The Green Mountain State

Vermont

From Lake Champlain to the Northeast Kingdom — the land, the seasons, the towns and the people who make Vermont, all in one place.

MontpelierCapital
179114th state
4,393 ftMt. Mansfield
“Freedom & Unity”State motto

Mount Mansfield · Photo: Niranjan Arminius / CC BY-SA

At a glance

Vermont by the numbers

Capital Montpelier Smallest U.S. state capital

Largest city Burlington On Lake Champlain

Population ≈647,000 Among the least-populous states

Statehood 1791 14th state — first after the original 13

Highest point Mt. Mansfield 4,393 ft / 1,339 m

Land area 9,616 mi² 45th-largest state

Counties 14 255 towns & cities

Area code 802 One code for the whole state

The short version

A small state with an outsized character

Vermont is small, rural, and fiercely itself — fourteen counties of farmland, forest, and mountain villages stretched between Lake Champlain and the Connecticut River. From the working waterfront of Burlington to the quiet of the Northeast Kingdom, it’s a state best understood through the people who live here.

This is our home base for everything Vermont: the places, the seasons, and the photographs our readers take across the state. Browse the reader gallery below, and if you’ve captured a Vermont moment you’re proud of, share it — we may feature it.

Where in Vermont

The four regions

Champlain Valley 15 towns · 1 reader photo Vermont's western shoulder along Lake Champlain — Burlington, the state's largest city, plus the farm country and college towns of Addison and Franklin counties.

Explore Champlain Valley →

Central Vermont 14 towns The spine of the Green Mountains and the state capital, Montpelier — with Stowe, Waterbury, the Mad River Valley and Woodstock.

Explore Central Vermont →

Northeast Kingdom 12 towns Vermont's wild northeast corner — lakes, deep forest and the most dramatic foliage in the state, anchored by St. Johnsbury and Newport.

Explore Northeast Kingdom →

Southern Vermont 15 towns The gateway from the south — Rutland, Brattleboro, Bennington and Manchester, plus the ski resorts of Ludlow and Dover.

Explore Southern Vermont →

Around the year

Four seasons, four Vermonts

Graded bottles of Vermont maple syrup — Spring Sugaring season. As nights freeze and days thaw, sap runs and sugarhouses fill the woods with steam — Vermont makes more maple syrup than any other state. Then comes mud season, and the first green.

The green ridgeline of the Green Mountains in summer — Summer The Green Mountains at their greenest — swimming holes, farmers’ markets, Lake Champlain sunsets and long days on the Long Trail.

Hillsides of scarlet and gold fall foliage in Vermont — Fall The main event. Sugar maples turn the hillsides scarlet and gold; peak color rolls roughly north-to-south from late September through mid-October.

A skier on a snowy trail at a Vermont resort — Winter Ski-and-ride country — Killington, Stowe, Sugarbush, Mad River Glen and Jay Peak — plus quiet villages buried in deep snow.

Only in Vermont

What Vermont is known for

Maple syrup Vermont produces roughly half of all U.S. maple syrup — more than any other state.

Fall foliage One of the most famous leaf-peeping destinations on Earth, peaking late Sept–mid Oct.

Skiing & riding Killington, Stowe, Sugarbush, Jay Peak and the legendary Mad River Glen.

Cheese & dairy Cabot, Vermont cheddar and a deep bench of award-winning artisan creameries.

Craft beer The Alchemist’s Heady Topper and Hill Farmstead rank among the world’s best.

Ben & Jerry's Founded in a Burlington gas station in 1978; the factory tour is in Waterbury.

A historic Vermont covered bridge — **Covered bridges**Around 100 historic spans still stand statewide.

The Quechee Gorge and its bridge — **Quechee Gorge**Vermont’s deepest gorge — the “Little Grand Canyon.”

Plan a trip

Getting here & getting around

Getting here

Roughly 3½ hours from Boston and 5 from New York City by car. Fly into Burlington International (BTV), or ride Amtrak’s Vermonter and Ethan Allen Express.

When to go

Foliage peaks late September to mid-October — book lodging months ahead. Ski season runs December through March; summers are mild, green and quiet.

Good to know

Eastern Time, and one area code statewide: 802. There are no roadside billboards anywhere in Vermont — so bring a map sense, and layers, because mountain weather turns fast.

Local news, by town

Towns & cities

Champlain Valley

Central Vermont

Northeast Kingdom

Southern Vermont

Vermont through your lens

Reader photos

Share yours ↓

Vermont photo — Burlington, VT — Photo: Baris Taskiran · Burlington, VT

Share a photo

Send us your Vermont

Took a great shot somewhere in Vermont? Share it and we may feature it in the gallery above. Only photos you took yourself, please — everything is reviewed by a person before it appears.

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Header & guide photography from Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons — Niranjan Arminius (Mt. Mansfield) (CC BY-SA 4.0); Farragutful (Lake Champlain) (CC BY-SA 4.0); King of Hearts (State House, Bennington) (CC BY-SA 4.0); Anthony Quintano (Northeast Kingdom) (CC BY 2.0); chensiyuan (fall foliage) (CC BY-SA 4.0); EgorovaSvetlana (Green Mountains) (CC BY-SA 4.0); daveynin (Woodstock bridge) (CC BY 2.0); Eyeheartbrain (Quechee Gorge) (CC BY-SA 3.0).