Stowe · $$$$
Road trips · Vermont
Vermont road trips & hidden gems.
Vermont is the platonic ideal of fall — covered bridges, white steeples, maple everything, and the Green Mountains ablaze. Foliage season is unmatched; summer is green and calm. Slow down and have some pie.
Best time to visitFall (peak foliage)
Don’t missA covered bridge in peak color
Gem Hunt nominees10 candidates
Hikes10 curated
Scenic drives2
Gem Hunt nominees
What locals say you shouldn’t miss.
Community-nominated candidates. Add yours and vote to help choose the first published finalists.
Dorset Quarry
This emerald-green swimming hole was America's oldest marble quarry before springs flooded it in the 1920s; now you swim and cliff-jump off smooth white ledges right on Route 30 in the southwest corner.
Texas FallsA short, forested loop trail in the Green Mountain National Forest near Hancock leads past a chain of cascades tumbling through a mossy, sculpted gorge — the quiet central-Vermont waterfall.
Hogback Mountain OverlookPull over on the Molly Stark Byway between Wilmington and Brattleboro for the famous "100-mile view" sweeping across Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, best at sunset or peak foliage.
Museum of Everyday LifeIn a barn outside Glover in the Northeast Kingdom, this self-service museum runs earnest, oddball exhibitions devoted to the pencil, the safety pin, even dust — turn the lights on when you walk in.
Creamery Covered BridgeJust west of Brattleboro, an 1879 covered bridge with a rare covered pedestrian walkway bolted onto one side in 1920 — a quick, easy stop on Route 9 with a small twist of history.
Bread and Puppet MuseumA two-story 1860s barn in Glover crammed floor-to-rafters with the towering papier-mache puppets and masks from decades of radical political pageants — eerie, free, and open daily in the Northeast Kingdom.
Explore by interest
Everything else worth a stop in Vermont.
Start with a few highlights, choose one interest, or explicitly open the full state guide.
Showing General guide and Scenic routes highlights. Choose a category or Show all for the full state guide.
Scenic drives
Scenic routes through Vermont.
Themed trails
Trails to follow in Vermont.
More worth the detour
The general guide to Vermont.
Museums, monuments, historic sites, and local-only stops from Roamward's shared place map.
Button Bay State Park
A short easy loop reaches mature hardwoods and Lake Champlain's rocky shoreline, where button-like clay concretions, Adirondack views, fishing, and the nature center reward a compact stop. Sensitive plants require staying on marked trails.
Dead Creek Wildlife Management AreaWetlands and clayplain habitat support signed public viewing areas and a dramatic late-September-to-mid-November snow-goose migration. Interpretive exhibits and trails deepen the stop when the visitor center is open.
Mount Philo State ParkA short summit road and hiking trail climb Vermont's first state park to broad views across the Champlain Valley toward the Adirondacks.
University of Vermont Morgan Horse FarmHourly half-hour tours introduce the university's living Morgan-horse breeding and education program and let visitors meet horses in the main-barn setting. The breed-specific working farm is distinctly Vermont.
Boots on
Best hikes in Vermont.
From family-easy to bucket-list — trails worth the detour, great for the RV & camping crew.
Camels Hump
an iconic bare-summit Green Mountain peak
Lye Brook Fallsa tall, fanning cascade in the Green Mountains
Mount Abrahamone of Vermont’s few true alpine summits
Mount Hungera steep climb to open ledges
Mount Mansfield (Sunset Ridge)Vermonts high point, above tree line
Mount Pisgah (Lake Willoughby)cliffs over a fjord-like glacial lake
Beyond the parks
Wild lands in Vermont.
National forests, wilderness, and monuments — the big scenic public land between the parks and the gems.
Raise a glass
Breweries, distilleries & wineries in Vermont.
The trip-worthy taprooms, distilleries, and wine country.
Fiddlehead Brewing
a friendly free-tasting taproom near Lake Champlain.
Foam Brewersa creative lakefront brewery on Burlington’s waterfront.
Hill Farmstead Brewerya remote farmhouse brewery routinely rated among the world’s best.
Lawson’s Finest Liquidsa Mad River Valley taproom famous for Sip of Sunshine.
Lost Nation Brewinga farmhouse-and-lager taproom in Vermont’s Lamoille Valley.
The Alchemistthe maker of Heady Topper, the beer that launched the New England IPA.
Where to eat
Road-trip dining in Vermont.
Restaurants, diners, and food halls that fit the drive — curated by town, not scraped from a phone book.
McNeill's Brewery
One of Vermont's oldest brewpubs since 1991, holding court in a former firehouse with award-winning house ales and a convivial local crowd.
T.J. Buckley'sIntimate eight-table chef-owned restaurant in a restored 1927 Worcester dining car with an ever-changing menu of local ingredients and an open kitchen.
A Single PebbleBeloved family-style Chinese restaurant open since 1994 on Bank Street, celebrated for authentic regional dishes and generous shareable portions.
August FirstIndependent artisan bakery and cafe milling and baking scratch breads and pastries, a no-laptop community fixture near the university.
Folino'sVermont artisan pizzeria making naturally leavened sourdough pies fired at 650 to 700 degrees, often paired with local craft beer next door.
Frankie'sBuzzy New American seafood restaurant in the former Penny Cluse space serving sustainable New England fish with a lively wine and cocktail bar.
Snow season
Best ski resorts in Vermont.
Big-mountain steeps, all-mountain variety, and family hills.
Stowe
the "Ski Capital of the East" on Vermont’s highest peak.
Killingtonthe "Beast of the East" — huge, and open longer than anyone.
Sugarbushclassic New England steeps, woods, and Mad River Valley charm.
Jay Peakthe most snow in the East and legendary glade skiing.
Okemoimmaculate grooming and a very family-friendly feel.
Mount Snowthe closest big mountain to the Northeast cities.
On two wheels (road)
Best cycling in Vermont.
Scenic road rides, iconic climbs, and car-free rail-trails.
Knobby tires
Best mountain biking in Vermont.
Trail systems, bike parks, and gravel routes.
Chasing water
Best waterfalls in Vermont.
From roadside stops to bucket-list hikes — easy ones flagged for the RV & family crew.
Hamilton Falls (VT)
one of Vermont’s tallest, with carved potholes (no swimming).
Lye Brook Fallsa tall, fanning cascade in the Green Mountain wilderness.
Moss Glen Falls (Stowe)a graceful fall in a mossy gorge near Stowe.
Texas Fallsa churning gorge fall with an easy interpretive loop.
Bingham Fallsa plunge into an emerald pool a short walk off the Smugglers’ Notch road.
Tee it up
Public golf you can book in Vermont.
Killington · $$$ — Top public
Ludlow · $$$
Stratton · $$$
Warren · $$$
Manchester · $$$
Plan the Vermont trip
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Where to stay
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