The Stowe Recreation Path: A Village's Gift to Itself
Near Stowe, Vermont
Construction of Stowe's paved recreation path began in nineteen eighty-one, and the first stretch opened in nineteen eighty-four. An extension finished in nineteen eighty-nine brought it to a little over five miles, running from the village center north along the valley toward the ski resort, following the West Branch of the Little River most of the way. It was paid for by a mix of public money and private donations, and landowners donated the easements that let it cross their property. In the decades since, it has become one of the most heavily used recreation amenities in Vermont.
The Stowe Recreation Path seems like a simple thing: a paved trail through a beautiful valley. But when it was built, the idea of a dedicated shared-use corridor for walkers, joggers, cyclists, and in-line skaters running through private farmland and road corridors was unusual enough to attract attention from planners elsewhere in New England. Stowe was one of the early examples of a model that would spread to many other small towns.
The path winds past farms, forested stretches, and views of Mount Mansfield, crossing the river on wooden bridges and passing through the kind of landscape that has made Stowe one of the most visited small towns in Vermont. In winter, the groomed path serves as a cross-country ski and snowshoe trail, extending the recreation season. The path is not a historic site in the usual sense, but it represents a choice this community made about what a town is for: a place where the most beautiful thing in it is available to everyone who arrives on foot.
