snow-covered pomd
Little Averill Pond Winter at Averill Pond shoreline © Emily Seifert/The Nature Conservancy

Places We Protect

Little Averill Lake Natural Area

Vermont

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Peregrine falcons and loons nest in this remote area.

Little Averill Lake is set in a remote corner of the Northeast Kingdom. There are a few camps on this 438-acre pond and the forest is managed for timber production, but the pond, which sits at a relatively high elevation at 1,800 feet, feels like part of a larger, wilder landscape, and it is. The former Champion Lands, now owned by Essex Timber Company, surround the eastern flank of the pond. The cliffs and talus slopes of Brousseau Mountain to the northwest loom above the pond.

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site

Loons, once endangered in Vermont, have nested at Little Averill since 1978. The Conservancy conserved this land to protect the nesting site for the loons and the lake sand beach community.

What the Conservancy is Doing

Conservancy volunteers work with the Vermont Center for Ecostudies on a loon-monitoring project.

Resources

What to See: Plants

There is a northern white cedar swamp and an unusual natural lake sand beach community on the property, which may have been created by the deposition of white sand that was pushed up onto the shore over time by waves and ice. Some of the plants in the beach and the open wetland here include green wood orchis, round-leaved sundew, bugleweed and marsh St. Johnswort. There are a number of sedges found in the area and shrubs including sweet gale, mountain holly and sourtop blueberry.

The lake is surrounded by northern hardwood forest and some mixed hardwood-softwood forest typical of the Northern Forest. Little Averill drains into Great Averill Lake.

What to See: Animals

The Conservancy’s property on Little Averill Lake includes a documented nesting site for the rare common loon. The Vermont Center for Ecostudies monitors common loon breeding patterns on the pond. Please stay at least 200 feet away from loon nests May 15 to August 15.

Peregrine falcons nest on nearby Brousseau Mountain, and moose are abundant in the area.

Visitors can put their boats into the water at the Vermont Fish and Wildlife boat access where there is a parking lot. Please read our Preserve Visitation Guidelines.

Resources