Peacham Bog Natural Area

Peacham Bog Natural Area is a state-designated natural area within Groton State Forest protecting one of the finest and most accessible examples of a raised peat bog ecosystem in Vermont — a rare habitat type of global conservation significance that has largely disappeared from the northeastern United States due to drainage, peat cutting, and development. The boardwalk loop traverses the bog's open expanse, placing visitors directly within the Sphagnum moss mat that forms the foundation of the entire ecosystem, its surface a mosaic of hummocks and hollows in shades from vivid green to rust-brown depending on moisture and species composition. Pitcher plants (Sarracenia purpurea) are abundant and easily observed at close range from the boardwalk, their deep red-veined pitchers filled with rainwater and partly digested insects. Three species of sundew (Drosera) grow among the Sphagnum, their red glistening sticky leaves a trap for small flies and gnats. Bog rosemary, leatherleaf, crowberry, and small cranberry create the low shrub layer. The raised bog surface sits several feet above the surrounding mineral soil, the accumulated peat reaching depths of 15 to 20 feet in the bog center — peat formed over 8,000 to 10,000 years of continuous Sphagnum growth since the last glacier retreated. Paleoecological records from Peacham Bog's peat archive document the complete post-glacial history of the surrounding forest.