The pastoral isles of Lake Champlain
This outdoor lover’s paradise is also rich in history
As a child growing up in New York City’s suburbs, I cherished our family summer vacations in Vermont, which seemed like a faraway pastoral dream.
My perception of the otherness of Vermont was heightened by having to endure the sweaty road trip, trapped in a station wagon, yelling at my sister over the din of highway driving with the windows down, while lurching to avoid my father’s hand swatting back at us. All of this made the sweet relief of arriving, often after dark, even more memorable: the cool, fragrant air; the stars; falling asleep to the lake water lapping and oarlocks knocking.
As an adult, I’ve continued to visit Vermont with my husband’s family, whose “camp,” a modest dwelling that uses lake water for plumbing, is near Lake Champlain. While today it takes less than five hours to get there in our old Honda, with air-conditioning, radio and little suffering, it still feels every bit as blissfully far removed from the madding crowd.
Last spring, when my mother-inlaw announced that she was selling the camp, my mind raced. Treasured memories collided with images from my perennial Vermont to-do list. At the top of that list was someplace I had never been: the Lake Champlain islands. Their names had always intrigued me: Isle La Motte, South and North Hero, the town of Grand Isle. I hatched a plan to explore the islands, and, perhaps, to change my mother-inlaw’s mind about selling the beloved retreat.
While I still think of Vermont as an “away” sort of place, the Lake Champlain islands are truly other and away. For one thing, the lake itself is enormous, 120 miles long and 12 miles wide. There are only four year-round access points to the islands from the mainland: two from New York (a bridge from Rouses Point near the Canadian border to Alburgh, Vermont, which is a peninsula reaching down from Canada; and a ferry from Plattsburgh to Grand Isle) and two from Vermont (a bridge from Swanton, and U.S. Route 2 from Milton). The 14-mile Island Line bike trail will also get you from Burlington to South Hero, but only until Columbus Day, when the bike ferry closes.
The islands are an outdoor lover’s paradise, with state parks, trails, beaches, campgrounds, farms and orchards. The region’s allure is due in no small part to the efforts of initiatives such as the South Hero Land Trust and the Isle La Motte Preservation Trust to eschew commercial development. There are hundreds of acres of wildlife refuges; in particular, the Missisquoi and Sand Bar protected areas are important stopovers for migratory birds.
Cyclists are everywhere: the terrain is mostly flat, there is little traffic, and hostelries cater to riders’ needs. The lake attracts boating enthusiasts and anglers for trout, walleye, perch, landlocked salmon and bass. Last summer, a nearly 7-foot-long endangered lake sturgeon washed up on the beach at Isle La Motte. Not surprisingly, this got folks talking about Champ, the lake’s own mythical Loch Ness monster.
Champ sightings aside, the islands are rich in history. The Abenaki and Mohican Indian tribes, among others,
inhabited the area long before Samuel de Champlain set foot in 1609 on Isle La Motte, the site of Vermont’s first European settlement. Many battles in America’s struggle for independence — including the Battle of Plattsburgh and the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys — took place in the region. In 1779, the republic of Vermont granted the islands of South and North Hero to Ethan and Ira Allen (the two heroes) for their role in establishing the state. And that’s just recent history. On Isle La Motte, you can examine outcroppings of the 480-million-year-old Chazy Fossil Reef, formed from the calciferous remains of ancient sea creatures.
Approaching the lake on U.S. 2 west from Burlington, the terrain gets low and marshy as you pass through the Sand Bar Wildlife Refuge and State Park. Tall poles supporting crowded osprey nests parallel the road, and herons wade in the shallows. Eagle populations have been rebounding here in recent years. When you emerge from the trees onto the causeway, the views are breathtaking. I had to pull over to take it all in: the Green Mountains on my right, Adirondacks on my left, the sparkling lake.
It took days to get beyond South Hero, and not because of traffic or people; the islands remain uncrowded even in summer. (And what a glorious, fleeting summer it is. Its brevity renders the sights even more splendid.) Rather, everything conspires to slow you down. Wending along roads punctuated with graceful elms, cornfields and riots of Queen Anne’s lace and blue chicory, there’s always another spot to explore or sit with something fresh from an orchard or farm stand (or a pint of Island Homemade Ice Cream, made in Grand Isle).
I stopped in front of the Apple Island Resort to investigate a handsome red barn, the Arnold Zlotoff Tool Museum, situated on the property. Named for a New York industrial arts teacher who collected early American craft and industry tools, the trove includes everything from bark spuds and froes to twibills and wool wheel fingers.
Another discovery was White’s Beach on West Shore Road, a stretch of sand with a picnic table, volleyball net and Adirondack views. Across the road, a woodsy marsh encircled by trees is festooned with brightly painted birdhouses. The creator, who lives next to the marsh, had mosquito control in mind when he set out years ago to attract more tree swallows, and it seems to have worked. Two large dinosaur sculptures lurk among the trees, adding to the whimsy.
South Hero has two century-old, family-owned apple orchards a mile apart on South Street. At Hackett’s, the larger of the two, I sampled a sweet Jersey Mac, among the earliest of the 47 varieties grown here, and a moist cider doughnut.
Inside the Allenholm Farm market, a woman peeled fruit with a hand-crank device, then stepped outside to feed the peels to the donkeys, ponies and goats. Children patted the animals while clutching maple “creemees” (soft-serve ice cream). The Accidental Farmer Cafe is here, too (Friday night is burger night, featuring local beef ).
Around the corner from White’s Beach is Crescent Bay Farm Bed & Breakfast, a longtime working farm that raises llamas and pigs and produces maple syrup. The family also operates the adjacent Snow Farm Vineyard, known for its icewine and outdoor concerts featuring local musicians.
The next day I rented a bike in Burlington to ride the Island Line Bike Trail to South Hero. The path winds through lakeside neighbourhoods, then onto the restored rail causeway where for three miles you’re surrounded by water and mountain views. There is a fiveminute ferry ride, then you’re back on the path to South Hero.
I had intended to continue riding through the islands but hadn’t factored in the 14 miles back to return the bike. Exhausted, I pulled over for a fortifying swim before pedalling back.
The next morning I was determined not to stop until I reached North Hero (although I couldn’t resist perusing the vintage items at Tinker’s Barn). Crossing the bridge over Carry Bay, I stopped at Hero’s Welcome, a 114-year-old general store and year-round hub. In summer, bikers in full regalia line the long bench out front, devouring sandwiches named for local historical figures: the “Hero Ethan Allen,” the “Benedict Arnold.” Now there is one named for Sen. Bernie Sanders, who bought a house last summer in North Hero. You can rent bikes and boats around the back. Take a raspberry crumble bar with you.
No sooner was I back on Route 2 than I spied another inviting antiques shop, the Back Chamber, but I continued north, past the upscale North Hero House, to Alburgh Dunes State Park. An excellent swimming destination with a long sand beach, the park has several unusual ecosystems: a black spruce bog, wetlands and dune formations resembling an ocean shoreline. Two rare plants found here — Champlain beach grass and lowgrowing beach pea — are remnants of a time when the lake was an estuary of the Atlantic.
Isle La Motte is the smallest, most-isolated island, reachable only by a causeway from Alburgh. Seven miles long and 5 miles wide, it is bikeable, and this is the best way to appreciate the stillness here, the weight of time and history. Beyond the welcome sign, a weatherbeaten marker for Burying Yard Point commemorates six Revolutionary War soldiers who were buried here. At the south end, the Goodsell Ridge Preserve presents an outdoor exhibit of trails and descriptive panels charting the evolution of our planet over millenniums, as illustrated by Chazy Reef fossil remains.
A mile away, the Fisk Quarry Preserve is part of the reef formation, and fossils are everywhere underfoot. Limestone was mined here for centuries and used to construct buildings on the island and elsewhere, including Radio City Music Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge. The adjoining farm was settled in 1788 by the Fisk family. In 1901, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, an ardent conservationist, was a guest of Lieutenant Gov. Nelson Fisk of Vermont. Today the restored property is an arts space and private home with rental cottages.
Farther along, I turned onto School Street to investigate the charming Old Schoolhouse of Isle La Motte. The 1930 schoolhouse features a former classroom with 10-foot-high windows, blackboards, shelves of books and eight beds, which can be rented as dormitory or private accommodations. A living room full of musical instruments adjoins the cafeteria/kitchen, where guests can cook and the hostess prepares a marvellous breakfast.
At summer’s end, my husband and I took his mother to the islands for her birthday. After a leisurely drive, we enjoyed a glass of Seyval Blanc at Snow Farm Vineyard and then a wonderful meal at the Blue Paddle Bistro in South Hero. I forget who had the duck breast or the fresh rolls, but I do remember that it was grand and that my motherin-law was very happy.
And we never heard another word about selling the camp.