This is a gorgeous waterfall and swimming hole about a 45 minute drive from Burlington, VT! My…read morewife, two teenage sons, mini-poodle, and I came here in July 2024 on a hot summer day to cool off for an hour. Lots of pluses. First, it has a wide receiving pool area that is conducive to large groups and is more kid-friendly than other swimming holes (such as Warren Falls). Second, parking is generally available on the side of the road above the falls. You can descend along the second pathway down which is less steep than the first pathway. Third, dogs with a leash are allowed in the area. Would strongly recommend bringing water shoes (river shoes) if you don't like the pain of multiple rocks on your bare feet. Also, it tends to be a bit more quiet from 3pm-4pm, but got crowded when we departed at 5pm. Overall, this is a great place to experience a swimming hole in Vermont - especially if you are staying nearby in Burlington, VT.

I am into cold plunging for health and wellness. It was a cold rainy Aug. day and we headed to…read moreBristol for food and falls. Bartlett falls are amazing. Very accessible and pristine. We had a lovely swim. We parked on the side of the road and walked down..easy peasy.

Great place for sliding or snow tubing with the kiddos. Parking adjacent to the hill. Loved it…read more.. depending on where you are, it might be a drive.... nice options for lunch in the city, too !

At the top of Hubbard Park is the Hubbard Tower that was built between 1915 and 1930. Only 65 steps…read moreto the top, it is made of stones gathered from nearby abandoned walls and fences when the park was used as grasing pastures. It was designed to look a bit like a medieval ruin and contains a metal stairway that seemed safe enough to climb today. I opted to drive about as close to the tower as I could and was able to pull off to the side of the road. That left about a half-mile hike to the summit and then the tower. Pretty nice view of the surrounding area from the top. [Review 18520 overall - 118 in Vermont - 2042 of 2022.]

Easy access hype…read more This Gorge is easily accessible from the road and worth stopping for a few minutes. It is not a destination worthy but provides a scenic rest stop on your way to elsewhere. Many road trippers and tourist traps are here. There are about 20-30 parking spots near the East side of the bridge. There is an info board and a trailhead at the parking lot. The trail meanders below the road bridge to the Quechee Gorge. This summer (9/25) has been quite dry, so not big cascades but better views into the Gorge can be had. There's a big construction going ON the bridge so there was some traffic (yup). The construction probably will be completed before the winter. PSA - The best vista to this Gorge is actually from the bridge which is a very short walk from the parking lot.

This place has always been a home for me . Home away from home . It is cost efficient due to the…read morehigh hotel rates these days . I remember when a hotel stay would be less than 100.00 a night with amenities. Anyways, this campground is close to work, entrainment and many food choices. It is clean and well managed with a friendly and competent staff. I never felt unsafe or financially cheated. This will always be my go to spot ! Thank you Quechee !

Wow ! What a hidden gem ! We were visiting Ludlow VT and saw this fall . Kids wanted to enjoy…read morewater and this was a perfect choice for us . The water was colddddddddddd though. Ufff . Very cold . The first dip was tough ! Later once you get use of it , it felt a bit better . Pathway was a bit crazy , in some places .it is about a 2 mile walk but we just went not too far : .. the lower and middle falls is also accessible from car parking lots outside . Parking is outside and sometimes you have to park 5-8 mins away from the falls . Not much of restrooms around . Lots of dogs in the water :) It was an amazing tint though ! Loved it . 5 stars !

As we were staying near Ludlow, I had put this on our schedule as a "check it out whenever time…read morepermits" item. We drove back after visiting some places to the north, and were passing this around 4 p.m. so we checked it out. This was in early October and the sun was just starting to go down. Though it was pre-dusk, it would be better to visit this site in full sunlight. There are 3 separate falls (the creatively named upper, middle, and lower). You access them from the main highway via a side road that starts as paved but soon becomes (good) dirt/gravel. The total length is less than 2 miles. You first get to a wide spot / parking area from which you can access the middle and lower falls. A trail leads down a hill where you must choose which falls to visit. The middle falls is impressive. It is probably the easiest one to access. The area from which you have the best view is a bit rocky, but navigable. It makes for nice photos. The lower falls appeared accessible from a side trail that descended a bit more steeply. You can also see it from above (somewhat) without descending. It appeared smaller and less photogenic than the middle falls. We then drove another 1/4 mile up the road (to its end) to check out the upper falls. There is a sharp short descent from the road to the top of the falls. It appeared to have a fairly large pool at the bottom and a flat dirt/sand area where some people had laid out a blanket for a picnic. The light was fading more so we skipped walking down the relatively gentle slope to check it out further. If you are in the area and have time, this is a nice spot to visit. It is within 3 miles of Ludlow. I cannot comment on what the swimming is like, but I saw references to that online (during summers, I guess).

Middlebury's Village Green got an addition in the summer of 2021. Triangle Park is on the site of…read morethe former Lazarus Department Store and is adjacent to the entrance to the new rail tunnel that goes underneath downtown Middlebury. And it's next to the St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. The park has a big green space on a nice incline that would make it a challenge for a picnic or a festival .But there's a pretty fountain, called the "Fontana di Trevi" of course. There is street parking, unless it's closed for something. [Review 18488 overall - 87 in Vermont - 2010 of 2022.]

We wanted to take a morning stroll with our coffee and this was perfect! It's a short walk to the…read morebeach and it was nice and quiet. There was a decent amount of parking spots but can easily see them filling up during a busier time of the day.

Very nice easy hike! Beautiful views of Lake Champlain. Wide and easy to follow trails.read more

Beautiful reservoir about nine miles long. We enjoyed kayaking and canoeing for a few hours…read more There are many people paddle boarding as well. A great way to spend a sunny day in Waterbury state park. There are also picnic tables and barbecue grills for those who enjoy picnics. Swimming too! State Park Admission: $8 Renting canoes and kayaks: $35 for 2 hours, $10 each additional hour.

This is a beautiful hilly park that overlooks Waterbury Reservoir, with BBQ grills and picnic…read morebenches right up on top of the grassy hill. We came on one overcast afternoon, and the view from the top was still spectacular. Once you turn onto Reservoir Road off the main road, the ticket gate is only about a minute's drive, and a drive for a further 30 seconds or so will take you to a dead end where you can park and take in the view. The park is less known than Little River State Park, but close to the Cider Mill and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory, so it was a natural stop for us, and I'm glad we did!

Always a pleasure to go here to swim cook an just enjoy freedom outside with family fun an food…read more Love going here it always brings back childhood memories. Used to come here as a kid now get the chance to bring the new families here to enjoy the same kind of entertainment. What a pleasure.

We had a great time at the beach! There is also a playground, but my guys didn't get out of the…read morewater. There was also a large area so that my fiancé & his friends could play horseshoes. My only problem was that they didn't have a lot of sizes left for their t shirts at the gift shop, but it was mid August when we were there. It didn't stop me from buying a bunch of stuff from them. We'll definitely be back next year!

Smuggler's Notch State Park provides hiking, camping, nature programs, and mountain biking…read more Smuggler's Notch Park got its name because In 1807, President Thomas Jefferson passed an embargo act forbidding American trade with Great Britain and Canada. This was a severe hardship for northern Vermonters, since Montreal was closer than other markets in the US. Many local people continued illegal trade with Canada, herding cattle and carrying other goods through the Notch. Later, fugitive slaves used the Notch as an escape route to Canada. During the Prohibition years, liquor was smuggled from Canada over the improved road built in 1922. My mother and I just rode through and it was miles of the park with different areas to explore. The we're many hikers and explorers out. All I can say is the mountains are beautiful and the atmosphere is amazing. I would definitely want to come back in fall to see the trees change colors.

I love this twisty road! The spring is a must stop for a drink of water literally flowing out of…read morethe mountain. It's usually gorgeous in the fall but we missed the leaves this year. There are plenty of places to stop and hike along the notch. It's really a beautiful place.

Sprawling. Crowded. Pricey. As a longtime skier in the northeast, I lose a little bit of ski soul…read moreevery time I encounter the reality of $249/day window rate lift ticket pricing, like what Sugarbush and its corporate overlord Alterra have unleashed on former independent gems like Sugarbush. Yes, most people will never pay $249/day because they're buying $200 online tickets, but sit with that for a second... $200/day x 2 days for a weekend + food/gas/etc means at least $500 for an average weekend of skiing before you even get to lodging. And that's absurd. Its no exaggeration to say that setting day-of pricing to over $200/day is a marketing (read: extortion) ploy to advance sales of even more expensive multi-mountain passes like Ikon, intended to lock customers into a collection of other overpriced mega-mountains, ensuring customers never know what alternatives there are out there to the over-priced, over-skied, nickel-and-dime experience that modern corporate skiing with has become. And while most customers will mindlessly one-click renew their Epic (Vail) and Ikon (Alterra) passes each year, economically the only reason these passes makes sense is when you have plans for a week away at a different exotic ski resort under the same corporate ownership that epouses equivalently over-priced day rates. In case you missed it, that's an increasingly large array of Vail and Alterra's mega resorts, as consolidation within the ski industry continues its supernova trajectory, targeting any mountain nearing triple-digit trail counts as the next pin in their corporate hats. If that sounds extreme, it's not. It's the reality many of us who've been around a while have seen play out. And it's important to understand because of the very real, far superior options available to the mainstream corporate pass skiing experience. Let me illustrate by a simple comparison: one day at a local independent mountain (Bolton Valley) vs one day at a corporate machine (Sugarbush). SUNDAY AT SUGARBUSH: riding up high-speed 5m lifts with few lines, but dumped into crowded trails laden with bumpy pockets of snow atop an icy, unpredictable base - a natural consequence of pushing hordes of skiers faster and faster up a mountain without any ticket limits that might ensure a better skiing experience. I consider myself an expert skier, who's skied some of the steepest terrain in the world, but skiing icy, unpredictable slopes like Sunday at Sugarbush force-limits anyone's ability to improve, by defaulting to minimum viable slopes stripped of any natural snowfall. It's the equivalent of the mafia offering to fix your garbage problem that it, itself, created. It's the false claim of fixing over-crowded, over-skied trails with more snow-making and faster lifts... which just put more bodies, scraping more snow, creating more of a problem than existed before. However, more bodies on mountain = more food/bev sales for corporate coffers, which ever-present signage reminding you of $1/paper cup charges won't let you forget. Heaven help anyone who just paid $249/day at the window is not also paying for double-digit drinks and $38 pizzas - the horror! SATURDAY AT BOLTON VALLEY: riding up 10m lifts with zero lift lines, skiing uncrowded glades/trails laden with soft, natural powder atop zero ice - a natural consequence of force-limiting ticket sales with smaller parking lots, less traffic, and a family-friendly, independent focus. Window pricing $49 - $109/day, but equally skiable for an entire weekend on a modest $300 season pass (Indy). TL;DR: a split-view compare of independently-owned resorts who prioritize experience over exploitation, independence over incorporation, and presence over pace. Most folks reading this review will assume it's an advert for competitors. It's not. It's a rare insight into two mountains 45m from each other who've taken entirely different paths to profitability and achieved radically different outcomes: one driven to maximize pricing and bodies on the hill, another by nearly six decades of family ownership that's driven by affordability and great experience. As with all things consumer, we all have a choice of where to spend our dollars. Having spent decades skiing the mega-mountains, traveling across the world to ski other Alterra/Ikon resorts like A-Basin, Mammoth, Stratton, and Palisades I can legitimately say the experience is the same: over-crowded, icy weekend skiing in the corporate Frankenstiens trying to solve an unsolvable problem of over-sold slopes with fake snow and higher pricing vs the still-here, uncrowded Indies indexing for reliability, affordability, and uniqueness. There's value in slowing things down, taking in stunning vistas, and paying a lot less to experience a lot more. See beyond trail counts and lift speed and you'll find an entire world of better skiing by generations of family-owned resorts beholden to a different master: your enjoyment, not corporate's bottom line.

The farmhouse rental and ski repair shop which is the sugarbush ski service shop did a great job…read morewax and tuning the edges on my skis. I felt as though I had a new pair of skis after they worked their magic (took about a half hour in the morning). The grooming of the slopes and the friendly lift operators and mountain representatives were also great when I visited the mountain yesterday. The Ted's beef chilli stew topped with cheese and Jalapenos was a great lunch.