photograph, the snow obliterates the distinction between land, beach, and ice-covered lake:
The above in reverse, looking across the waterfront towards Senior Point and Tracey's Island:
The Memorial Fireplace in snowdrifts of two feet:
Looking west from the Junior Cabin 1 area with the Main House in the background:
