Northeast Kingdom

The Northeast Kingdom covers the three northeastern counties of Vermont, the most remote and least populated part of the state. The terrain is rugged hardwood-and-conifer forest country — small mountains rising to 3,000 feet at Burke and Jay Peak, glacial lakes scattered through the rolling hills, and the Connecticut River valley defining the eastern edge. Vermont Senator George Aiken coined the name in the 1940s. Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans counties cover the region. Caledonia holds St. Johnsbury (the largest town, with the Fairbanks Museum and the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum); Orleans holds Newport (on Lake Memphremagog, which extends north into Quebec); Essex holds Island Pond and the wildest country in Vermont. Major attractions include Burke Mountain and Jay Peak ski resorts, the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium, Lake Willoughby (often called the Lucerne of America for its glacial-fjord look), and the Bread and Puppet Theater Museum in Glover. Most trips here run wild-country focused. Lake Willoughby’s dramatic fjord-like setting between Mount Pisgah and Mount Hor draws hikers and photographers; Burke Mountain and Jay Peak handle ski traffic; the Northeast Kingdom Foliage Festival in late September anchors fall travel; the Bread and Puppet Theater pulls a quirky cultural crowd.