New England: Where Color Matters… The 2025 Wrap-up

Our 2025 wrap-up is based on three trips we made during the year and blogged about. The first was Hawaii, which I posted two weeks ago. The second …

New England: Where Color Matters… The 2025 Wrap-up

Overview

Most of the pictures and fall foliage scenery depicted is technically Northern New England, with the State of Vermont serving as the centerpiece of the entire trip. The Alburgh Tongue is not an island of Lake Champlain, but rather an exclave of the United States accessible by land only from Québec, Canada, yet still connected elsewhere within the United States by Routes 2 and 78. Along Route 2 entering the State through Lake Champlain, similar scenery can also be experienced in the midst and height of the autumn season, with views also of the New York side.

Town of Alburgh

The Town of Alburgh is the northernmost town of Grand Isle County, Vermont, within the Lake Champlain mentioned within the article. Though the village area may not have significant tourist attractions, the outlying areas in the Town include the Alburgh Welcome Center, the Ransom Bay Inn and Restaurant, the Lake Champlain Bike Trail, and access to Isle La Motte.

Town of Isle La Motte

The Town of Isle La Motte represents the oldest French—and European—settlement in the modern-day territory representative of the State of Vermont in the United States. Located inside Lake Champlain, the town is mostly identified for scenic nature, including, albeit not limited to, the foliage along Route 127. Though there is an Isle La Motte Monument at the gateway to the island’s Main Street, the island is also notable for the Historic Fisk Farm, the Goodsell Ridge Preserve, and the Isle La Motte Historical Society. Numerous local inns, cottages, and bed-and-breakfast sites also exist throughout the island for tourism to the Lake Champlain area.

Town of North Hero

The Town of North Hero is located on North Hero Island in Grand Isle County, Vermont, and serves as the shire town, or county seat, of Grand Isle. North Hero is home to a Vermont State Park at the northern end, with numerous local resorts in the surrounding area; along Route 2, however, the principal attractions include the Champlain Byway Trail, the North Hero House Inn and Restaurant, and the GreenTARA Space. The GreenTARA Space represents the chief art gallery of the island and contains restrooms, though the small exhibition does not contain a restaurant within.

Town of Grand Isle

The Town of Grand Isle is located on approximately the northern half of Grand Isle, otherwise known as South Hero Island, within Lake Champlain and the State of Vermont. Grand Isle contains the Hyde Log Cabin and Schoolhouse of historical interest as well as the Grand Isle Lake House for indoor lodging located nearby.

Town of South Hero

At the southern end of Grand Isle County and around the southern half of the Island of South Hero, otherwise known as Grand Isle, is the Town of South Hero, home to McKee’s Island Pub and Pizza, followed by the South Hero Bicentennial Museum relatively nearby to the village area and the Lake Champlain Causeway and Bike Ferry between the southern end of the island and the Town of Colchester just north of Burlington on the mainland.

Interesting Facts about the State of Vermont, Part One

In the State of Vermont, there are only ten (10) cities in total, and the smallest of these ten, Vergennes, is home to fewer than three thousand (3,000) people. Cities and towns coexist as minor civil divisions within the State, as with the remainder of the New England region, while villages and census-designated places (CDPs) are located within the different towns of the State of Vermont. Interestingly enough, the largest cities and towns in the State of Vermont are always in close proximity to the State’s largest city, Burlington. Colchester, Winooski, Essex Junction, Milton, and surrounding cities and towns, even outside Burlington proper, maintain higher population levels compared to locales in the remaining thirteen (13) counties of the State, while the smallest of the fourteen (14) counties, Essex County, is actually also the smallest of the counties throughout New England. While the northwestern region, specifically around Burlington, contains Vermont’s highest population counts, the Northeast Kingdom contains Vermont’s lowest population counts, containing unorganized territories with population counts as low as zero (0) in a few cases.

Of the ten (10) cities of the State of Vermont, four (4) of the cities are within Chittenden County, two (2) of the cities are within Washington County, and the remaining cities are located within the counties of Rutland, Franklin, Orleans, and Addison. The total number of counties in the State of Vermont is fourteen (14), and the counties are named Grand Isle, Franklin, Orleans, Essex, Chittenden, Lamoille, Caledonia, Addison, Washington, Orange, Rutland, Windsor, Bennington, and Windham. Interestingly, although the northwestern portion of the State of Vermont contains the City of Burlington along the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, the islands and exclave within Grand Isle County are significantly less populated in comparison. The exclave is known as the Town of Alburgh (formerly spelled “Alburg”), and is located in the United States specifically because the region exists south of 45° north latitude. However, unlike exclaves such as Point Roberts or the Northwest Angle, bridges over Lake Champlain continue to exist to serve travelers within the United States without a passport. The specific routes are US Route 2 throughout the Grand Isle area and into Rouses Point, New York, and Vermont Route 78 between the Grand Isle region and the Town of Swanton in Franklin County.

The county seats of the counties of the State of Vermont are actually referred to as “shire towns,” of which the shire towns for the counties are as follows (cities are in bold):

• Grand Isle → North Hero
• Franklin → St. Albans
• Orleans → Newport
• Essex → Guildhall
• Chittenden → Burlington
• Caledonia → St. Johnsbury
• Addison → Middlebury
• Washington → Montpelier
• Orange → Chelsea
• Rutland → Rutland
• Windsor → Woodstock
• Bennington → Manchester (North Shire) and Bennington (South Shire)
• Windham → Newfane

Note for Addison County: Middlebury is not the City located in Addison County; Vergennes serves as the sole city within Addison County, Vermont.