Lake Champlain Valley

Lake Champlain Valley covers Chittenden County on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, the densely populated northwestern corner of Vermont. The terrain shifts from the lake plain at Burlington (sitting at 200 feet) up into the Green Mountains at the eastern edge, with the Winooski River cutting through the middle. The region holds about a quarter of Vermont’s population. Chittenden County is the only county in the region. Burlington (the largest city in Vermont, with the University of Vermont and Champlain College) anchors the region; South Burlington, Williston, Essex Junction, Colchester, and Shelburne fill the metro. Anchor attractions include Church Street Marketplace in Burlington, the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, the Shelburne Museum (with 39 buildings on a 45-acre campus), the Shelburne Farms working dairy estate, the University of Vermont, and the Spirit of Ethan Allen lake cruise. Most trips here center on Burlington. Burlington handles the urban-and-lake itinerary — Church Street, the Burlington Bike Path along the lake, the food and brewery scene; the Shelburne Museum draws the largest single-stream visitor traffic for cultural tourism in the state; Shelburne Farms runs farm tours and a popular cheddar; the Spirit of Ethan Allen runs lake-cruise and dinner-cruise traffic in summer.