Upper Connecticut River Valley in the Spring
Top Picks in the Upper Connecticut River Valley
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 Upper Connecticut River Valley offers as the Green Mountains come alive.
Norwich, Vermont
King Arthur Baking Company
Dating back to a mill established in 1790, King Arthur isn’t just a flour company. Its 14-acre flagship campus in Norwich is a baker’s dream, with a shop, a café, and classes devoted to breadmaking and pastry craft. Along with flours that are specially milled for every purpose, retail shelves brim with kitchen essentials like muffin tins and measuring utensils. You can also discover specialty items such as nut choppers, tart pans, and tortilla presses. Watch King Arthur bakers create the day’s share of more than 100,000 baguettes made here each year, stop at the café for a tasty breakfast or lunch, or sign up to learn baking from the pros. All the public areas are on one level, making it great for visitors with mobility challenges, and there are two EV charging stations on-site.
Hartford, Vermont
Quechee Gorge
Slicing into bedrock for more than 13,000 years, the swift Ottauquechee River created Vermont’s deepest gorge. The schist and quartzite walls of “Vermont’s Grand Canyon” plunge a dizzying 165 feet from the historic steel arch bridge that carries U.S. Route 4 across the gorge. This natural wonder is the centerpiece of Quechee State Park, which offers cabin, RV, lean-to and tent sites, as well as hiking trails. From the visitor center, a half-mile footpath descends to the bottom of the gorge, where the view looking up from the Ottauquechee is as dramatic as the vista looking down from the walkway along the bridge.
White River Junction, Vermont
Main Street Museum
This museum (which isn’t, by the way, on Main Street) is a beacon of White River Junction’s revival as a cultural hub of the Upper Valley. Filled with everything from taxidermied creatures to pop culture relics, it’s billed as a “repository of artifacts.” But that description that only hints at its true mission of examining the reasons we collect things at all. It’s a museum about why we have museums, and how they bring us together. A beloved community gathering place for two decades, the Main Street Museum is home to movie nights, bonfire sing-alongs, art exhibits, potluck suppers, and Friday concerts on a restored vintage player piano. Tours by appointment; pets are welcome.
FARM DINNERS AT CLOUDLAND FARM
– Pomfret, Vermont
Top-of-the-world views and a farm store stocked with produce, meats, and eggs are only part of the reason for visiting this family-owned Pomfret institution. On Fridays and Saturdays, chef Mike Borraccio creates dinners that give new meaning to the “farm to table” concept: Here, the distance from farm to table isn’t measured in miles, but in yards. Reserve well ahead to enjoy an ever-changing menu built around Cloudland’s seasonal bounty, along with ingredients from nearby producers such as maple, cider, and artisan breads and cheeses.
BILLINGS FARM AND MUSEUM
– Woodstock, Vermont
Founded in 1871 and home to a prize dairy herd, Woodstock’s famed model farm is a special place to be in springtime. At its popular Baby Farm Animal Celebration in April, the farm introduces visitors to its newest arrivals: chicks, piglets, calves, bunnies, goat kids. Lambs from nearby Akers Farm make an appearance, too. Appropriately, the farm’s springtime focus is on children, with games, crafts, and talks by rangers from nearby Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Park about the lives of young wild animals…and, of course, there are lots of up-close encounters with Billings Farm newborns. As always, kids and adults will find plenty to explore among the museum’s collections chronicling Vermont farm life through the centuries.
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.
