Vermont

Vermont is a New England state on the Canadian border, with Lake Champlain along its line with New York. Its one national historical park, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller in Woodstock, had 77,524 visits in 2025. The Green Mountain National Forest covers over 400,000 acres in the south-west and centre of the state.

Vermont has no international flights of its own, so a visitor from abroad connects through a US hub or drives in from Boston or Montreal. We read the figures below on 27 October 2026 on the National Park Service's pages, Recreation.gov, the ferry operator's site, Burlington airport's, Amtrak's, the two border agencies' and NOAA's normals. Vermont's own tax, state-park and tourism sites refused our requests that day, so the figures only they publish are not given here.

Does anything in Vermont charge a national park entrance fee?

No National Park Service site in Vermont charges an entrance fee, and none is on the 2026 list of eleven parks that add $100 for each non-resident aged 16 or older. The Park Service lists three units in the state: Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller, the Appalachian Trail and the North Country Trail.

The $250 non-resident America the Beautiful pass buys nothing in Vermont. It is not sold at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller and does not cover the mansion tours. Our guide to national park fees for international visitors explains where the pass does pay off.

The Appalachian Trail's 6,215,118 visits in 2025 cover all fourteen states it crosses, and no count exists for Vermont alone. The Green Mountain Club maintains it from the Massachusetts line to Vermont Route 12. Fees are collected at some busy campsites, but no permit or reservation is needed to walk it.

When does the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller mansion close for the winter?

The Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller mansion closes for the season on 31 October, along with the Carriage Barn Visitor Center. Both open from Memorial Day weekend, Thursday to Monday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The grounds stay open all year during daylight.

Mansion tours cost $13 for an adult aged 16 to 61 for one hour, or $6 for 30 minutes, and $1 for children 15 and under. Each tour takes at most 12 people. The park takes credit or debit cards only, and the Park Service advises booking on Recreation.gov. Interagency passes, the Senior Pass included, do not apply to the tours.

Mount Tom Forest is, in the Park Service's words, "the oldest continuously managed scientific forest in the United States". The park's carriage roads and trails run to more than 20 miles. On 27 October 2026 the park's alerts said sections of five trails and carriage roads would close between 2 and 20 November. Each closure, for felling hazard trees, may last up to an hour.

In winter the Woodstock Inn & Resort Nordic Center grooms over 12 miles of the park's trails. Skiing and snowshoeing then need its day ticket or season pass.

Visitors park in two free lots at Billings Farm & Museum, about half a mile north of Woodstock village. From there a short, steep hill leads up to the Carriage Barn. Woodstock is about 13 miles from exit 1 of I-89.

The Park Service puts it 95 miles from Burlington's airport, 97 from Manchester's and 143 from Boston's. Manchester and the nearest regional airport, West Lebanon, 16 miles away, are both in New Hampshire. Amtrak's White River Junction station is about 14 miles away.

What is in the Green Mountain National Forest?

The Green Mountain National Forest covers over 400,000 acres in south-western and central Vermont, in Recreation.gov's description. Three national trails cross it: the Appalachian Trail, the Long Trail and the Robert Frost National Recreation Trail. It also holds about 900 miles of multiple-use trails.

Recreation.gov lists five Forest Service campgrounds in Vermont: Chittenden Brook, Grout Pond, Hapgood Pond, Moosalamoo and Silver Lake. Hapgood Pond lies 13 miles east of Manchester, beside a 12-acre pond with no lifeguard.

The Moosalamoo National Recreation Area covers 16,000 acres with over 70 miles of trails, and its campground has 19 sites, 12 miles from Middlebury or Brandon. The forest's own pages could not be read on 27 October 2026, so its fees and visitor centres are not given here.

Which Lake Champlain ferry crosses to New York?

Lake Champlain Transportation runs two car ferries from Vermont to New York, and neither leaves from Burlington. Grand Isle to Plattsburgh runs 24 hours a day, all year, and takes about 15 minutes. Charlotte to Essex takes about half an hour and runs all year as the weather permits, closing at times for ice or strong north winds.

The two Lake Champlain crossings cost $12.25 for a car and driver and $5.50 for each adult passenger, one way, plus a fuel surcharge. Children aged 6 to 12 pay $3.25, and under-6s ride free. Credit cards are accepted at every dock, but Canadian cash is not, and no reservations are needed. The Charlotte to Essex crossing moves to its winter schedule on Monday 2 November 2026; Grand Isle to Plattsburgh keeps its timetable.

Is Lake Placid closer by the Charlotte ferry or by the bridge?

Lake Placid is about 91 road miles and 2½ hours from Burlington by the Lake Champlain Bridge, on our own routing. The ferry route is shorter in miles: 15 miles to the Charlotte dock, the half-hour crossing to Essex, then 44 miles to Lake Placid.

The ferry saves about 30 road miles but adds the crossing and the wait for a boat. After 2 November the Charlotte boat runs its winter timetable, so the bridge is the more predictable choice. Our New York guide covers Lake Placid and the Adirondacks.

How far is Stowe from Burlington, and how much snow does Mount Mansfield get?

Stowe is about 37 road miles and 55 minutes from Burlington, and 22 miles from Montpelier, on our own routing. Ben & Jerry's factory at Waterbury lies 9 miles from Stowe and 28 from Burlington. Its tour hours and prices could not be read on 27 October 2026.

NOAA's station on Mount Mansfield, at 3,950 feet, averages 234.9 inches of snow a year, a figure NOAA marks as provisional. Snow comes early up there: 10.1 inches in an average October and 30.4 in November. Its January averages a high of 21°F and a low of 6°F, and snow lies on the ground for about 205 days a year. Amtrak's Waterbury-Stowe station is 11 miles from Stowe village.

Which train goes to Burlington, the Vermonter or the Ethan Allen Express?

The Ethan Allen Express goes to Burlington, and the Vermonter does not. Amtrak runs both daily, and neither travels between Burlington and Boston.

The Ethan Allen Express runs from New York by way of Albany to Burlington Union Station in 7 hours 34 minutes. Its Vermont stops are Castleton, Rutland, Middlebury and Ferrisburgh-Vergennes. Union Station is half a mile from Church Street.

The Vermonter runs daily from Washington, D.C., through New York to St. Albans, 13 hours 45 minutes end to end. In Vermont it calls at Brattleboro, Bellows Falls, Windsor-Mt. Ascutney, White River Junction, Randolph, Montpelier-Berlin, Waterbury-Stowe, Essex Junction and St. Albans. Essex Junction, the stop for Burlington, is about 7 road miles from Church Street. White River Junction is the stop for Woodstock.

Why do flights from abroad to Vermont land in Boston or a US hub?

Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport lists only US cities among its nonstops, on American, Breeze, Delta, Sun Country and United. Its connecting hubs include New York JFK and LaGuardia, Newark, Washington Dulles and National, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Atlanta and Chicago O'Hare. The airport is about 5.5 miles from Church Street.

Boston Logan is the other way in. Massport's international page says "over 60" nonstop destinations, and the list beneath it names 58. Our Massachusetts guide covers Logan and Boston. Montreal is closer to Burlington than Boston, but Montréal-Trudeau's own site could not be read, so its routes are not given here.

The distances are our own routing, without traffic or border waits. The road from Montreal crosses at Saint-Armand/Philipsburg into Highgate Springs, which US Customs and Border Protection lists as open 24 hours a day. Canada's border agency warns of delays until winter 2027 at Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, on the Montreal to New York road, which this route avoids. We could not read US Customs' own page on entry documents at a land border.

How cold and snowy is a Burlington winter?

Burlington averages 87.5 inches of snow a year on NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals, with 21.1 inches in January alone. Snow covers the ground on about 89 winter days, and about 16 nights a year fall to 0°F or below.

The table gives average highs and lows. St. Johnsbury averages 87.2 inches of snow and Rutland 74.6; NOAA gives no snow normal for the Montpelier station. Summers are mild: Burlington reaches 90°F on about 8 days a year, Montpelier on 2. Vermont's tourism office foliage report could not be read on 27 October 2026, so we give no dates for the autumn colour.

What do Vermont's sales tax and meals and rooms tax add?

Vermont's sales tax is 6%, and 38 municipalities add a 1% local option tax, by the Streamlined Sales Tax rate file for the fourth quarter of 2026. Restaurant meals and hotel rooms carry Vermont's separate meals and rooms tax of 9%, and a drink served in a bar or restaurant carries the 10% alcoholic beverage tax instead, according to the Vermont Department of Taxes.

Towns with a local option add 1% to meals and rooms too, and Burlington and Rutland collect their own local taxes. A business that includes the tax in its prices must say so on a sign, the menu or the receipt. Our guide to sales tax in the USA explains why prices are shown before tax.

Vermont is wholly on Eastern Time, and its clocks go back an hour at 2 a.m. on 1 November 2026.