Five miles long, flanked by cliffs: Vermont’s most dramatic lake sits almost entirely alone

Vermont’s own fjord is hiding in plain sight

Vermont has a fjord. Not a lake that someone stretched a metaphor around, but a five-mile-long slash of water pressed between two mountains with cliffs dropping straight to the surface.

Lake Willoughby sits in the Northeast Kingdom, far enough from the tourist circuits that you can drive up on a summer Saturday and still find a parking spot.

But once you see it, you’ll understand why Yankee Magazine put it on its list of the best lakes in New England.

Ice carved this lake 12,000 years ago

Glaciers did the heavy work here. More than 12,000 years ago, a sheet of ice ground through the granite bedrock between Mount Pisgah and Mount Hor, cutting a groove deep enough to fill with 300 feet of water.

The lake covers over 1,600 acres, runs about five miles long and one mile wide, and sits deeper than any lake contained entirely within Vermont.

The government made it official in 1967, designating the area a National Natural Landmark for its geology.

Poet Robert Frost camped here with his family in 1909 and later wrote about it in his 1914 collection North of Boston.

The water runs so clear you can see 30 feet down

Lake Willoughby is spring-fed, and it shows. On a calm day, you can look over the side of a kayak and see the bottom 30 feet below you.

The water has a bluish-green tint that shifts with the light, and the depth is what keeps it that way.

Because the lake goes down 300 feet, it holds its cold through summer and stays one of the last lakes in the region to freeze over each winter.

That cold also keeps the water remarkably clear, season after season.

Two sandy beaches and both are free

Most lakes charge you to get near the water. Both of Willoughby’s public beaches are free.

The north end has a sandy beach with easy access, good for families who want a straightforward swim. A second beach sits at the south end of the lake.

The water is deep and cold, which cuts through any July heat fast. You don’t need to book anything, pay anything, or reserve a spot.

Park, walk down, and get in.

Climb Mount Pisgah and look straight down the cliffs

The Mount Pisgah trail in Willoughby State Forest draws the most hikers in the area, and once you reach the top, you’ll see why. The South Trail gives you the most gradual climb and works well for families.

About a mile up, Pulpit Rock gives you your first real look at the lake below.

Keep going to the summit and the ledges open up, putting you at the top of the cliffs with the water directly beneath you.

The North Trail, starting partway along the eastern shore, is the route most people say they’d take again.

Mount Hor has two lookouts and a short round trip

Across the lake from Pisgah, Mount Hor runs quieter and draws fewer crowds.

The Herbert Hawkes Trail takes you to the summit and two cliff-top lookouts, both looking out over the water and the cliffs on the other side.

The whole round trip, summit and both lookouts included, covers about 3.25 miles. If you want more ground to cover, Willoughby State Forest has over 12 miles of trails spread across the area.

Bald Mountain, not far away, has a fire tower at the top with views across the whole Northeast Kingdom.

Fish for trout, salmon, perch and a Vermont state record

The 300-foot depth keeps the water cold enough year-round for fish that need it. Lake trout, rainbow trout, landlocked salmon and yellow perch all live here.

In 2003, Shawn Dutil pulled a lake trout out of Willoughby that weighed 35 pounds, 3.2 ounces, which still stands as a Vermont state record. You can fish from shore, from a boat, or through the ice in winter.

The Willoughby River runs out of the north end of the lake and gives fly-fishers another option entirely.

Paddle five miles through a canyon of mountains

The shape of this lake is what makes paddling it different from any other water in Vermont.

Five miles of narrow lake with mountains rising on both sides means every stroke feels like you’re moving through a corridor.

A public boat launch gives you access if you’re bringing your own kayak, canoe, or paddleboard. The water runs calm most days, and jet skis are banned, so you won’t have any wakes to fight.

The quiet is part of it.

Peregrine falcons nest on the cliffs above the water

The cliffs of Pisgah and Hor aren’t empty. Peregrine falcons nest up there, and the thermals off the rock keep them circling through the warmer months.

Down on the water, loons, bald eagles, ospreys and great blue herons all show up regularly. In the forest surrounding the lake, moose, black bears, white-tailed deer, mink and otters move through the trees.

The cliffs also support rare arctic and cliff-alpine plants that don’t grow in many other places in the region, holding on in the cool rocky pockets where nothing else can.

Nobody knows who painted the devil on Devil’s Rock

Near the south end of the lake, a rocky outcropping sits at the waterline called Devil’s Rock, or sometimes Devil’s Den.

Someone painted a red figure on the stone that looks like a devil’s face when you see it reflected in the water.

Newspapers mentioned it as far back as the 1800s, and no one has ever pinned down when it first appeared or who did it. The mystery has stuck around as long as the rock has.

Today, people also use it as a cliff-jumping spot, which adds its own kind of local tradition to the place.

In winter, ice climbers come from all over North America

When the lake freezes and the temperatures drop hard, Willoughby turns into something else entirely. The waterfalls on Pisgah’s cliffs lock up in ice, and climbers come from across the country to get on them.

The routes run from beginner-level to expert, and the area has a reputation as one of the top ice climbing destinations on the continent.

If climbing isn’t your thing, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing trails run through the surrounding forest, and ice fishing on the lake keeps anglers busy through the coldest months.

The Northeast Kingdom is Vermont’s least-visited corner

Lake Willoughby sits inside the Northeast Kingdom, a three-county stretch of Vermont covering Caledonia, Essex and Orleans counties.

The name stuck after former U.S. Senator George Aiken used it in a 1949 speech, though the phrase had been around since at least the 1940s.

In 2006, the National Geographic Society named it the most desirable place to visit in the country.

It’s still one of the most rural, least-developed stretches of New England, which is exactly why the lake hasn’t been crowded out by the kind of development that changed so many places like it.

Visit Lake Willoughby in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom

Lake Willoughby sits in Westmore, Vermont, about 30 miles north of St. Johnsbury and roughly 30 minutes from the Canadian border.

The North Beach is your easiest entry point, with free parking and direct access to the water.

If you’re coming to hike, the trailheads for Mount Pisgah and Mount Hor are at the south end of the lake along Route 5A. There’s no admission fee to visit, and the area stays open year-round.

Check the official website for current trail conditions and seasonal updates before you go.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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