Champlain Islands in the Summer
Top Picks in the Champlain Islands
Summer is your gateway to the sense of wonder and well-being that comes with slowing down and taking in your surroundings in Vermont. Plunge into a swimming hole, stroll a local festival, or simply find togetherness on the lakeshore or around the campfire. Hand-picked by the editors of Yankee Magazine, these 5 highlights are just some of what the Champlain Islands offer in summer.
Grand Isle, Vermont
Biking the islands
Tucked between the Adirondacks in the west and the Green Mountains in the east, the Champlain Islands let cyclists appreciate mountain views while offering a swath of largely flat land for them to cruise. Along the way they’ll pass lake shoreline, farms and orchards that stretch down to the water, and picturesque villages with tempting stops for taking photos or sitting outside with food and drinks. In the Islands region, biking is part of the culture. Signs for the Lake Champlain Bikeways—a 1,600-mile network that runs through Quebec and New York—are everywhere and even on busy stretches of Route 2, drivers are patient. From mid-spring to mid-fall, the Burlington-based cycling advocacy group Local Motion runs a bike ferry across a gap in the three-mile Colchester Causeway to link the mainland to the island of South Hero.
ISLAND ARTS, NORTH HERO
In a place as unique as the Champlain Islands, you can expect an arts and culture scene to match. A big red century-old barn in North Hero serves as the headquarters for Island Arts, a nonprofit, home-grown creative hub that works to support local artists and bring events and concerts to the community. From late spring to early fall, it bustles with all kinds of enrichment and welcomes visitors in, from author talks, barn dances, nights filled with music and poetry, theater productions, and more. It also sponsors an art gallery at Community Bank in South Hero that brings visitors up close with the creativity of Champlain Islands artists.
Isle La Motte, Vermont
Saint Anne’s Shrine
Vermont’s oldest Catholic shrine stands on the spot where French voyagers, canoeing south from Montreal in 1666, built an outpost they named Fort Sainte Anne. Recognizing this place as the site of the first Catholic Mass in Vermont, the Burlington diocese founded Saint Anne’s Shrine in 1893. From May to October, religious pilgrims, history buffs, and those just seeking a quiet escape come to this 32-acre lakeside shrine and retreat center to visit the chapel and explore the grounds. (Look for the imposing statue of Samuel de Champlain, carved from Barre granite for the 1967 World Expo in Montreal.) Visitors are welcome to swim and picnic by the water, and campsites are available by reservation during summer.
Grand Isle, vermont
Remote Island Camping
A trip to the Champlain Islands can include overnighting on a pair of small, state-owned islands just offshore. Each measuring about a mile in length, Knight Island and Woods Island state parks are accessible only by boat. Many campers opt to paddle over in a canoe or kayak, though private water taxi services are available. Campsites are perched by the water and widely spaced along a local trail system, with Woods offering five tent sites and Knight offering six log lean-tos plus one tent site. Reservations can be reserved almost a year in advance, and range from two nights to two weeks. Swimming, birdwatching, paddling, or relaxing around the fire all make for great ways to enjoy these spots.
Pomykala farm, GRAND ISLE
Diners at Burlington’s top restaurants may have sampled Pomykala Farm’s wares without even knowing it. Started in 1977 on two acres, Jane and Bob Pomykala’s farm has grown into a 70-acre operation whose crops—especially the asparagus—show up on the menus at places like Hen of the Wood, Honey Road, and A Single Pebble. There’s nothing like visiting in person, though, to choose from just-picked fruits and vegetables at the self-serve farm stand, or to harvest your own strawberries when the farm’s PYO patches are open.
More to See and Do
Places to Visit In summer
Yankee Magazine’s editors hand-picked 5 places to visit in each Vermont region. Explore things to do in summer statewide.
