Two Vermont towns on Route 100 refused to sell out and serious skiers noticed

The valley that Stowe used to be

Route 100 cuts through the heart of Vermont’s Green Mountains, and if you know where to look, the Mad River Valley is one of its best-kept stretches.

Two small towns, Warren and Waitsfield, anchor the valley between farm fields, forest, and covered bridges. No condo towers, no strip malls, no chains.

Veteran Vermont travelers say it looks the way Stowe did before the big money arrived. Even the local shopping center hides behind a barn facade, and you’ll drive right past it if you blink.

The 1833 bridge and a valley with deep roots

Revolutionary War veterans settled this valley in the late 1700s, and you can still feel that long history on the roads.

Waitsfield’s Great Eddy Covered Bridge went up in 1833, making it one of the oldest covered bridges in Vermont. It earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

A 19-mile driving tour connects three historic covered bridges in the valley: the Great Eddy, Pine Brook, and Warren Village. The route runs through back roads lined with farms and trees, and it’s worth every slow mile.

Ski two mountains connected by chair and shuttle

Sugarbush Resort spreads across Lincoln Peak and Mt. Ellen, with 111 trails and 2,600 feet of vertical drop between them. A chairlift and shuttle bus connect the two mountains, so you’re not locked into one side.

Mt. Ellen’s summit sits at 4,083 feet, tied for third highest in Vermont. Lincoln Peak handles the base village, with lodging, dining, ski school, and rentals.

Castlerock Peak runs steep, narrow, old-school New England trails with no snowmaking. Expert skiers who prefer terrain that earns its reputation head straight there.

Mad River Glen: snowboards not welcome

Mad River Glen doesn’t want your snowboard, and it never will.

It’s one of only three ski areas in North America that bans them outright, and that’s the least unusual thing about it.

The mountain runs on a single-person chairlift, one of only two still operating at ski areas in the whole country.

Skiers bought the mountain themselves on Dec. 5, 1995, forming the only cooperatively owned ski area in America. The National Register of Historic Places added it in 2012.

In early 2026, the co-op raised $2.8 million to conserve 1,100 surrounding acres.

Three tiers of falls drop into rock swimming pools

Warren Falls sits just off Route 100, about a mile and a half south of Warren village, and the walk from the parking area is short and mostly flat.

Under a quarter mile in, you hit the falls: three tiers of cascading water that drop into natural swimming pools carved into the rock.

The pools run at different depths, and ledges and flat rock platforms give you places to sit in the sun between swims. The Green Mountain National Forest has managed the site since 1998.

Wear water shoes, because the rocks get slippery fast.

60-plus miles of singletrack and a 272-mile ridgeline

The Mad River Riders maintain over 60 miles of mountain bike singletrack across the valley. Beginner-friendly loops run through Blueberry Lake in the Green Mountain National Forest.

Expert riders push into the technical terrain of Camel’s Hump State Forest.

If you’d rather keep it flat, the Mad River Path covers 15 miles of valley-floor trail connecting Warren, Waitsfield, and Fayston, open to walkers, runners, and cyclists.

Vermont’s Long Trail, all 272 miles of it, crosses both Lincoln Peak and Mt. Ellen. The Molly Stark’s Balcony hike runs about three miles round trip and ends on a panoramic ridge.

Cross-country, snowshoes, and a sledding hill with a view

When you’re not on skis, the valley keeps moving. Ole’s Cross-Country Center lays out 30 miles of groomed cross-country trails and 12 miles of snowshoe routes, with views of Sugarbush and the valley floor below.

The Inn at Round Barn Farm gives guests complimentary snowshoes and a marked trail system across 245 acres of its own land.

Families head to the Sugarbush Golf Course for sledding, where open, gently sloping terrain runs downhill with the mountain ridgeline as your backdrop.

The back roads and meadows are quiet enough on a weekday that you might not see another soul.

Sugar maples and a mountain pass that stops you cold

The Mad River Byway follows Routes 100 and 100B for 36 miles through the middle of the valley, and in fall it’s one of the better drives in Vermont.

Sugar maples, birches, and beeches go full color from late September into October, and the East Warren Road gives you long views of the Green Mountain spine framed by red barns and open fields.

Moss Glen Falls in nearby Granville sits right off Route 100, a roadside waterfall worth the two-minute stop.

Sugarbush runs chairlifts during foliage season so you can get above the color and look back down at the valley.

Glass-blowing, local art, and a Saturday morning market

The Artisans’ Gallery in Waitsfield puts the work of more than 150 Vermont artists inside an 1830s storefront.

Down Main Street, the Mad River Glass Gallery is a working hot-glass studio where you can watch artists shape molten glass into sculptures and everyday pieces right in front of you.

Saturday mornings in summer and fall, the Waitsfield Farmers Market fills the calendar with local produce, Vermont cheeses, maple products, and crafts.

The valley’s creative community didn’t land here by accident. It reflects a long-standing culture of people who build, grow, and make things by hand.

A stagecoach stop, a deli, and a 12-sided dairy barn

The Warren Store started as a stagecoach stop around 1840, sitting on the old route between Boston and Montreal. Today it runs as a bakery, deli, and general store, and the deck out back hangs over Freeman Brook.

A few miles up the road in Waitsfield, the Inn at Round Barn Farm centers on a 12-sided barn built in 1910 by Clem Joslyn as a working dairy barn. Only about 11 historic round barns still stand in Vermont.

The Simko family bought the property in 1986 and spent years on the restoration. The barn now hosts weddings, concerts, and art exhibits on 245 acres.

No chains, no corporations, just locals running the show

What keeps the Mad River Valley feeling different from other mountain destinations is the people who live there. Mad River Glen’s cooperative model, where skiers own and govern the mountain, sets the tone.

The Mad River Riders, the Mad River Path Association, and the Valley Players community theater are all volunteer-run. You won’t find a chain hotel in the valley.

Lodging runs through locally owned inns, bed-and-breakfasts, and lodges.

That culture of slow change and local stewardship didn’t happen by accident, and it’s the reason people keep coming back instead of just passing through.

Route 100 connects it all, north and south

Route 100 runs 216 miles through Vermont, the state’s longest numbered highway, and the Mad River Valley sits near the middle of its prettiest stretch.

Drive north about 14 miles and you hit Waterbury, with Ben and Jerry’s Factory, craft breweries, and the Waterbury Reservoir.

Head south and the road squeezes through Granville Gulf, a narrow mountain pass with rock walls rising on both sides and waterfalls running off the ledges.

The valley’s location in the center of the Green Mountains makes it a natural base for a wider Vermont road trip, whatever season brings you there.

Plan your trip to the Mad River Valley in Vermont

You can reach the Mad River Valley from Burlington International Airport in about 45 minutes heading southeast.

Route 100 is your main road through the valley, linking Warren and Waitsfield to Waterbury and Stowe to the north and Killington to the south.

The valley runs year-round: skiing and snowshoeing in winter, hiking and swimming in summer, foliage drives in fall, and maple sugaring in spring.

Check the official websites for Sugarbush Resort and Mad River Glen for current lift ticket prices, trail conditions, and seasonal hours before you go.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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