Things to Do in Manchester, Vermont

Robert Todd Lincoln, the only child of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln to reach adulthood, built this Georgian Revival summer home in 1905. The 412-acre estate includes a formal garden designed in 1908 by Lincoln’s granddaughter and a 1903 Pullman railcar called Sunbeam. There’s also a working farm and 12 miles of trails. Robert first came to Manchester in 1864, to meet his mother and his brother Tad at the Equinox Hotel.

★ Good to know It’s open all year, but from November to late May it closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. It’s also a pet-free property, so leave the dog at home.

This privately run toll road climbs 5.2 miles to the 3,848-foot summit of Mount Equinox, the highest peak in the Taconic Range. It opened in 1947, and on a clear day the summit view reaches five states. The Saint Bruno Scenic Viewing Center at the top was a gift from the Carthusian monks. Their Charterhouse of the Transfiguration, the only Carthusian monastery in North America, sits below.

★ Good to know The road runs from Memorial Day weekend through October 31, weather permitting, and closes in fog, high wind or ice. The entrance is on Route 7A between Manchester and Arlington.

SVAC sits at the foot of Mount Equinox on a former 1917 summer estate, with ten galleries in Yester House. A newer museum building holds more than 900 works, including Grandma Moses and Luigi Lucioni. Its sculpture park is the largest in Vermont. The 400-seat Arkell Pavilion is the summer home of the Manchester Music Festival, which dates to 1974.

★ Good to know Admission is free for children 18 and under, and the grounds connect to trails up toward Equinox Pond and the summit.

Orvis has been in Manchester since 1856, and its flagship store on Main Street carries fly fishing gear, clothing and home goods. The company runs a fly fishing school and a wingshooting school in town.

★ Good to know Orvis offers a free Fly Fishing 101 class with equipment provided, and dogs are welcome in the store.

This museum holds more than 40,000 fly fishing artifacts in an 1800s farmhouse on Main Street, from famous anglers, presidents and ordinary fishermen. The Batten Kill, one of the best-known trout rivers in the East, starts at Mount Equinox and runs about 50 miles to the Hudson.

★ Good to know It keeps a short weekly schedule, open fewer days from September to May, so check before you go.

A blue-blazed Forest Service trail follows Lye Brook into the 18,122-acre Lye Brook Wilderness on old logging railroad grades. At 1.8 miles a spur leads to the 125-foot falls, one of the highest in Vermont. You can still spot remains of the charcoal kilns and sawmills that once dotted the valley.

★ Good to know The rocks at the falls are slippery, so don’t climb them. The trailhead is at the end of Lye Brook Access Road, east of Manchester Center.

Ed and Barbara Morrow opened Northshire in 1976, and it moved in 1985 into the Colburn House, a former stagecoach inn. It now stocks more than 300,000 items, including used, rare and signed books, and hosts weekly author events.

★ Good to know There’s a cafe inside, which makes it an easy rainy-day stop.