With hiking, mountain biking trails, swimming holes, and world-famous breweries, there’s more than enough fun to fill 72 hours in this small town
By Outbound Hotels
Pulled straight from a postcard, Stowe is one of Vermont’s quintessential New England villages. “Downtown,” to use the word liberally, is organized around the Little River and a brief main street with all the small town essentials—there’s a book shop, chocolate shop, a country store, a homey breakfast spot for pancakes, and a community church whose white steeple reaches up above the area’s rolling hills.
But when Vermonters talk about Stowe, they’re usually referring to the broader area around the village, which includes hiking trails, swimmable rivers, and multiple mountain biking trail networks. Not to mention restaurants with food as good as the views. Near the center of it all, recently opened Outbound Stowe offers direct access to all of it, including the popular Stowe Recreation Path and Cady Hill Forest hiking area, with Scandinavian-inspired cabins that make the ideal place to rest up after a full day out and about. Life in this part of New England may be slow, but you’ll want to move fast to make the most of your visit. To help, we’ve put together the following three day itinerary for spring and summer visits, written by a local.
Day 1: Vermont Must-Dos
Morning — Get the Lay of the Land
Stowe sits at the foot of Mt. Mansfield, the tallest peak in the Green Mountains at 4,395 feet, and a must-do on any hiker’s VT bingo card. Friends visiting from out West may snicker at the elevation, but trust when we say every foot of vert is well earned when hiking in this nature-rich region. So rise early and head to Woodland Baking & Coffee for caffeine and carbs—in the form of laminated pastries and sausage breakfast burritos—to fuel your climb to the top. Grab a sandwich from The Bagel next door or a nearby market; you’ll earn it.. Before hitting the road, though, ensure you have all the right gear; if you forgot anything back home, Outbound’s complimentary Gear Garage has plenty of essentials in stock available to borrow, from Oru kayaks and Teva hikers to Yeti coolers.
The quick (and steep) way up Mt. Mansfield is the Hellbrook Trail, which is only a little over three miles but includes more than 2,500 feet of elevation gain. If you want some alternatives, there are plenty of other routes up and around the mountain to try. Take your time up top to have lunch and get a full view of the valley that surrounds Stowe and all the way out over Lake Champlain to the Adirondacks and, on clear days, all the way to Mount Washington in New Hampshire.
Midday — Take a Dip
Back down in the valley, it’s time to cool off. Swimming holes abound in Vermont, some secret, some not. Foster’s Hole is a well-known Stowe go-to. From a parking area on Notchbrook Road, a quick trail takes you down to a crystal clear pool that’s guaranteed to cool you off quickly. The swimming hole is lined with rocks for sitting in the sun and warming up again before your next jump in.
Evening — Dinner in Downtown Waterbury
As the sun lowers toward the mountaintops, hop in the car and head down Route 100 for 20 minutes to Waterbury. Downtown is small but dense with good drinking and eating options. If you arrive early enough, have a pre-dinner IPA at Freak Folk Bier and see what’s on at The Phoenix Gallery & Music Hall. Then cap off a full day with a full meal—head to Prohibition Pig for a sheet pan loaded with ribs, sausages, chicken wings, and brisket, or Gallus, where you’ll dine on handmade pasta in a historic mill.
Day 2: Bikes & Beers
Morning — Hit the Trails on Two Wheels
It won’t take much time for you to realize that Stowe is a cycling town. There’s a bike on the back of every other car, but if you didn’t bring your own, you can rent a gravel bike right at Outbound Stowe. Also within walking distance is Ranch Camp, another great option if you’re after a different type of cruiser, like mountain bikes or commuters. Even a quick two-hour rental is enough time to explore the machine-made trails at Cady Hill Forest, located just across the road from Outbound.
If you’ve had enough elevation from yesterday’s hike, Lamoille Valley Bike Tours in the nearby town of Johnson can set you up with an e-bike rental and a self-guided tour of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail, a 93-mile gravel trail that runs through the countryside. The operator offers shuttle services for riders who prefer one-way pedaling.
Midday — Hop Tourism
Vermont played an outsized role in the craft beer boom and has the most breweries per capita of any other state in the nation. In Stowe, you can conduct a mini brew-tour without having to drive too far, and a good place to start is at Von Trapp, which specializes in European-style pilsners, lagers, and ales. Alpine food like schnitzel and bratwurst makes it an ideal stop for lunch.
Then experience a beer that put Vermont on the brewer’s map at The Alchemist—their beer Heady Topper set the bar for unfiltered double IPAs, is sought after by beer geeks around the world, and was once so hard to get that you had to know the delivery schedule to find a four-pack. Elsewhere in town, you can stop in to sip at Idletyme and Stowe Cider. Serious connoisseurs will want to drive the hour over to Greensboro to visit Hill Farmstead, which has been ranked the best brewery in the world multiple times.
Evening — Kick Back
At the end of another full day, it’s not a bad day to kick back for the evening at Outbound. Hang by the pool and hot tub, lean back in one of the Adirondack chairs overlooking the West Branch Little River, and wait for the extended sunset to do its thing. The on-site restaurant Eastside Bar + Bites can supply you with a cocktail or mocktail as you relax, and a serving of poutine or a smashburger when hunger kicks in. A spot of stargazing wraps things up before turning in for the night.
Day 3: On the Water
Morning — Farmers Market Finds
By now, you’ve earned a slow morning. Earlier risers can hit the Stowe Recreation Path, which runs right by Outbound and winds along the river for 5.3 miles from town up toward the mountain, for a run or ride. The rest of the crew can head to Butler’s Pantry for a full stack of pancakes (served with Vermont-made maple syrup, of course). Assuming you’re visiting on a weekend, you’ll want to save some room, because from mid-May through mid-October, the Stowe Farmers Market is on, starting around 10 AM. Gather locally made cheese, bread, produce, and other fixings for lunch, and keep an eye out for hand-turned wood bowls, ceramics, and other products for a unique gift or souvenir.
Midday — Out for a Paddle
Supplies in hand, head down to the Waterbury Reservoir—you can fill in any lunch menu gaps at the Woodstock Farmers Market(which is a store, not another farmers market). There, Umiak Outfitters rents paddleboards, kayaks, and canoes by the hour. Paddle towards the reservoir’s northern end and you’ll feel as if you’ve entered a remote wilderness. Closer to the launch, Elephant Rock is a solid spot to soak in the sun, eat lunch, and dive in the water before heading back to town. On the drive, stop at Cold Hollow Cider Mill, where a bag of fresh cider donuts is well worth the parking lot fray.
Evening — Shop or Sauna
On your final evening, you have options. Use the late afternoon to take a stroll through Stowe village and check out shops like Bear Pond Books and the recently opened Stio Mountain Studio. Or, for those who like to pack it all in, take the Mountain Road up through Smuggler’s Notch, a famously scenic series of switchbacks where glacial erratics attract boulderers. On the other side, you can begin to recover from the trip at Savu’s mountainside sauna (book here), which looks out over the landscape from its perch in the forest. Follow it with a later dinner at Cork, a bottle shop-slash-restaurant that highlights seasonal fare from the region’s local growers, bakers, and makers.
