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Burke, Vermont - Natural Resources
courtesy of the Center For Rural Studies

• Town History
• Natural Resources
• Business & Organizations

Bodies of water

Roundy Brook, East Branch Passumpsic River, Flower Brook, Dish Mill Brook, West Branch Passumpsic River, Calendar Brook, and Duck Pond are located in Burke.

Land Use

Burke is sustained by an economy largely based on natural resource use, primarily the mountains with an average annual snowfall of 225 inches. Burke is home of Burke Mountain Ski Resort, located in Darling State Park begun in the 1930's with help from the Civilian Conservation Corp. The park is comprised of 2,029 acres, which include the 3,244-foot Burke Mountain. This profitable ski industry commands several phenomenal vistas which are best described from the slopes themselves. While skiing down Doug's Drop, an expert trail, a panoramic view northward reveals Willoughby Gap, Jay Peak (some 50 miles away) and the Owl's Head and Bromont mountains of Quebec. East Bowl at Burke Mountain commands a view east to the White Mountains and the Presidential Range. The popular trails of upper and lower Willoughby, wide intermediate runs, offer a 75-mile sweeping view that takes in Sugarbush, Mad River Glen and Stowe.

Burke Mountain Ski Resort - Bernd Schaefers and his wife were the owners of the Burke resort when they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the summer of 1995. Burke was bought out of bankruptcy and was operated in 1996 by the Northern Star Ski Corp., as Northern Star Burke Mountain. Despite efforts to boost the number of skiers, attendance through April 1996 was about the same as 1995. (Associated Press story in the Times Argus 4/17/96:5).

The Burke Mountain Academy provides a training ground each winter for about 75 of the nation's best young ski racers, some of whom have gone on to be members of the US Ski Team. The academy has no connection with the ski area, although its students (of high school age) live and study at a building on the mountain. Several of the 1996 U.S. Olympic ski athletes who went to Lillehammer were Burke Mountain Academy students.

The Town maintains a municipal forest in West Burke.

Note: This series is available courtesy of the Center For Rural Studies, a nonprofit, fee-for-service research organization which addresses social, economic, and resource-based problems of rural people and communities. We would like to thank them for the use of this information and would like to refer you to crs@uvm.edu for additional info or comments.