This is part of my Vermont & New Hampshire Fall Road Trip Itinerary
Read the full itinerary here – Vermont & New Hampshire Fall Road Trip Itinerary (7-10 Days)
In this post you will read about the following places: Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Bridges & Churches, Scenic drives & views, Bristol, Vermont, Bartlett Falls, Vergennes, Vermont, Yates Family Orchard, Lincoln, Vermont, Sunset Ledge hike, Warren Falls, Moss Glenn Falls, Warren, Vermont, Blueberry Lake, Waitsfield, Vermont, Where to eat & Where to stay
This post continues our time in New Hampshire & Vermont.
Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, & Day 3 here. Click here to see links to all of my blog posts
Stowe, Vermont is one of the best destinations in New England for a fall road trip, offering scenic drives, charming small towns, waterfalls, and easy hiking spots all within a short driving distance.
This 1-day Stowe itinerary is based on my Vermont road trip and includes the best things to do nearby, from cider mills and historic towns to waterfalls and sunset views.
Morning: Cold Hollow Cider Mill (Vermont Classic Stop)
We started our morning at a very popular cider mill in Stowe called, Cold Hollow Cider Mill.
If you’ve ever planned a trip to Stowe, you will find that this place is always on the list as a must visit!
During my research, I had read that it was highly recommended to get here early as this place becomes a mad house during the fall season.
So, that’s what we did.
The cider mill opened at 8 am so, we arrived at approximately 7:45.
There was only one other car in the parking lot when we arrived.
While we waited for them to open, we got out and took a few pictures.
The mill also operates a cafe where they serve breakfast from 8 am – 10:30 and lunch from 11 am to 4 pm.
The cider mill opened its doors promptly at 8 am.
The store offers all sorts of goods from Vermont made foods, to home goods to t-shirts.
However, we were here for two things, the apple cider and the apple cider donuts!
We found the apple cider first.
They offer a testing tank where you can taste their delicious apple cider for free!
I’m not a big fan of apple cider as it’s way too sweet for me but who doesn’t like free?!
I wasn’t going to pass on trying their freshly pressed apple cider that’s made with Vermont grown apples!
The cider was good but I still thought it was too sweet.
After walking around the store for a few minutes, we headed to the front of the store where they were making their homemade apple cider donuts.
Their donuts are made fresh daily and are one of their biggest sellers!
Tip: You can purchase their cider donut mix here
It was so cool being able to watch how they make them!
We decided to purchase 1/2 a dozen donuts and some coffee to have for breakfast.
After making our purchase, we spotted some delicious looking maple cinnamon rolls….my husband and I love cinnamon rolls….however, we decided to refrain from purchasing anything else.
We then headed outside to enjoy our coffee and donuts.
Like most apple cider donuts, Cold Hollow Cider’s donuts were very dense and cake like.
They are not like your typical light and airy donut like you would buy at Krispy Kreme.
My hubby and I thought they were just ok. They weren’t terrible by any means just very bland.
I would definitely recommend you give them a try if you ever visit Vermont as they are very popular during the fall season.
Read reviews here
After eating our donuts, we then headed to our next stop of the day.
Bridges & Churches
On the way, we passed the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory.
You can take a tour of the facility to watch how they make their ice cream as well as purchase their ice cream.
Read reviews of the factory tour here
We passed beautiful old churches along the way.
We then arrived to our second stop of the day, the Great Eddy Covered Bridge in Waitsfield. 
The Great Eddy Bridge, also known as the Waitsfield covered bridge, is the oldest operating covered bridge in the state.
It was built in 1833 and restored in 1975, and it has the longest clear span of any Burr truss bridge in Vermont, spanning an incredible 105 feet.
Tip: Click here to read about a 39 mile driving tour that brings you through 7 covered bridges
Our next stop of the day was another covered bridge called, Pine Brook.
This bridge was built in 1872 and is one of two surviving 19th-century covered bridges in Waitsfield. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Scenic Drives & Views
After this bridge, we continued our drive.
About 20 mins after leaving the Pine Brook bridge, we arrived to our next stop….an overlook on the Appalachian Gap Road.
Tip: Gap roads are mountain passes. Other gap roads in Vermont include the Middlebury, Lincoln, Brandon, and Roxbury gaps.
This overlook gave you sweeping views of the surrounding mountains.
The leaves in this area looked as if they were at peak!
The views were incredible!
After leaving the overlook, we continued our drive along the gap road.
I highly recommend driving some of these gap roads as they usually offer amazing views!
We passed these horses grazing in the fields….how picturesque!
The colors were popping around every curve!
Best Small Town Near Stowe – Bristol, Vermont
As we neared our next stop, we passed this huge, granite rock that had the Lord’s Prayer engraved on it.
In 1891, Dr. Joseph C. Greene of Buffalo, N.Y., formally of Vermont, returned to Bristol and paid William McGee and another man $45 each to carve the Lord’s Prayer into the large Rock located just east of Bristol Village.
We then arrived to our next stop, the small, quaint town of Bristol.
Bristol is a mountain town in central Vermont, surrounded by the Green Mountain National Forest. The town has a population of approximately 3,800 people.
The town was chartered on June 26, 1762.
Bristol’s Main Street is home to a small, historic downtown that includes some incredible architecture.
We drove through the town snapping pictures along the way.
I could definitely live here! It reminded me of Mayberry from the Andy Griffith Show!
The houses here were absolutely incredible ….just look at these houses!!
After driving through the town, we decided to park on Main Street and walk around for a while to check out the cute little town!
The old, historic buildings on Main Street were so colorful!
The buildings date back to the early 1800’s!
Tip: Read about the history of the town here
We spotted these beautiful maple trees in the town’s square!
Each of these small towns in Vermont call their town squares, greens which is the town’s center.
Bristol’s town green includes a fountain, bandstand, playground, peace garden, and memorials.
The Bristol Band has played outdoor summer concerts on the green since the Civil War. The green also hosts other events, including a summer music festival and street fair, and a winter celebration of fire and light.
Also located in the town’s center was the beautiful, First Baptist Church. 
The church was built in 1819.
After taking way too many pictures of the church, we continued our walk through the town.
We passed beautifully landscaped homes.
Is this not what you envision when you think of the perfect place to live….a small town with white picket fences?!
It was like walking through a Hallmark Movie!
Speaking of movies, one of the residents of Bristol, told us this house was used during the filming of a movie called, The Wizard of Loneliness. It was filmed back in 1988.
We had never heard of the movie but now I want to watch it just to see this house!
Tip: Click here to see a list of movies filmed in Bristol
This small neighborhood was so beautiful!
After walking around for a while, we headed back to our car.
We had wanted to eat lunch here, but it was too early and not much was opened.
After getting back to our car, we headed to our next stop.
However, shortly after leaving Main Street, we spotted an old stage coach so decided to make a quick stop to check it out.
The stage coach had been used to transport guests to the railroad station from the old Bristol Inn and back again.
The Inn was located across the street where the parking lot is now and used this coach to transport its guest until the 1920’s.
Tip: Click here to read about another historic Inn in Bristol that you can still stay at
There were several old pictures of the stagecoach and signs telling about its history.
Sitting beside the coach house was the Howden Hall Community Center.
And sitting beside the community center was the original bell that was placed in the building in 1866.
Bartlett Falls – (Waterfall near Stowe)
After this stop, we continued to our next stop, Bristol Falls aka Bartlett Falls.
The falls were located about 5 mins from the town of Bristol.
The falls are located very close to the road but there’s no real parking for the falls…..you just park along the dirt road.
Bartlett Falls is a beautiful 14-foot waterfall with a swimming hole below it.
I’ve read that this place stays super busy during the summer months!
Tip: Read here about a 2 mile hike you can do in Bristol that has amazing views
After this stop, we continued our drive and passed beautiful farms and rolling hills along the way.
Historic Vermont Town: Vergennes
About 15 mins after leaving Bristol, we arrived to the town of Vergennes. 
This was another picture perfect town!
We passed this picture perfect house and this beautiful old church!
Our next stop was the Vergennes Falls Park.
The park offers trails, picnic tables, kayaking and views of a beautiful waterfall.
Tip: The basin below Vergennes falls is where American Revolution Commodore McDonough built his ships as many Revolutionary war battles were fought out on Lake Champlain. Check out the local history, there is a lot to be seen.
We just snapped a few pictures and continued our drive which took us back through the downtown area of Vergennes. 
Vergennes was settled in 1766 by Donald MacIntosh. It was established as a city in 1788, the only one in Vermont not to have been first chartered as a town or independent village.
The population of Vergennes is approximately 2,600.
We decided to park and get out and walk around the town.
The town, like Bristol, has lots of historic houses and buildings.
Walking through the town
The houses were just incredible!
After walking for a while, we decided to head back to our car.
We passed the historic Stevens House Hotel.
After getting back to our car, we continued our drive.
Yates Family Orchard – Best Orchard near Stowe
Once we spotted this beautiful farm in Monkton, we just had to stop and take a few pictures!
Vermont is full of beautiful farms!
About 10 mins past this farm, we arrived to our next stop, Yates Family Orchard.
There are tons of wonderful orchards in Vernont!
The Yates Family Orchard is a family owned and operated apple orchard that began in 2009 with an orchard that had been planted in the 1930’s.
The orchard offers apple picking with 28 different varieties of apples, pears, plums, cherries, raspberries and peaches.
The orchard also offers hot, made to order cider donuts, pies, baked goods, various artisan crafts, ice cream and more!
They are also home to the original Dreamee- a hot, fresh made cider donut with Vermont maple soft serve ice cream on top…and that’s what we were here for!
So, we headed to the window where you had to place your order.
It took a few minutes to get our dreamee because they make the donuts after you place your order so they are fresh and hot!
And it was so worth the wait…..so delicious!!
Unlike the cider donuts at Cold Hollow Cider, these donuts were hot and crispy and sprinkled with sugar!
We enjoyed our dreamee on the deck overlooking the orchard.
After our yummy dreamee, we walked around the orchard and took a few more pictures before heading to our next stop.
Tip: Click here to read about the Vermont Cider donut trail
Lincoln, Vermont – Best General Store near Stowe
Our next stop, Lincoln, was 20 mins from the orchard.
Our first stop in Lincoln was the Lincoln General Store.
This community fixture has been around since 1843 and is the place to go to stock up on everything and anything.
The one thing that you will find at all of these small general stores is fresh made sandwiches, soups, chili and more!
We decided to purchase a sandwich and some yummy homemade macaroni and cheese made with that delicious Vermont cheese!
After making our purchase, we headed back outside where we found a big rock that sat right above the New Haven River and ate our lunch.
It was so peaceful!
After our lunch, we continued our drive.
Our next “stop” was a scenic drive along another gap road called, Lincoln Gap Road.
The Lincoln Gap Road is one of several ‘gap’ roads that cross over the Green Mountains. The road runs 7.67 miles between the towns of Lincoln and Warren and through portions of the Green Mountain National Forest.
The leaves in this area were really vibrant!
The gap road is a well maintained paved road …however, two miles of the road is dirt like lots of roads in Vermont.
Actually, Vermont has more dirt roads than paved ones. With nearly 8,600 miles of unpaved roads across the state compared to 7,151 miles of paved roads.
The trees along this drive were beautiful!
Scenic Hike near Stowe – Sunset Ledge
As we were driving, we saw several cars parked in a small parking lot so we decided to stop and see why they were there.
Another couple told us that it was a hiking trail that led to an overlook that offered beautiful views.
So, we decided we would hike it.
The trail was called Sunset Ledge and is 2.2 miles roundtrip.
You will be hiking through the woods the entire length of the trail.
The hike was not an easy hike…you gain several feet of elevation and you have to scramble over rocks so be sure to have really good shoes on if you hike this trail!
After a 30 min hike to the ledge, we were greeted with spectacular views!!
This sort of reminded me of the Artist Bluff trail in New Hampshire.
The colors were so vibrant!
Be careful as there are steep drop offs from the ledge!
We took way too many pictures as usual!
There was only one small group of people here when we arrived and shockingly, it was a small wedding party!
We actually witnessed someone getting married on the ledge!
They certainly ended up with some amazing wedding pictures!
From the ledge, you will have views of the Adirondack Mountains.
Tip: From this trail, you can also hike to a plane wreck that happened in 1973
After seeing rainfall in the distance, we decided to head back to our car.
It was much easier going down the trail than up!
After getting back to our car, we continued our drive.
The views were amazing!
Quick Waterfall Stop: Warren Falls
Shortly after leaving the trail, we made it to our next stop, Warren Falls.
The trail to the falls is flat and very close to the parking lot.
It seemed more like a swimming hole than a falls.
There were lots of little round pools of crystal clear water.
I’ve since read that it’s a popular place to swim during the summer.
Tip: Be cautious if swimming here as there have been drownings at this location
After leaving the falls, we continued our drive.
Shortly, after leaving the falls, we entered into the town of Granville where we spotted a beaver’s dam! 
Moss Glenn Falls – Scenic waterfall near Stowe
Our next stop would be Moss Glenn Falls (not to be confused with the Moss Glenn Falls in Stowe).
Tip: Other waterfalls in/near this area are Warren Falls, Texas Falls and Falls of Lana
The views on the way there were incredible!
Moss Glen Falls is located approximately 10 mins from Warren Falls on the scenic Rte 100.
The falls required no hiking as it can be seen from the road.
There is a wooden boardwalk that leads to the base of the falls but it was closed on the day we visited due to storm damage.
The waterfall is a gorgeous 35ft tall horsetail with thin streams of water flowing down a slightly angled rock face.
After leaving the waterfall, we continued our drive and came up on our next stop, the Lincoln Gap Bridge.
The bridge was built in 1880 and is sixty-two foot long. It is one of two queenpost bridges in Vermont in which the truss interior and exterior are completely enclosed.
Like most all covered bridges in Vermont, there’s a note posted inside the bridge that tells about its history.
A unique oddity with this bridge is the fact that the eastern portal extends further over the approaching roadway than the western.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Warren, Vermont
After the bridge, we arrived to the small town of Warren.
We just snapped a few pictures of some of the historic buildings in town and continued our drive.
Blueberry Lake – the most scenic lake near Stowe
Our next stop, just 10 mins from the town of Warren, would be the gorgeous Blueberry Lake.
After getting parked, we didn’t see any real trail that led to the lake so we walked through the grass to get down to the lake.
Wow was our first response after seeing the views from this lake!
The water was so still and the reflections were incredible!
The lake was surrounded by mountains that were bursting in shades of red, yellow, green, brown, and orange!
The 48 acre lake is popular for swimming, fishing, hiking, ice skating, and cross-country skiing.
The lake is adjacent to the Roxbury State Forest which offers prime habitat for songbirds, black bears, and other wildlife.
Tip: Blueberry Lake is a site for the Vermont LoonWatch annual survey.
There are several trails. in this area but there are no trails that we could see that go around the lakeshore.
The water looked like glass!
Every puff of cloud and every faint hue of color was perfectly reflected in the lake!
It was so incredibly beautiful!
After taking way too many pictures, we continued our drive back towards Stowe as it was already 5 pm and the sun started setting around 6:15 pm.
Waitsfield
Our drive took us through Waitsfield where we passed this beautiful old barn!
About 20 mins after leaving the lake, we arrived to our next stop, the Village Grocery Store in Waitsfield.
I had read that they had really good maple creemees so, we had to try them out!
Creemees are essentially soft serve ice cream. It’s ice cream pumped through a machine to make it more airy and soft.
A maple creemee is where they add their yummy Vermont maple syrup to the ice cream and it’s so delicious!
Eating maple creemees and dreamees are a must when visiting Vermont!!
Tip: Check out these places on the Maple Creemee Trail to find your favorite creemee!
We headed inside only to find that the creemee was a self serve ice cream machine.
It was good but it had a terrible aftertaste! I much prefer the creemees at the orchards we visited!
After our creemee, we continued our drive and arrived to the town of Waterbury.
We passed some incredible old homes!!
Tip: Waterbury is where Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory is located and is only 15 mins from Stowe.
Where to Eat
At this point, it was after 6 pm and we were ready to eat dinner.
I had read that if you don’t make reservations to eat at one of the restaurants in Stowe, you will have to wait a very long time to be seated.
I am not a fan of crowds and I am not a fan of having to wait a long time to eat.
So, we decided to find something to eat in Waterbury since it’s much less crowded than Stowe.
I pulled up some restaurants on Google and found a pizza restaurant that I remember reading about during my research called, Zachary’s Pizza.
So, we decided to eat there.
On the way there, we passed the popular Black Cap Coffee & Bakery. 
Arriving to the restaurant
There was a small line of people at the front counter when we arrived but most of them were there to pick up their to go order.
Since we were dining in, I grabbed a table while the hubby placed the order at the counter.
See their menu here
After waiting about 20 mins, they brought out our delicious pizza!
The pizza was so good!
Read reviews here
Where to Stay
After dinner, we headed back to our hotel called, the Field Guide Lodge.
The hotel is very modern looking on the inside!
After getting all of our stuff up to our room, we headed back downstairs to sit by the fire in the lobby.
We had had a very long day and it was nice just to sit and relax for a while!
Later, we headed back up to our room and called it a night!
Thanks for reading the “Perfect 1-Day Stowe Itinerary Summary”
If you only have one day in the Stowe area, here’s the ideal route to follow:
- Cold Hollow Cider Mill
- Bridges & Churches
- Scenic drives & views
- Bristol, Vermont
- Bartlett Falls
- Vergennes, Vermont
- Yates Family Orchard
- Lincoln, Vermont
- Sunset Ledge Hike
- Warren Falls
- Moss Glenn Falls
- Warren, Vermont
- Blueberry Lake
- Waitsfield, Vermont
Stay tuned for Day 5!
Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here & Day 3 here –– click here to see links to all of my blog posts