Stowe, VT
Sterling Pond, Smugglers' Notch
- When it’s open
- Smugglers' Notch State Park Season: "Third weekend in May through the second Monday in October." — https://vtstateparks.com/smugglers.html (the VT-108 road through the notch is not maintained for through traffic in winter)
How private it is
We haven’t rated privacy here yet.
If the weather turns: Quechee Gorge rim, Quechee State Park
Where to eat, drink and stay nearby
The moment is the fixed point; these are the hours either side of it. Real places in Stowe, drawn from our destination catalog — not ranked, not sponsored, and not described by anything other than the catalog’s own words.
Dinner after
Plate
Modern American · $$$
Snug 30-seat, chef's-counter energy
Edson Hill
Tavern · $$$
Stone fireplace dining room + après hour
Alpine Hall at Spruce Peak
Vermont farm-to-table · $$$
Chef Sean Blomgren's room at the Spruce Peak base, built on the region's growers, farmers and makers — a short, worked-over menu rather than a long one. Dinner nightly by reservation; breakfast is buffet.
A quiet drink
Cork Restaurant & Natural Wine Shop
wine-bar · $$$
A small mid-century room on School Street pouring natural, organic and biodynamic wine by the glass, with a kitchen menu that changes almost daily. The bar keeps going after the kitchen closes; shut Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tipsy Trout at Spruce Peak
cocktail-bar · $$$
Raw bar and artisan cocktails at the Spruce Peak base, on a wine list that has taken the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence two years running. There is an oyster hour before dinner and a late bar after it; closed Monday and Tuesday.
Where to stay
Topnotch Resort
resort
Spa + tennis + après bar onsite
Mountain Road chalet
house
Hot tub + ski-in/out walk
The morning after
Spruce Peak ski day
skiing
Lift tickets + lodge lunch
Trapp Family lodge backcountry tour
hiking
Sound-of-Music meadows + brewery finish
Shows the city and roughly when to keep free. Never the place, and never the word.
Source: vtstateparks.com · confirmed 2026-08-06. Places change — check before you build a trip you cannot move.