Now and again, even urbanites need to escape to a pocket of wilderness for a breath of fresh air. In the Northeast, the Green Mountain state is revered as a rough-cut refuge from city life. Find out why. Explore sugar-maple, white birch, and conifer forests on the same paths that were walked by Native Americans and French/Canadian fur trappers. Test your bike-handling skills on the rocks and roots of 19th-century carriage paths gone utterly to seed. And ski narrow, twisty trails that tumble down the mountainsides' natural contours like spring-fed streams - but watch out for those patches of rock and black ice.
The Green Mountain National Forest follows the backbone of Vermont north from the Massachusetts border for 100 miles, all the way to Appalachian Gap. Within its boundaries are cold streams and beaver ponds famous for brook and rainbow-trout fishing; the Long Trail, a tramper's treasure; a latticework of remote forest roads and old logging roads, all perfect for mountain biking, cross-country skiing, or simple scenic drives; and major alpine ski areas from Stratton to Sugarbush.
As anyone who's driven Route 100 during foliage season can testify, the proximity of such a special place to the homes of millions can make certain quarters of the forest feel a bit cramped at times. But despair not: Seek ye a quiet corner of the Green Mountains - a lush, green ravine haunted by wood thrushes; a windswept ledge along the Long Trail; an arm of the Somerset Reservoir you'll share with none but a bull moose - and let these old Appalachian hills work their magic on you.
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