Discover Lake Champlain: Vermont’s Waterfront Escape -9/24/25

While the Connecticut river completely divides Vermont from New Hampshire on the eastern side of our state, Lake Champlain on the west side divides the top left half of Vermont from New York (the top of the lake is in Canada). Lake Champlain is the eighth largest freshwater lake in the United States and is120 miles long, 12 miles at its widest point, its average depth is 64 feet but 400 feet at its deepest, and it has 71 islands (https://www.lclt.org/about-lake-champlain/lake-champlain-facts/). It is a beautiful lake with a lot of history. It was formed by Pleistoecene glaciation which started about 3 million years ago and ended about 12,000 years ago (https://www.lakechamplaincommittee.org/learn/natural-history-lake-champlain). It was named after the French explorer Samuel de Champlain in 1609, ships were built there for the War of 1812, and at one point it was a sixth great lake! Not to mention the belief that a creature named Champ lives in there, very similar to the story of Nessie, Scotland’s very own Loch Ness Monster.

In January 1998, the northeastern United States and eastern Canada experienced the Great Ice Storm that hindered a large swath of territory with up to three inches of ice accumulating in some places. Two months later in March, Lake Champlain was made a sixth Great Lake! This was a collaboration between Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy and President Bill Clinton and was enacted so federal funding could be secured for lake research, however there was a lot of pushback on this declaration, particularly from people who lived around the original five Great Lakes (side note: if you keep forgetting all the names of the Great Lakes, try the acronym HOMES, for lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior). 18 days later, Lake Champlain’s status as a sixth Great Lake was rescinded. Even with that brief leveling up though, to this day it still receives federal Sea Grant funding because of that situation (https://milwaukeerecord.com/city-life/a-look-back-at-the-18-days-when-there-were-six-great-lakes/). 

Let’s talk about mythology for a moment. Around the world there are stories of Bigfoot, Yeti, the Jersey Devil, Mothman, the chupacabra, and Nessie the Loch Ness Monster, among others. Vermont has its own Nessie, named Champ. Champ supposedly resides in Lake Champlain and has resided there for centuries. There are historical accounts from the Iroqois and Abenaki, who both have the name Gitaskog for Champ. Samuel de Champlain supposedly saw Champ back in 1609 as well. Recorded photo “evidence” of Champ occurred in 1977 (photo seen below), and there was another photo taken in 2000. You’ll have to let me know if you visit Lake Champlain and have seen Champ for yourself!

Lake Champlain is really a beautiful lake to visit. There is a boardwalk of sorts down near the waterfront in Burlington, VT, where you can also find the ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain and maybe see some kite flyers in the park down there. There are also two ferries that operate year-round (weather permitting) that go back and forth from Vermont to New York. They move from Grand Isle, VT, to Plattsburgh, NY, and the other from Charlotte, VT, to Essex, NY. It’s nice to be able to take your car on the ferry, enjoy the view of Burlington behind you and the Adirondack Mountains in New York in front of you, and then go for a drive in a neighboring state in this manner. Another side note: the Charlotte in Vermont is pronounced shar-LOT, unlike the Charlotte in North Carolina, which is pronounced SHAR-let. Now you know!

My wife and I stayed for a couple nights in June this year up in Mallett’s Bay in Colchester, VT. Absolutely stunning and the water was perfect. There are so many reasons to visit Vermont in any season: maple sugaring in the spring, swimming in rivers in the summer, fall foliage and apple picking in the fall, and skiing/snowboarding in the winter. If you’re into breweries, Vermont sports over 100 of them throughout the state, the highest per capita of any U.S. state!

Please come on by for a myriad reasons to visit Vermont and help support our local economy. We just ask that you be respectful of the land, the roads, and our people while you’re here! Cheers!