Smugglers' Notch State Park United States

Legendary

A narrow mountain pass once used to smuggle goods between Canada and the US.

Photo by Doug Kerr

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In 1807, President Thomas Jefferson banned all trade with Britain and Canada. For the farmers of northern Vermont, that was a disaster.

Montreal was their closest market, much nearer than Boston or New York. So they kept trading anyway, driving cattle and hauling goods over the mountains by night.

The route they used was a narrow gap between Mount Mansfield, the highest peak in Vermont, and Spruce Peak. Boulders the size of houses litter the floor of the pass, and caves in the cliffs made perfect hiding spots.

That's how the Notch got its name. The smuggling continued into the War of 1812, then faded as the fighting made it too dangerous.

The pass found a new purpose a few decades later. People escaping slavery in the South used it as part of their route north to Canada, where slavery was illegal, and the same caves that hid smugglers now hid freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad.

In 1922, the state improved the old footpath into a road for cars. The timing was perfect for a third generation of smugglers, who used it to run liquor down from Canada during Prohibition.

During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps arrived. These were young men hired by the government to build parks, and in the 1930s they created the campground, trails, and stone fireplaces that became Smugglers' Notch State Park.

The park moved to a new site in 2003. Every structure the CCC had built was carefully taken apart and rebuilt at the new location.

Route 108 still runs through the pass today, but only from about mid-May to mid-October. The road is a single lane at the top, with hairpin turns so tight that big trucks and RVs are banned.

Drive the 3.5 miles of Route 108 through the Notch and stop at the top to scramble among the boulders and look for the caves. Hike the Sterling Pond Trail, a steep climb of about 900 feet to a mountain lake where you can swim. Visit the Barnes Camp Visitor Center and walk the wetland boardwalk, then look for the CCC stone fireplaces at the picnic area.