Woodchucks Stay Put! A Vemonter's Staycation Guide.

Why go somewhere else when you live in one of the most coveted places in the country? For Vermont residents, staycation-ing might be the best bet. Vermont’s sublime scenery, world-class outdoor sporting, and delectable local food puts it at the top of the travel list for many out-of-state visitors. Indeed, there’s so much to Vermont that even local residents may get overwhelmed by all of the options. So, we put together this choice guide to a staycation for Vermonters. To those looking on longingly from the border states: you are welcome to use it, too.

Peak Into the Corners of the North

Your Kingdom awaits you – but it’s up there. The Northeast Kingdom has a smaller population, and slower pace of living than anywhere else in the state. What to see? The Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury is housed in a fortress-like historical Victorian and boasts Vermont’s only public planetarium, along with hundreds of thousands of natural specimens. A visit there will keep your mind engaged and the kids enthralled while on staycation. Another prized element of the North country are towns so small they’re barely on the map. A poke around Glover, for instance, will only take a few minutes, but will make you feel like you’ve time-travelled through the years to a quieter time. To the South, Grafton is another tiny village with tons of charm. A mysterious mountain biking park? Sounds like something Barre, Vt., would have. Spread across 1,500 acres, The Millstone Trails are state of the art and have whimsical details carved and placed along the routes.

Stay Fit on Staycation When You Hike for the Pizza and Beer

Cliffs, creeks, and carbs. You locals know what makes Vermont’s prime peaks extra special: All the pizza joints waiting at the bottom, of course. For instance, American Flatbread’s Waitsfield location (a ramshackle farmhouse with the pizza ovens warming the dining room) is set up serendipitously close to Camel’s Hump. Take a few hours to hike the hump and then treat yourself on staycation by refueling with a loaded slice and rich craft brew.

Across the river in New Hampshire (sometimes staycations can require a short border crossing), Smarts Mountain makes for a full-day hike suitable for all ages. Get the whole family in on the staycation, and supper close to the summit in Bradford at Colatina Exit, a real local’s joint with great pizza, beer, and other classic Italian dishes.

Go Homestyle at a Southern Vermont Diner

A Vermont or New England staycation is very amenable to some make-believe. Pretend you're a character from a Cormac McCarthy novel and stop in for a cup of coffee and a piece of pie at every diner you pass. Set up right on the roadside, all of the holes in the walls along southern Vermont’s Route 9 are worth a visit. However, if we absolutely had to choose, we’d say Dot’s in Wilmington and Chelsea Royal in West Brattleboro will fix you up good.

Vermonting: Play The Town Fool

Your local General Store isn’t just for last-minute essentials. These small-town mainstays are like the off-limits warehouses of major museums — that’s how many treasures and aged artifacts they hold. So, we challenge you to a little Indiana Jones-ing: See if you can find the oldest things on the shelves, hopefully it’ll be in a can like Chock Full o’ Nuts instant coffee or Moxie soda that went flat decades ago. Buy it. Dust it off. Add to your collections.

Join in on that local happening you’ve been skipping.

It’s not just a Bellows Falls thing – Hootenanny's are everywhere! An old-school folksy jam of amateur musicians probably taking place at your local pub, these are laid-back and extra welcoming. Poetry circles or open mics (like the one on Thursdays at Artistree in Pomfret) are most likely held at cafes and potentially harder to find, but just as fun and enriching. Share that stanza of Yeats you’ve been memorizing with the group, chat with other fans about iambic pentameter, or just soak in the literary ambiance.

Don't Budge An Inch.

There you have it, Vermonters: a staycation to stay for. Next time you catch a break, don’t even think about packing up the car because some of the greatest sights, best foods, and funnest activities are all within your state borders.

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