Champlain Islands in the Spring
Top Picks in the Champlain Islands
In the spring, Vermont’s landscapes wake up from their long winter’s slumber into the riot and color of renewal. Maple sap flows in forests, warm days make for sunny spring skiing, and trees and flowers begin to bud. Hand-picked by the editors of Yankee Magazine, these 5 highlights are just some of what the Champlain Islands offer as the Green Mountains come alive.
North Hero, Vermont
Hero’s Welcome General Store
At first glance, this lakeside retail stop looks like many other country stores: sandwich counter, fresh baked goods and jars of candies, a couple of tables where folks are having coffee. Take a few more steps inside, though, and Hero’s Welcome shows itself to be a Champlain Islands emporium with an inventory you can browse endlessly. It ranges from sports clothing to fishing tackle, maps, and guidebooks to toys and games, kitchenware and camping gear, and Vermont-made soaps and specialty foods. Plus, there are canoes, kayaks, and bikes for visitors to rent. Grab a custom sandwich or a bowl of some of the best chili around, and picnic by the water at the pier across the road.
South Hero, Vermont
Two Heroes Brewery
Ethan and Ira Allen, leaders of Vermont’s famous Green Mountain Boys, never had such a choice of beers and ales like the ones crafted at this brewpub named in their honor. Using Vermont hops whenever possible (and even barley grown here in Grand Isle County), the gleaming fermenters behind the bar turn out New England’s signature IPAs, thirst-quenching lagers, a hearty oat stout, and an aged Belgian ale. The German-style altbier is flavored with local maple; the house cider is made with South Hero apples. Bratwursts, Reubens, and local-beef “smashburgers” anchor the beer-friendly menu, which includes several vegetarian options. Regular live music nights showcase the island’s homegrown talent.
North Hero House
North Hero’s spectacularly scenic City Bay has the cozy and stylish inn that it deserves. Since 1891, when guests arrived by steamship, the North Hero House has been setting the standard for Champlain Islands hospitality. The inn offers 26 rooms and suites in its historic main house and three lakeside buildings, many with porches facing Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains. Canoes, kayaks, and a sand beach make this a true waterfront resort. The dining room is now open year-round, and tavern fare includes a twice-weekly raw bar. When warm weather arrives, the Pier Bar—where those steamships once landed—is the place for drinks and light meals.
GOODSELL RIDGE FOSSIL PRESERVE
– Isle La Motte, Vermont
Nearly half a billion years ago, Vermont was covered in a warm, shallow sea, inhabited by creatures long since extinct. Their habitat was Earth’s earliest coral reef, parts of which are preserved in the limestone foundations of Isle La Motte. Among the remains of primitive sea life that are visible at Goodsell Ridge are the fossils of trilobites, a distant relative of the horseshoe crab, and spiral-shelled mollusks called ammonites. The 85-acre preserve, which is managed by the Lake Champlain Land Trust, has self-guided trails and plaques that teach about the area’s remarkable geological history and the fossils revealed in its rocks.
FOX HILL MAPLE
– South Hero, Vermont
The Champlain Islands aren’t usually thought of as maple country, but steam rising from the sugarhouse at Fox Hill shows that springtime is as sweet here as on the mainland. In the scenic southwest corner of South Hero island, the Lane family, who also operate the acclaimed Snow Farm Vineyard, tap nearly 1,000 trees and boil sap in their wood-fired evaporator. Visitors can watch and sample on select days during sugar season and sign up with the South Hero Land Trust for a Maple Open House Weekend hike through the Fox Hill sugarbush. For a longer maple-and-wine-themed visit, stay at the Lanes’ Snow Farm Inn at Crescent Bay.
More to See and Do
Places to Visit In the Spring
Yankee Magazine’s editors hand-picked 5 places to visit in each Vermont region. Explore things to do in spring statewide.
