Things to Do in Stowe, Vermont

The resort spreads across Mount Mansfield, the highest peak in Vermont, and Spruce Peak. Winter is skiing and riding; the rest of the year brings hiking, dining and the Stowe Rocks climbing area. The Village at Spruce Peak at the base has shops and restaurants.

★ Good to know Lift and gondola operations change with weather, so check the resort’s alerts page before you drive up.

Stowe’s red gondola cabins carry you up toward the summit of Mount Mansfield, where hiking trails start near the top. The Cliff House Restaurant sits at the upper station for a meal with the view. It runs through summer and fall, typically mid-June to mid-October.

★ Good to know Reservations are highly recommended for the Cliff House.

The first car drove up Vermont’s highest peak on this road in 1923. It zigzags 4.5 miles to a parking area at 3,850 feet on the summit ridge. From there you can see Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains on a clear day.

★ Good to know It’s typically open late May through mid-October. Go early or on a weekday in foliage season, and check wind and visibility first.

This paved greenway runs 5.3 miles from Stowe Village toward Topnotch Resort, following the river past meadows, woods and a covered bridge. It’s free and open year-round, with picnic tables, overlooks and swimming holes along the way. The town completed it in 1989.

★ Good to know Park behind the Stowe Community Church on Main Street and start in the village.

Smugglers’ Notch is a narrow pass where cliffs rise nearly 1,000 feet on each side of Route 108. Vermonters herded cattle through it to Canada after the 1807 Embargo Act, and bootleggers used it during Prohibition. The park has a campground, easy access to Bingham Falls, and trailheads for the Long Trail and Sterling Pond.

★ Good to know The park runs from the third weekend in May to the second Monday in October, and the road through the Notch closes in winter.

The family behind The Sound of Music settled in Stowe in 1942 and began running their home as a 27-room ski lodge in 1950. Today it’s a 2,600-acre Austrian-style resort with four restaurants and cross-country ski and bike trails. The von Trapp Brewing Bierhall, down the hill, serves the family’s German- and Austrian-style lagers.

★ Good to know Maria and Georg von Trapp are buried in the family cemetery on the grounds.

Housed at the corner of Routes 100 and 108 in the village, this museum covers the history of skiing and snowboarding in Vermont. It was founded in 1988 and moved to Stowe later, and it runs the state’s ski and snowboard hall of fame.

★ Good to know It’s open Thursday to Sunday afternoons and closes for about a month each spring and late fall; there’s a suggested donation instead of a ticket.

On the western edge of the village, this town forest has more than 11 miles of hiking and mountain bike trails. The Stowe Land Trust conserved it in 2012, and the Stowe Mountain Bike Club maintains the trails. The access point is off Route 108, the Mountain Road.