Hiking The Silver Lake Trail In Salisbury, Vermont

After being swarmed by gnats on our hike up Mt Pisgah, Shae and I were a little apprehensive about going on another hike through a forest in Vermont.

We decided to brave it though and so headed to Silver Lake in Salisbury with our dog Truffles. Silver Lake is next to Lake Dunmore, one of the places we had on our list of places to visit as photos of it online looked beautiful. The beach at Lake Dunmore isn’t pet-friendly though and although the sandy beach at Silver Lake isn’t either, dogs are allowed on the trails.

The Silver Lake Trail isn’t too difficult, although it is steeper than we expected. I’d thought the trail would be fairly flat, assuming that Silver Lake would be at the same height as Lake Dunmore. Silver Lake is higher up though, so be prepared for slightly more of a workout than you might expect.

Walking uphill has its benefits though as you’ll soon arrive at the top of the Falls of Lana.

The Falls of Lana aren’t too easy to see from this vantage point, although it’s possible to cross over the stream to see the top of the falls from a couple of different perspectives.

We saw a sign for a Falls of Lana Trail picnic area on our hike, so that might offer different views. It also looks like you can get a much better view of the falls from another location, so I wish I’d realized that before we visited as they look beautiful from that angle.

I mentioned earlier that it’s a bit of a hike uphill; this view of Lake Dunmore in the distance gives an idea of how high you end up.

Having tried to see the Falls of Lana from as many different angles as we could, we continued hiking to Silver Lake. It’s a pretty hike, crossing over streams and walking through the forest. Despite being uphill, the path itself is pretty easy and doesn’t involve clambering over rocks.

It wasn’t too long before we arrived at Silver Lake.

There’s a shaded picnic area next to the lake, so we stopped for lunch as it was about 2pm by that point.

After eating, we wandered down to the lake. We had perfect weather when we visited, so that helped Silver Lake look even more glorious.

Shae and I had originally planned to walk the entire ~5.5 mile trail that takes you around the lake. However, we also wanted to return to Warren Falls that day, so we decided to cut our hike short and just return the same way we came.

Before leaving though, we heard what sounded like another waterfall. Heading left along the lake, we discovered what the sound was. Rather than being a waterfall, we discovered what turned out to be a feeder channel that leads from a dam to Silver Lake.

Having hiked back down, we stopped quickly to enjoy the view of Lake Dunmore.

Silver Lake Trail Parking

If you do a search for Silver Lake Trail on Google Maps, there’s a listing for it that’ll direct you to the general vicinity.

However, that pinpoint on Google Maps isn’t very accurate as it’s placed in the middle of Lake Dunmore Road and isn’t where the trail starts. Instead, you need to continue a few hundred yards (if you’re approaching from the south) until you reach a parking area that’s opposite Kelsey Lane.

Here’s a link to the parking area on Google Maps so that you can find the correct location.