25 Best Sights in Southern Vermont, Vermont

On hot summer days the sight of dozens of families jumping, swimming, and basking in the sun around this massive 60-foot-deep swimming hole makes it one of the most wholesome and picturesque recreational spots in the region. First mined in 1785, the stone from the country's oldest commercial marble quarry was used to build the main branch of the New York Public Library and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

A twofold treat, the summer home of Abraham Lincoln's son Robert Todd Lincoln provides insight into the lives of the family, as well as an introduction to the lavish Manchester life of the early 1900s. In 1905, Robert built a 24-room Georgian Revival mansion where he and his descendants lived until 1975. It's the centerpiece of a beautifully preserved 412-acre estate and holds many of the family's prized possessions, including one of three surviving stovepipe hats owned by Abraham and a Lincoln Bible. When the 1,000-pipe Aeolian organ is played, the music reverberates as though from the mansion's very bones.

Rising from a 10-acre meadow, Hildene Farm is magnificent. The agriculture center is built in a traditional style—post-and-beam construction of timber felled and milled on the estate, and you can watch goat cheese being made.

The highlight, though, may be the elaborate formal gardens, where a thousand peonies bloom every June. There is also a teaching greenhouse, restored 1903 Pullman car, a 600-foot floating boardwalk across the Battenkill wetlands, and more than 12 miles of walking trails. When conditions permit, you can cross-country ski and snowshoe on the property.

The rich collections here feature military artifacts, early tools, dolls, and the Bennington Flag, one of the oldest of the Stars and Stripes in existence. Other areas of interest include early Bennington pottery, the Gilded Age in Vermont, and mid-20th-century modernist painters who worked in or near Bennington. The highlight for many visitors, though, is the largest public collection of works by Grandma Moses (1860–1961), the popular self-taught folk artist who lived and painted in the area.

At the end of a long, winding driveway, this center has a permanent collection of more than 1,000 19th- and 20th-century American artworks and presents temporary exhibitions. The original building, a Georgian mansion set on 100 acres, contains 10 galleries with works by more than 600 artists, many from Vermont. The center also hosts concerts, performances, and film screenings. In summer and fall, the views from the café at lunchtime are magnificent.

This museum houses the world's largest collection of angling art and angling-related objects—more than 1,400 rods, 1,200 reels, 22,000 flies, including the tackle of Winslow Homer, Babe Ruth, Jimmy Carter, and other notables. Every August, vendors sell antique equipment at the museum's fly-fishing festival. You can also practice your casting out back.

This 306-foot stone obelisk with an elevator to an observation deck commemorates General John Stark's Revolutionary War victory over the British, who attempted to capture Bennington's stockpile of supplies. Inside the monument you can learn all about the battle, which took place near Walloomsac Heights in New York State on August 16, 1777, and helped bring about the surrender of British commander "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne two months later. The top of the tower affords commanding views of the Massachusetts Berkshires, the New York Adirondacks, and the Vermont Green Mountains.

Contemporary stone sculpture and white-frame neo-Colonial dorms surrounded by acres of cornfields punctuate the green meadows of the placid campus.

Downtown is the hub of Brattleboro's art scene, at the forefront of which is this museum in historic Union Station. It presents changing exhibitions of works by local, national, and international artists, and hosts lectures, readings, and musical performances.

This park has a well-marked nature trail, a small beach, boat rentals, and a snack bar.

Hikers climb from forest that was once farm fields to fir and spruce at the summit of this 914-acre preserve on the slopes of Mt. Equinox. The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa conserved this land with the Vermont Land Trust in 1996, and it's permanently protected. A loop to tranquil Equinox Pond—owned by the resort—is among the easy trails for strolling, cross-country skiing or snowshoeing. Others follow century-old stone walls, or offer rewarding climbs to views of the Battenkill Valley. 

This station is manned with friendly rangers and has dozens of recreational maps.

On tours of this factory co-op, you can watch workers using vintage equipment spin alpaca, mohair, wool, and organic cotton into yarn. The shop sells yarn, knitting accessories, and patterns.

This endearingly cluttered museum documents the town's history with photographs, soapstone displays, quilts, musical instruments, furniture, tools, and other artifacts. It's officially open on weekends during the summer but if you're driving by, stop in...you might get lucky and get to visit.

You'll find a swimming beach, nature trails, boat and canoe rentals, and a snack bar at this pretty park.

These 125-foot-tall tiered falls thunder in springtime, as water from melting snow rushes down—though it's beautiful even at a trickle in the late summer. A moderately strenuous, 4.6-mile hike starts off Glen Road and follows old logging roads and wooded trails to the falls; it takes four hours.

This 3,162-acre educational center has 30 miles of nature trails for hiking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, horseback riding, and rustic camping. You can visit the 62-acre farm, which grows organic berries (available for pick-your-own in season), and check out the horses, sheep, pigs, and chickens while you're there—you're even welcome to help out with the chores. Stop in the visitor's center to pick up a gallon of maple syrup made in the on-site sugarhouse.

The park is known for its great camping (there are two loops) and popular snowshoe trails, and there's a picnic pavilion. The Molly Stark Heritage Trail runs through this area, known as a scenic bypass. There is a 1.7-mile loop hike to the fire tower atop Mt. Olga that culminates in a 360-degree view of southern Vermont and northern Massachusetts.

West of downtown, this National Register Historic District is well-endowed with stately Colonial and Victorian mansions. The site of the Catamount Tavern, where Ethan Allen organized the Green Mountain Boys to capture Ft. Ticonderoga in 1775, is marked by a bronze statue of Vermont's indigenous mountain lion, now extinct.

In the graveyard of this church, the tombstone of the poet Robert Frost proclaims, "I had a lover's quarrel with the world."

The architecturally significant Park-McCullough House is a 35-room classic French Empire–style mansion, built in 1865 and furnished with period pieces. Several restored flower gardens grace the landscaped grounds, and a barn holds some antique carriages. Docent-led tours may be available for an added cost while the house is open. The grounds are open daily year-round.

Nine miles upriver, this town of fewer than 3,000 residents—the country cousin of bustling Brattleboro—is a haven for writers and fine-craft artists. There are many pottery studios to visit, the requisite general store, and a few orchards. Each November during the Putney Craft Tour, dozens of artisans open their studios and homes for live demonstrations and plenty of fun.

Robert Frost came to Shaftsbury in 1920, he wrote, "to plant a new Garden of Eden with a thousand apple trees of some unforbidden variety." The museum, now part of Bennington College, tells the story of the poet's life and highlights the nine years (1920–29) he spent living in the house with his wife and four children. It was here that he penned "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" and published two books of poetry. You can wander seven of the Frost family's original 80 acres. Among the apple boughs you just might find inspiration of your own.

More than 130 varieties of heirloom apples and other fruit dot the fields of this 571-acre farm, which has been in production since 1791. It's now managed by the Landmark Trust USA, which also rents nearby Naulakha, Rudyard Kipling’s 1892 home. Depending on the season, visitors can pick their own fruit, shop the farm market, sip cider at the outdoor café, or walk among sculptural walls in Stone Wall Park.

Norman Rockwell once lived right on this quaint town green. If you follow Route 313 west from Arlington, you'll pass by the Wayside Country Store, a slightly rickety charmer where you can pick up sandwiches and chat with locals. The store carries everything from ammo and sporting goods to toys, teas, and maple syrup. Continue on, and cross West Arlington's red covered bridge, which leads to the town green. To loop back to Route 7A, take River Road along the south side of the Battenkill River, a scenic drive.

This state campground is the highest in Vermont at 2,400 feet. Adams Reservoir is the dominant feature and focus of activities, with swimming, fishing, and boating, including canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards for rent. A nature trail also circles the reservoir.