9 Best Sights in Lake Champlain Islands, Northern Vermont

The pick-your-own apples at this seventh-generation farm are amazingly tasty—if you're here at harvest time, don't miss out. The farm also has a petting area with donkeys, miniature horses, sheep, goats, and other animals. At the store, you can buy cheeses, dried fruit, homemade pies, and maple creemees.

This park has one of the longest sandy beaches on Lake Champlain and some fine examples of rare flora and fauna along the hiking trails. The wetlands are also an important area for wildlife refuge, providing a safe habitat for breeding, feeding, and nesting for surrounding animals like deer and wild turkey. Amenities: parking (fee). Best for: solitude, swimming, walking.

You'll find hiking trails, boat rentals, and shore fishing at this 226-acre park, the most-visited of Vermont's state park campgrounds.

Built in 1783, this log cabin on South Hero is often cited as the country's oldest surviving specimen. It's now home to the Grand Isle Historical Society.

On the mainland east of the Alburgh Peninsula, the refuge consists of 6,729 acres of federally protected wetlands, meadows, and woods. It's a beautiful area for bird-watching, canoeing, and walking nature trails.

The 399-acre North Hero has a swimming beach and nature trails. It's open to rowboats, kayaks, and canoes.

One of Vermont's best swimming beaches is at Sand Bar State Park, where a 2,000-foot stretch of sand leads into shallow water perfect for wading in gently. Amenities: food and drink; parking (fee); toilets; water sports. Best for: swimming

Vermont's first vineyard was started here in 1996; today, the winery specializes in nontraditional botanical hybrid grapes designed to take advantage of the island's microclimate, similar to that of Burgundy, France. Take a self-guided tour and sip some samples in the tasting room—dessert wines are the strong suit. On Thursday evening, June–September, you can picnic and enjoy the free concerts on the lawn.

This spot marks the site where French soldiers and Jesuits put ashore and built a fort, creating Vermont's first European settlement in 1666. Vermont's first Roman Catholic Mass was celebrated here on July 26 of that year.