Nobody said getting back in shape was easy--but if you're going to suffer, you might as well do it…read moresomewhere beautiful. I picked a hiking trail in Vermont after getting lured in by some stunning photos online. Inspired (and slightly delusional), I stopped and picked up a pair of Oboz hiking shoes and some solid hiking socks--thankfully, one of my better decisions. Let me be clear: this trail was no joke. It twisted, turned, and climbed in ways that made my heart rate spike enough to question my life choices. At one point, I genuinely thought I heard Bigfoot breathing down my neck--turns out it was just me gasping for air. Here are the stats: 4,083 ft summit 7.4 miles round trip 2,645 ft vertical rise 6 hours of hiking The mountain is known as Tawabodi-e-wadso, which means "The Saddle Mountain" in the Waubawakee Native American language. Yes, I did my research--mainly because I felt like I needed to know the name of the place that almost killed me. (Kidding... kind of.) But here's the real truth: it was absolutely worth it. The trail winds through beautiful groves of maple and oak, with peaceful river streams breaking up the climb. It was majestic, serene, and a perfect reminder of why nature is one of the best places to push your limits. And yes, the shoes held up like champs. Bottom line: A tough but rewarding hike--equal parts humbling and awe-inspiring. If you're looking to reconnect with nature and your cardiovascular system, this one's for you.

We started the hike via the Huntington parking lot and hikes the Burrow trail…read more Do not underestimate this hike. It is all incline up and lots of rock scrambling. We are not experienced hikes and took us 5 hrs to finish. It is true that it is shaded the whole time, but no one mentioned about the amount of bugs on the whole trail. After asking a local, we find out that they are called "black flies". They are small and annoying little bugs that cling on to your skin and bite you. We put bugs spray but did not keep them away from us. Apparently they come in season that received alot of rain. (first week of June) And it just happens to hatch new eggs as the weather gets hot and wet. So if you plan to hike this with there is alot of rain, I suggest wearing a netted hat. Because these flies are soon annoying and just takes out the fun of the hike. Although it was not an easy hike with annoying bugs biting our skin, the summit was one of 360 view of the landscape. It is beautiful and view are breathtaking!!!!

This is a gorgeous park along the shore of lake Champlain, with a wonderful walkway for locals and…read moretourists to enjoy the beauty of the landscape. The downtown Burlington is visible from the park. There's also tiny beach like sand area available. The adjacent park is also very popular among locals. The area bbq stations setup. Multiple playground areas with slides, swing, and marry go round. The park has two parking areas. One closer to main park, another one is further in, closer to the tree house. Both are paid parkings, but when we went on Sunday, we didn't have to pay. There are couple of volleyball fields next to the treehouse. We saw a bunch of people playing. The treehouse itself was underwhelming. Still it is a beautiful park to visit.

What a nice park! It really has everything. Hiking trails by the river, playground, sports court,…read moreand the view! The playground has 2-3 sections so it's not over crowded at the same area. Along the hiking trail, there are equipments for physical therapy. The day we went was chilly but still quite a lot of people biking and hiking. The treehouse is cool but I think it will have better view in summer. Lots graffiti inside tho. I didn't like that. Parking lot on site (kiosk to pay fee?)

Vermont's most peaceful spot: stunning grounds, drive into forest for more history. Friendly staff…read moreshared Joseph Smith's upbringing story. Ideal for history, quiet reflection, nature's beauty.

I'm not an LDS member and I don't know a whole lot about their Church, but I was passing through…read moreand decided that I'd like to see the largest polished granite shaft in the world. So here it is, a total of 50 feet tall with the stone obelisk itself at 38.5 feet (one for each year of Smith's life). It is a beautiful facility and the stone itself is impressive. The center is quiet and peaceful and a lovely tribute to the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is also a full visitors' center here and a meeting house. Admission to the center and tours of the memorial site are free.

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 !

This is a great little hike to the top of Vermont…read more We choose the steepest and shortest trail: Hellbrook. The trail is steep but well maintained with frequent "blazes". As someone that has never hiked in the east...I was shocked with how easy it is to stay on trails here. Just follow the blue or white paint marks! There are some "slimey slabs" on the way up. Unbroken surfaces of rock that can get slippery if it has recently rained. There might be a few sections where using your hands would be helpful. This meets all the other trails at the summit. The summit area is beautiful...save for all the random ski resort hardware. There were friendly trail guides on the summit making sure people don't stomp on the tundra. One of them even took a picture of my climbing partner and I. Took us about 1.5 hrs up, a little less down. (we are pretty quick though)

What an adventure. This was my 17th high point (the Millennial Chum's first and possibly only) and…read moreprobably the worst weather conditions I've experienced at any of them - literally 98% humidity, though it was pretty dry precipitation-wise. But this hike has so much going for it. Unlike a lot of scampers up a tall mountain, the majority of this trek is past tree line so when the cloud covering is minimal you have an amazing view. In hindsight I'd probably do this one during peak fall foliage but it was still quite a day. The drive to the trailhead was memorable. We started out just north of Stowe on 108 and went past Smugglers' Notch Resort before veering off onto Stebbins and a bunch of unpaved roads. I was a little nervous about that (though I had my magnificent Charcuterie, a very tough Toyota Prius Prime up for the challenge) but the conditions of those roads were actually really good. No nasty potholes, etc. It was very easy to find the parking area once we got into Underhill - you literally aren't permitted to drive past it, and there's signage instructing you to pay there ($5 per person). The fellow in the small building taking payments was super helpful about current weather/trail conditions, and agreed with my pre-hiking assessment of going up and down the Sunset Ridge Trail. The trailhead itself is about a 15- to 20-minute walk on mostly gravel roads that I assume are used exclusively by park vehicles; it was easy to spot, and we were on our way once we signed the trail logbook (also a new phenomenon for the Millennial Chum, who seemed mildly alarmed once she realized why we were doing it). The hike itself is pretty straightforward. From the Sunset Ridge trailhead, you go all the way to the top of the mountain, essentially, before turning left onto the Long Trail for maybe 10 minutes to the official summit. The blazes for this weren't amazing (a lot of them were faded and could use some TLC), but it's so obvious where you're going that they're not as necessary as they might be on other hikes - there's basically one trail here and one trail only and all trail intersections were clearly marked with actual signs. The first part of the journey up the mountain (prior to tree line) was definitely tough - the humidity played a huge factor and even before we were really going up any inclines, sweat was POURING off of our faces. If you don't have a decent supply of water with you, this probably isn't going to work out very well (I had my trusty BFF giant bottle of Evian, which was just enough). There were a handful of cool little wooden bridges toward the beginning, and lots of mossy tree goodness as well. It was significantly damper on the way down because we literally climbed above a raincloud - a first for me. Once we got to tree line, visibility the rest of the way was a giant question mark. As you can see from the attached, it was super misty out there and felt very spooky. It cleared up a bit as we worked our way to the summit but it never totally gave us the view we were hoping for, which was a shame. But you could see the potential - even at 30%, it was a nice sight to take in. The bathroom situation was pretty decent, given how isolated this area is. Especially this time of year in a land of empty ski resorts, I wasn't even expecting a port-a-potty. They had a few though, as well as an actual bathroom in a building. I only used one of the port-a-potties before we got underway, which was clean enough; we sweat so much on this hike that it wasn't an issue. It's hard to gauge difficulty level because I'm used to these types of hikes. I didn't do any official training for this other than watching my beverage/food intake in the prior weeks, which was enough. My calves and thighs were sore for two days, but it could have been worse. It helps that the mileage here was low comparatively speaking - it took us five hours in total, about three up and two down, and it was probably six miles or so. In wetter conditions there may have been some issues with footing, but overall it wasn't INSANELY steep where you were doing rock scrambling or anything. The biggest selling point by far is how much time you're above tree line - earning the view early on I think is a great motivator to get all the way up if you're starting to struggle a bit. Maybe hold off though if you take one step outside and your hair instantly poofs out. Being able to comfortably breathe is kind of a prerequisite.

I am so glad my daughter discovered this historic site. It was a great experience!…read more Yes, originally I thought to myself...why did I have to pay $8 per person to visit the site and walked the trail....Well, after the experience, I did not regret paying the $8. The visitor center was well kept. There was a 10 minute video, and so many items discovered from the war displayed neatly inside the museum. We took the green/Baldwin trail. On this beautiful cool breezy day, my daughter and I walked around and saw all the special locations marked along the trail. The trail was well kept. The views were stunning. Highly recommend!

Lived in Vermont most of my life and this place was always on my lists of places to visit: every…read morething is extremely well maintained and the actual visitors center was extremely clean: they do have one unisex bathroom with a changing table in the back stall area. We really enjoyed the extremely informative staff member we spoke with and gave excellent suggestions for hiking with little ones. The views from the top was extremely beautiful. The trail we hiked provided shade most of the way so even on an extremely hot morning we enjoyed our visit

A really fascinating place to visit for a decent hike/ tour. It's a self guided tour after you grab…read moreyour tickets inside the gift shop. There are some pretty incredible views & a few astounding caves you can explore. The trail features quite a bit of stairs & winding paths so come prepared (eg. walking stick if need be). We saw plenty of families, children & seniors on the trail so it's suitable for an array of people. We saved the coolest part for last: cracking open a few geodes. This is completely random but it's enchanting to wait & see what color is inside! We love this place.

Such a great day for kids while in the Adirondacks! The geode popping and activities at the end of…read morethe trail were fun.

This is the loveliest place to walk / hike / run / snowshoe with children in the Mad River Valley…read moreIMHO. The loop is about 1.7 miles IIRC, an easy (but not too wimpy) trek for my seven-year-old, with gentle ups and downs, even with thick snow cover on the ground in regular winter boots. (The Pardner forgot to throw our snowshoes and crampons in the car = demerits!) Although there are only three parking spots, there are enough accumulated visitors that there's a nicely packed, easy-to-follow trail. From the top, there's a nice view of the town with, I think, Mad River Glen, in the distance. Yellow trail markers are easy to follow up to the viewing point, less well marked on the other side. Lots of deer tracks, racoon and possum tracks, and a few intrepid squirrels out and about in winter. If you need a break from skiing, head to Wu and stop at the Sweet Spot across the covered bridge after. Perfect use of a winter morning. :)

I guess this trail doesn't get enough love because parking is extremely limited. We were fortunate…read moreto get one of the three available parking spots near the residential entrance. The trail is well-marked with bright yellow diamond markers on trees, and additionally annotated by sharpie at trail forks. We skipped the alternate route that presumably would've led to a longer loop that included a small waterfall at the river (according to AllTrails), so it only took an hour round trip for us to reach the Wu Ledges vista, then get back to our car before a rainstorm hit. The gorgeous views of the shorter leg were worth the effort. We were occasionally plagued by mosquitoes and flies, so I'm glad we packed the bug repellant.

Great view of Lake Champlain and beyond, the Adirondack Mountains. Probably a fantastic spot for a…read moresunset but I missed that this afternoon. The park has a huge parking area, some walking areas and several benches facing the proper direction of the view. The park is linked with the Burlington recreational paths so try it as a destination or trailhead. [Review 18508 overall - 107 in Vermont - 2030 of 2022.]

My friend showed me this adorable little overlook when we were up in BTV. Unfortunately, we came…read moreon an overcast day, but it was still nice to take in the lovely views! This is an amazing place to see sweeping views of the beautiful mountains and Lake Champlain. I imagine it would also be worth checking out at sunset. This is also a great spot for budding photographers. There is a small parking lot here, plus a couple of picnic tables. I'd say this is a must do for first time visitors to this fabulous city! Plan to spend 10-15 minutes here.

We did a quick 15-min hike to the falls and got a somewhat-slippery though gorgeous view of the…read morepowerful falls and all the ways the water has shaped and smoothed the rocks. Loved the up-close view of it all and the shade of the forest. 5 stars!!!!

So glad we did the short but somewhat challenging hike to see these during our visit to Stowe -…read moretotally worth it. We parked at the trailhead (plenty of space on a weekday afternoon). Had to be careful on the rocks but on the whole doable. Wasn't brave enough to jump into the waters but you could. No restrooms that we saw so plan accordingly.