Smugglers' Notch Road

Vermont Route 108 through a cleft so narrow the boulders touch the tarmac.

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Why this ride

30 km from Johnson to Stowe, about 35 min of riding. The climb of the day is Smugglers’ Notch. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.

Roadbook

1. Jeffersonville start · 140 m

   Smugglers' Notch gets its name honestly. When President Jefferson's Embargo Act of 1807 closed trade with Canada, Vermonters hauled goods north through this narrow gap in the Green Mountains rather than go without, and a century later the same pass served bootleggers during Prohibition. Jeffersonville sits on the Lamoille River at the northern foot of that pass, a small village of white clapboard houses, a general store feel, and a covered bridge or two within easy riding distance. Mount Mansfield, Vermont's highest peak at 4,393 feet, looms behind it, and the village has long attracted painters and potters who came for the light and stayed for the quiet.

   The ride up Route 108 is the reason to be here. Within a few miles of town the road narrows to little more than a lane and a half, hemmed in by cliffs that rise about a thousand feet and by car-sized boulders that have tumbled onto the slopes. Hairpins come close together, there are blind corners where the rock overhangs the tarmac, and the surface can be damp even in July. Take it slowly, stay well within your own side, and expect other riders, cyclists and walkers on the narrow sections. Large trucks and trailers are banned, which keeps the notch intimate. The road closes for winter, usually from about November until late spring, so check before you go.

   At the top there is a small parking area with a short trail among the boulders, a few of which have been given names by generations of visitors, and the air is distinctly cooler than in the valley. Down the far side you reach Stowe, a resort town with plenty of cafes, bakeries and shops, and from there Route 100 returns through the Green Mountain valleys.

   For practical purposes, Jeffersonville is small, and the best fuel and supplies are at Morrisville, about twelve miles away, so top up before you head into the hills. Local sugar houses sell maple syrup, cheese and cider donuts in season. September and early October bring the famous foliage, along with the traffic, and late spring, once the road has opened, is a good time for empty roads.

2. Smugglers’ Notch pass · 640 m

   Smugglers' Notch earns its name honestly. When President Jefferson's Embargo Act closed trade with Britain and Canada in 1807, the people of northern Vermont, who had been trading across the border for years, kept the goods moving through this narrow pass in the Green Mountains, and the same gap served the whisky runners in the days of Prohibition. A road now crosses it, State Route 108, but it feels as if it has been squeezed in rather than built, a ribbon of tarmac wriggling between huge boulders at the foot of Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak.

   The Notch is a deep cleft, with cliffs rising on either side and the road threading between them in a series of tight hairpins, in places barely wide enough for two vehicles. Blocks of stone, some as big as houses, have fallen from the walls over thousands of years, and the road weaves around them. There are caves and rock formations with names such as the Elephant's Head and Smugglers Cave, and short trails lead off into the woods. Trucks, trailers and buses are banned, which makes it one of the more pleasant roads in the state for a motorcycle, and the surface, though patched, is generally good.

   It is a narrow, slow road, and you will want to take your time. The bends are blind, the hairpins are tight, and the drops on the outside are real, with only a low wall or none at all. Tourists stop in the middle of the road to look, and walkers wander along the verge, so the whole thing is a lesson in patience. The road is closed in winter, from the first heavy snow until late spring, so the season for riding is short, and check the state's road reports before you go.

   Stowe is famous for skiing and has a lively main street, and its famous Von Trapp family lodge is a short ride away. In autumn, the road is crowded, so go early in the morning to have it to yourself.

3. Stowe finish · 220 m

   Stowe sits in a bowl of the Green Mountains, with the long ridge of Mount Mansfield rising behind it, and its white church steeple is perhaps the most photographed in Vermont. Mansfield, at 4,393 feet the highest point in the state, has a profile that resembles a human face, with a forehead, nose, lips and chin along the ridgeline, and the summit is reached by a toll road in summer and by ski lifts in winter. The town has about four thousand residents, a lively main street of shops and restaurants, and a long tradition of skiing that goes back to the 1930s.

   The Trapp Family Lodge, a short distance up the hill, was founded by the von Trapp family, whose escape from Austria in the 1930s inspired The Sound of Music, and the family settled here because the mountains reminded them of home. A bakery, a brewery and trails run through the grounds. Down in the valley, the Stowe Recreation Path, a paved trail beside a stream, is a popular way to stroll or cycle, and the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, along the road to Waterbury, presses cider and sells doughnuts. At Waterbury, a few minutes south, the Ben and Jerry's factory offers tours, and the ice cream is the sort you eat on the lawn.

   Route 100, the Green Mountain Byway, runs the length of the state through valleys and farms, and the road from Stowe over Smugglers Notch, Route 108, is one of the best short rides in New England. It climbs through a narrow pass between huge boulders, with hairpin bends, a very tight width and sheer rock walls, and the road is closed in winter. Large vehicles are banned, and the speed is low. Traffic is heavy at the peak of the foliage, in late September and the first half of October, when visitors come from all over the country, so book ahead and go early.

   Fuel, food and coffee are easy in Stowe, with several stations and shops, and Morristown and Morrisville, eleven and thirteen kilometres away, have more. Maple syrup, cheese and cider are the local products, and a diner or farm stand makes a good lunch. Check the weather before climbing, as mist and rain can cut the visibility.

   Spend an evening in the village, with a walk around the green, and a drink in one of the old inns. Few places are as quintessentially Vermont.

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