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EXPLORE BY:
Attraction: CULTURE | RECREATION | HISTORY | NATURE | SCENERY | ACCESSIBILITY
Region: GRAND ISLE COUNTY | CHITTENDEN COUNTY | MIDDLEBURY & VERGENNES
Mode of Travel: BOAT | BICYCLE | FOOT | CAR OR MOTORCYCLE
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Lake Champlain Byway
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Alburg Dunes State Park |
more information
RECREATION
Golf - There are several lakeside golf courses in Grand Isle County:
Alburg Golf Links - located on a hill overlooking the west shore of North Hero and Isle La Motte, the course is open seasonally and features lunch and dinner at Links on the Lake. www.alburggolflinks.com .
Barcomb Hill at Apple Island Resort - Located in an upscale rv campground, an executive golf course overlooks Lake Champlain's inland sea at the southern entrance to the Lake Champlain Islands. www.appleislandresort.com .
Wilcox Cove - a public golf course on the West Shore of Grand Isle is open seasonally. www.champlainislands.com
Beaver Creek Miniature Golf in North Hero: www.champlainislands.com
Water sports, including canoeing, kayaking, and charters
Canoeing and kayaking are popular sports in the Champlain Islands. Bring your own, or rent here. (Grand Isle Canoe, Bike and Kayak: www.champlainislands.com; Hero's Welcome General Store: www.heroswelcome.com; Heritage Kayak Tours: www.heritagekayaktours.com
Driftwood Tours: Custom day tours and moonlight cruises: www.northherohouse.com
An Bradon Fishing Charters out of South Hero: www.champlainislands.com
There are two marinas that welcome boaters and provide gas and other services:
Ladd's Landing Sailing Center and Marina in Grand Isle: www.laddslanding.com .
North Hero Marina: www.northhero.com .
State Parks www.vtstateparks.com
Day Parks:
Alburg Dunes State Park features sand dunes and the longest public beach on Lake Champlain. The beach and dunes make up a barrier island, left behind when the last glacier melted. There are some rare plants, and habitats for wildlife. Open mid-May to Labor Day, the park is open from 10 a.m. to sunset.
Knight Point State Park at the North Hero Bridge features a sandy swimming beach, picnic areas and walking paths with scenic vistas. The Park is the home of the Islands Center for Arts and Recreation, which presents concerts and performances in the summer, and is the summer home of Herrmann's Royal Lipizzan Stallions. Open 10 a.m. to sunset, mid-May to Labor Day.
Sand Bar State Park at the southern end of the Champlain Islands has a sand beach and picnic grounds, surrounded by the lake and the 1000 acre Sand Bar Wildlife Refuge. Canoe and kayak rentals are also available.
Camping Parks
Grand Isle State Park - The state's most popular campground has 157 tent, trailer, leanto and cabin sites. The Park features a beach, boat launch and shore fishing access, plus nature center, nature trail, park naturalist and interpretive programs. Open mid-May to October 15.
Knight Island State Park is an island two miles off the shore of North Hero with just seven remote area leanto campsites. Ferry service is available by advance reservation (802-524-6353). Reservations are required, with a two-night minimum stay. Open late May to Labor Day.
North Hero State Park has 99 tent/trailer sites and 18 leanto sites. Group camping is accommodated. Lakeside picnic grounds, a swimming beach, boat rentals and a boat launch are featured. The Park boasts a diversity of habitat, including deer, migratory waterfowl, grouse and woodcock, as well as pickerel and northern pike. Turtles nest along the beach. Open mid May to Labor Day.
Biking
Lake Champlain Bikeways, an on-road series of biking routes, continues its network throughout the Champlain Islands, linking to other bike routes across the lake in New York, or South into Chittenden County.
The Champlain Islands Bikeways map features five theme loops, offering users a choice of routes on main roads and off the beaten path. Riders can pass by historic miniature stone buildings, orchards and farms, campgrounds and parks. The causeway linking South Hero with Colchester, by means of a summer bike ferry, takes riders out into the lake on the old train causeway. www.champlainbikeways.org ; www.localmotion.org ; www.islandsandfarmsvt.com .
Bike rentals:
Grand Isle Canoe Bike & Kayak: www.champlainislands.com .
Hero's Welcome General Store: www.heroswelcome.com
Fishing:
Lake Champlain is where the fish are! Fish year-round, including ice-fishing, on your own, or by chartering an expert fisherman and boat. The Father's Day LCI Derby, America's oldest, largest freshwater fishing derby, is a favorite event for fishing enthusiasts for. Bait, tackle and licenses are available locally at Bill's Sport Shop in Grand Isle: www.champlainislands.com ; Northland Boat Shop in North Hero: www.northlandboats.com ; and Keeler Bay Variety in South Hero: www.champlainislands.com .
Lake Champlain International: www.lciderby.com
An Bradon Fishing Charters: anbradonfishingcharters@yahoo.com
Ed Weed Fish Hatchery and fish culture station: www.vtfishandwildlife.com
HISTORY
Fisk Quarry - This 19 th century quarry yielded Chazy limestone, dubbed "black marble", which was shipped throughout the country for use in buildings including New York City's Radio City Music Hall. Black River limestone was used in the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier. Fisk Quarry is no longer in use, but visitors may take a self-guided tour. Spectacular examples of ancient fossils called stromatoporoids are visible on the quarry walls. www.ilmpt.org (Isle La Motte Preservation Trust)
Fisk Farm - Home of Lt. Gov. Nelson Fisk. In 1901, when then VP Teddy Roosevelt was visiting Fisk to address the Fish and Game Club, he received a telephone call that President McKinley had been shot. www.fiskfarm.com.
NATURE & SCENERY
Natural Areas
Pelots Natural Area, owned by the town of North Hero, has an interpretive nature trail through meadows and forests, alongside a swamp and Pelots Bay. North Hero was once part of a tropical ocean beach, then of a vast region of swamps and savannahs, where mastodons, beaver and moose roamed. Then came the glaciers that gouged out Lake Champlain. This area is open to the public year round.
Goodsell Ridge - Isle La Motte
The Goodsell Ridge was acquired by the Isle La Motte Preservation Trust. It is a beautiful 81 acre site and location of the world famous ancient fossil reef. The Goodsell Ridge Preserve will protect the site in perpetuity for the benefit of science, education and public appreciation and it will save an American treasure for the benefit of Vermont, the nation, and the world. The Preserve area includes an Outdoor Museum with Visitors' Center and interpretive trails through woodland meadows, and outcroppings of fossil reef.
Orchards, Farms and Wineries
Allenholm Farm in South Hero is Vermont's oldest commercial apple orchard. It features a Petting Paddock, playground and Farm Store, open late May through December. Pick your own apples in season, and purchase seasonal fruits and vegetables, maple creemies and Papa Ray's pies. www.allenholm.com .
Hacketts Orchard in South Hero is a family operated farm market. Apples, raspberries, strawberries, farm-fresh vegetables are available, in addition to maple syrup, honey and other Vermont made products. The on-site bakery sells cider donuts and home made pies. There are picnic and play areas, and "pick your own" apples in season. Open daily April 1st - Dec. 31st.
Snow Farm Vineyard in South Hero is Vermont's first vineyard and grape winery. Nestled into the hillside overlooking Lake Champlain, the winery has on-site tastings daily May through December. www.snowfarm.com.
Photo: "Lake Champlain Bikeway," used by permission of Addison County Chamber of Commerce.
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