Every scene in this book is a place your family can visit!
Use the map in this book to visit locations featured in each illustration
Illustrated in pen and ink, I Never Saw a Moose in Moosalamoo features specific locations within Vermont’s Moosalamoo National Recreation Area. The story is a rhyme about searching for a moose (there is a moose “hiding” on every page) and it includes illustrations of other Vermont animals, plants, and wildflowers. The location of each scene is marked on a map inside the book, so you can actually visit the natural places portrayed in the illustrations!
The back of the book features detailed illustrations and fun facts about animals featured in the book, so children can learn to recognize the birds, plants, and animals common to this beautiful area of Vermont.
Every illustration is a place in the Moosalamoo National Recreation Area that your family can hike to! Moosalamoo has over 70 miles of well-maintained trails, in the heart of the Green Mountain National Forest, one of the most scenic areas of Vermont.
Depending on the season, you may get to pick wild blueberries, see a great blue heron, watch a white tailed deer eat fallen apples, or follow animal tracks in the snow.
If you’re lucky, you may even see a moose in Moosalamoo!
1 Blueberry Hill
Across from the Blueberry Hill Outdoor Center, Blueberry Hill features a number of trails for family friendly exploration. Behind the Blueberry Hill Inn, the Beginner’s Loop Trail crosses Dutton Brook and runs parallel to the Goshen-Ripton Road. For a longer exploration, and great views, follow the Hogback Loop Trail.
2 Silver Lake
Near Branbury State Park, the Silver Lake Trail follows an old carriage road from the trailhead on Route 53.
3 Beaver Dam Loop
Accessed from the Blueberry Hill Outdoor Center, Beaver Dam Loop passes by multiple ponds created by beaver dams. A short trail spur(above #9 on this map) on the southern side leads to a lower pond and a Great Blue Heron rookery.
4 Blueberry Management Area
Moosalamoo’s Blueberry Management Area offers free picking of wild blueberries, usually in Late July and Early August. You might find blackberries and raspberries too! The trail leads up from the parking lot of Forest Road 224. If it is not the season for berry picking you will still enjoy the amazing view from the south side of Hogback Mountain.
5 Sugar Hill Reservoir
Sugar Hill Reservoir covers 63 acres in Goshen. The reservoir is 30 feet deep in places. You may canoe or kayak these clear waters from a launch near Goshen Dam, to an island in the middle of the reservoir. (Just be careful to stay away from Loon nesting sites!)
6 Robert Frost Trail
The Robert Frost Interpretive Trail includes a boardwalk that crosses a Beaver Pond to the South Branch of the Middlebury River. The parking area and boardwalk are wheelchair accessible.
7 North Branch Trail/Voter Brook
This trail offers a variety of flora. Ferns are abundant, along with wildflowers such as trillium in spring, and jewelweed in late summer. accessible from the Moosalamoo Campground, both the North Branch Trail and Voter Brook Road lead to a scenic overlook with great views of Rattlesnake Cliff and Lake Dunmore.
8 Truck Hill Trail
A short, steep trail just North of the Blueberry Hill Inn offers a view of the Blueberry Hill Outdoor Center, the meadow above Dutton Brook, Chandler Ridge, and beyond.
