Summer Trip to Woodstock and Stowe, VT

On our Summer New England Tour, we started in Burlington, VT. Here, we spent a few days exploring Lake Champlain, craft breweries, delicious restaurants, and admiring street art. After hearing on numerous occasions how wonderful Woodstock, VT was, we decided to make that stop #2! My husband and I had never visited this area, so we decided to check it out! From Burlington, Woodstock was about 90 minutes or 90 miles south east.

One thing you notice when driving through Vermont, is how rural it really is. Even though New Hampshire and Vermont have very similar features as far as landscape goes, Vermont is not nearly as built up commercially as New Hampshire. You will find a lot of homes, hotels and businesses near the ski resorts, but the rest of Vermont can be super rural. With this comes very unfortunate poverty. Because of the ski tourism, housing and restaurants can be very expensive, which makes it difficult for the locals. I find taking a summer trip to Woodstock, VT is a great way to help stimulate the economy during the low season by shopping and spending locally.

Woodstock is such a quintessential New England town, displaying a fine balance of historic homes, small locally run boutiques, shops and restaurants, and a ski town vibe. For those looking to ski at Killington in the winter, Woodstock is a great alternative for a place to stay! We found such a great Airbnb, with our new friend, Patty. Her Airbnb is in Bridgewater, and comes with so much history, as it was built in 1796. While we visited Woodstock, we took a few hikes, visited Sugarbush Farms, Long Trail brewery, and took a day trip to Stowe for a hike and brewery stop.

Our Wonderful Airbnb in Bridgewater, VT

Our host took time to tell us about the history of the home and some antique furniture she owned, and then showed us to our own private suite. We had a nice room with 2 double beds, and an en suite bath. Her home was a perfect location because it was smack dab in the middle of Woodstock and Killington on Route 4. Patty gave us some great recommendations that we gladly used since we really didn’t have a game plan! Since she has lived in this area for many years, she knew all the places to visit (and avoid), and how to get to certain trails. The sweetest thing she told us was that we were meant to come into her life at this time. She loved hearing about our travels, telling us about her family and son that she is so proud of, and taking advice from us Marshon her beautiful home!

If you are not planning on staying at her Airbnb, you might want to consider her wonderful little shop! She has a small store in her home where she sells unique gifts, handmade jewelry, clothing and apparel, and other interesting finds! She is typically open during the holiday season.

Local Hikes

Marsh Billings-Rockefeller National Park  

Our first afternoon hike was at the Marsh Billings-Rockefeller National Park, Vermont’s only National Park. We found a place to park on Mountain Ave, right next to the downtown area of Woodstock and set out onto the trail. We chose to do the Faulkner Trail to Precipice which ended up being about 5 miles.This is a park that extends down to the other side as well, but we opted for this trail since we were losing sunlight and just wanted an hour or so hike. It was a moderately challenging hike, with great views of the town.

Quechee Gorge

While we were in Woodstock, Vermont, we took a scenic tour of the Quechee Gorge. NOTE: Take my advice, and don’t follow Google maps for directions here! We ended up at a private residence with a sign warning of trespassing. Instead, follow route 4 to the gorge where you can park, and see the gorge in a few ways. You can get a great view of the gorge from the highway, up on the overpass, but I also recommend taking the trails down. There is one next to the welcome center and gift shop as well as directly across the street. It is just a nice way to get a nice view from a different vantage point. They are both only about a half mile long and at the end you can dip your feet in the water or even go swimming!

Thundering Brook Falls

Per recommendations of our host, we ventured over to Thundering Brook Falls trail off River Road, which is right off route 4. After parking, you follow a cool boardwalk through the marshy area, where you find the waterfall! You can also follow the trail a little further to step foot onto the famous Appalachian Trail!  Had we planned on really hiking this day, it would have been a great place to hike! We had gotten done having a few pints at Long Trail, and were not dressed for the occasion, but still wanted to see the waterfall.

More to do in Woodstock, VT

Sugarbush Farm 

Sugarbush Farms was highly recommended to us. After you follow a long, dirt road, you arrive at the Sugarbush Farm. Here, they make delicious cheese and maple syrup! It was a rainy, muddy day when we went, which made this a great activity, minus the muddy road in. They also have a cute little nature trail and petting zoo which is great for the kids…or adults like me that love animals! Inside, they do free cheese and maple syrup tastings. They tell you all about the aging process and what goes into making each one.

On the day we went, they were closing early due to a death of an employee. We had to hurry our process a little, but we totally understood. We purchased our cheese and syrup and headed out to the sugar house. At the sugar house, we were able to do our own self guided tour, which started with an informative video. This is a family operation that has been going on for over 60 years, with many family members still running the place. It was really interesting learning all about the process of making maple syrup!

Restaurants

While we were here, we enjoyed dinner at Worthy Kitchen which had a great tap list (see below) and excellent food! This too was a recommendation by our host. We sat the bar and were able to order our food there. Normally this is the kind of place where you go to the counter and order your food and drinks, and get a number for your table. 

Since we were super close to Killington, we decided to head there for dinner one night. This was not so easy because they have very limited options in the summer as many places were closed. We did find The Garlic Restaurant by accident because the place we wanted to go to was closed. We had some delicious Italian food and Moscow Mules here. On another night, we ordered pizza out from Rumuntos in Bridgewater which was really good, but totally overpriced. This is a prime example of how tourism really makes local living difficult, as the prices are just not affordable for most people.

If you are looking for delicious food and beer with a view, you cannot miss Long Trail Brewing! Not only do they have great food, beer and views, but they also do some great work in their community. When hurricane Irene hit in August of 2011, people were left stranded as the river flooded much of the area. Long Trail opened their doors to the community, offering free food. Our host and her neighbors were very grateful for this during that time. When we visited, we got a great seat outside, overlooking the river. The food was great, our server was the best, and we even got our drinks in plastic cups so we could dip our feet in the river!

Historic Downtown Walk 

If you are a history buff, Woodstock is a great little town to visit! We had a  great recommendation to see some of the Paul Revere Bells in town. Apparently this is the only city that has 5 Paul Revere bells! On the day we visited the Quechee gorge, we parked our car and checked out the downtown area on foot. We stopped at The First Congregational Church to see one of the bells made my Paul Revere. It is outside, so you can see it at anytime. There are 4 others at the Woodstock Inn, and 3 still ringing at the Masonic Lodge and 2 other churches. 

I absolutely LOVED checking out the Primrose Garden Gift Shop, and especially heading out to the back patio which was such a nice spot! There are also tons of beautiful old homes in downtown Woodstock, Vermont that you just can’t miss! Check out the slideshow below!

The Woodstock Inn  is also worth checking out. We only walked onto the property to take a photo from the outside, but you can also go inside and check out the lobby! There are just so many old beautiful homes, churches and shops worth seeing on a nice day in Woodstock! Get some exercise, enjoy the clean fresh air, and take in a taste of history in downtown Woodstock!

Day trip to Stowe VT

On one of the weekend days, we took a trip up to Stowe. Had we planned this out better, a day trip to Stowe would have made more sense. Burlington to Stowe was only 45 minutes away, versus almost 90 minutes from Woodstock. Since we were in Burlington during the week, we chose to visit Stowe on our Woodstock trip so we could spend more time hiking on the weekend. We had been to Stowe several times in the winter to go skiing, but never in the summer.

Von Trapp Family Lodge

We found a nice trail to hike, which happened to be part of the Von Trapp family Lodge trails called Adams Camp .  The small parking lot that we parked in was overlooking the meadow, which reminded me of The Sound of Music. How appropriate! As we out on our hike, we were a little confused at first, and continued on the trail when we should have turned. That was quite alright because it added a nice extra mile onto our trip! This wasn’t the most scenic or challenging hike, but it was nice getting into nature! We ended up on a mountain bike trail at one point, which we had to be careful of the bikers on, but other than that it was a nice hike in the woods.

The Von Trapp family is the real family featured in the Sound of Music. They left Austria during WWII and found Stowe VT which reminded them of home. This same family runs the lodge, where people can stay while visiting, as well as the Von Trapp brewery. We did not end up stopping at the brewery, but did enjoy while we were at other bars.

Breweries

While in Stowe, we could not miss visiting the new taproom at The Alchemist, for some of their famous Heady Topper, as well as some others including Focal Banger, Crusher and Lightweight. We made she we stocked ourselves up! This brewery suffered a big loss during Hurricane Irene, but they recently opened their new tap room which is HUGE! You can try free samples while you are there and get cases of cans to go. While we were there, they had a live band performing which made for a great visit!

Idletyme was also right around the corner, so we grabbed one more beer there before grabbing some food. Idletyme had a great outdoor area. It had a full bar around a big old tree, with Adirondack chairs around a fire pit, lawn games, and a beautiful garden. Our last stop of the day came as a recommendation from my good friend Kim and Rob, which was the Prohibition Pig, in Waterbury, just outside Stowe. Here, we got some pulled pork sandwiches, paired with some more local beer! A perfect post hike pairing!

Whether you make a summer trip to Woodstock, VT or any where in the state, you will not be disappointed. There is so much history to learn, wonderful sights to see, plenty of outdoor activities, and lots of great New England culture to soak up! While  we visited Vermont in the summer of 2017, everyone else was itching to get to the path of totality for the Solar eclipse. We couldn’t have been further from that BUT the next solar eclipse will happen in 2024 and will go through Vermont! Maybe that will be your first trip to Vermont?!