Foliage is far from the only reason to spend time exploring Vermont next autumn
By Outbound Hotels
Vermont is famous for its autumn foliage, and there’s no denying the magnetic pull of a mountainside awash in reds, oranges, and yellows. But there’s more to fall in this corner of New England than pulling over on the side of the road to admire the colors. Especially if you’re visiting Stowe. There’s no denying the beauty of an autumn cruise up Rt. 108 through Smuggler’s Notch, but there’s more than enough to do in Stowe to make it worth staying a few days, too.
The homey, close-to-nature accommodations at Outbound Stowe are centrally located in town, so it’s easy to do all the fall things: tasting maple, cider, and beer; hiking and biking; or getting lost among antiques or a corn maze. (Plus, you can peep the leaves while out and about, or just relaxing at the property roasting s’mores or soaking up the season’s final warm days by the pool.)
Below is our local’s guide to some of Stowe’s finest autumnal offerings.
Taste Vermont’s Famous Maple Syrup
Vermont produces more maple syrup than any other state. Sugarers boil when the sap runs in winter, but fall and maple are an undeniable pairing. Check out the daily maple syrup tasting in the Outbound lobby, where you can try all the offerings from Runamok, which offers a twist with smoked maple syrup and maple syrup infused with flavors like blueberry, cinnamon, and ginger. Prep for the experience with a sugarhouse tour up at Nebraska Knoll Sugar Farm, which has been operating since 1980.
Head Out Hiking & Biking
Stowe is an outdoor sports town and there’s no better time to take to the trails and try out some scenic treks than fall. Ascending Mt. Mansfield is a standard of any Vermont hiking bucket list, but there’s a worthy B-side in nearby Mt. Hunger, which has a summit overlooking the whole valley and out east to New Hampshire.
The Stowe area is also dense with mountain biking trails, many of which are accessible right from town, like those at Cady Hill. You can also borrow a cruiser from Outbound’s Gear Garage and hit the Stowe Recreation Path, which runs right by the hotel, for a paved ride around the area.
Sip on Some Excellent Cider
Down the road in Waterbury, Cold Hollow Cider Mill presses local apples into an amber-hued elixir worth the trip all on its own. Try a fresh sample in the back, where you can see how the cider-making machinery works, then grab a half gallon for the road. You’ll find local products like jams and maple syrup on the store shelves, but the one other thing you don’t want to leave without is a cider donut (or a dozen).
Compare what you drink there to the hard stuff made over at Stowe Cider. Sourcing apples from the region, the cidery is best known for its traditional dry hard ciders but also produces limited blends, including one inspired by cider donuts.
Taste Vermont’s Best Beer
Heady Topper, a double IPA made by local brewery The Alchemist, was once so sought-after you had to know what time the delivery truck arrived at certain stores to get it. It’s not so hard to get these days, and you can see what all the fuss was about from an Adirondack chair on the brewery’s front lawn.
Elsewhere in Stowe, you’ll find Von Trapp Brewing and Idletyme, and an hour away in Greensboro is Hill Farmstead, another renowned brewery whose beer is hard to find outside of the northern part of the state. Outbound’s on-site eatery, Eastside Bar + Bites, also has plenty of great local brews on tap, which you can enjoy fireside or down by the river. For something even more adventurous, hop on the hotel’s Brew Tours excursion, where a local tour guide takes you around to some of the Stowe area’s top watering holes.
Get Lost in a Maze
Corn mazes are a quintessential fall pastime and there’s a good one at Percy Farm, where pathways meander through the field in a course that takes roughly 30 minutes to complete. The maze is just off the Stowe Rec Path, which goes right by Outbound, making it a perfect activity to combine with a bike ride.
Two more places to get lost (but in a different kind of maze) are just down Rt. 100 toward Waterbury at Sir Richards Antiques and the Waterbury Stowe Antiques Emporium. The latter is right next to Cabot Creamery’s factory store, so stop in for some of the state’s best cheddar cheese to go with your vintage finds.
Get Inspired by Your Accommodations
Robert Frost found poetic inspiration spending autumns at a cabin down in Ripton, Vermont. Outbound’s Scandinavian-inspired A-frames aren’t so rustic, but they’re as well set, with large windows looking at the back of the property where the West Branch Little River moseys by through the trees. While there are plenty of activities for packing your schedule, be sure to slot in some downtime to soak up those views and see what stirs creatively.
Or you can book the three-bedroom cottage, which has a working fireplace and a post-and-beam interior that calls to mind the quaint (and cozy) farmhouses that have inspired many relocations to the Green Mountain State. You can also sit out by one of the communal firepits and enjoy a spot of stargazing for more natural inspiration.
Attend a Seasonal Festival
Check your calendar before you come, as fall is a season of festivals up this way. In mid-September there’s the British Invasion Car Show, a weekend-long event that brings British autos to town. Oktoberfest at Von Trapp Brewing Bierhall is Vermont’s own version of the Munich festivities, featuring German music, food, and beer.
Later in September there’s the Vermont Pumpkin Chuckin’ Festival, where teams manning trebuchets compete for the longest throw, and in early October the Stowe Foliage Arts Festival is on, which gathers local artists, craftspeople, musicians, and food producers to town. As the leaves start to fall come mid-October, there’s also the Stowe Harvest Festival up at the base of the ski area.
