Where Two Ski Mountains Learned to Live Side by Side
If you’re coming from the west, the smart way into the Mad River Valley is over a mountain. Leave the Champlain Valley behind, climb Route 17 through Appalachian Gap or take the narrower, steeper road over Lincoln Gap, and let the car do some honest work for once. Then the trees pull back, the road drops, and a long green valley opens below you with a river running down the middle of it. Nobody warns you it’s coming, and that’s a large part of the charm.
The Mad River Valley runs south from Waitsfield through Warren in central Vermont, tucked between two ridgelines of the Green Mountains. It is home to two of the state’s best-known ski areas, Sugarbush and Mad River Glen, and to a pair of villages that still feel like places people live rather than places people visit.
A River That Heads North
The Mad River begins high in the Green Mountains and runs north along the valley floor before it meets the Winooski near Waterbury. Along the way it has laid down the flat farmland that fills the space between the villages, which is why the valley feels more like farm country with ski hills at its edges than the other way around. You’ll hear the river before you see it in late summer, a low steady sound under the cornfields. In April it turns loud with snowmelt, and by October the ridgelines on both sides change color faster than seems reasonable
Explore our Warren, Vermont Travel Guide
Two Mountains, Two Ideas About Skiing
The valley’s skiing story starts with a man who had already done it once. Roland Palmedo was behind the original Single Chair at Stowe, and he grew frustrated there with the competing commercial interests that came with success. So he went looking for another mountain where he could do things his own way, and he found General Stark Mountain in the Mad River Valley. The Single Chair at Mad River Glen first carried skiers up on December 11, 1948, and it still runs today, one of the last of its kind in the country. (If you read our guide to Stowe, you’ve already met the chairlift’s older sibling.)
Mad River Glen has been fiercely itself ever since. The slogan is “Ski It If You Can,” the single lift keeps the trails uncrowded on purpose, and when the mountain’s owner moved to sell in the 1990s, the skiers themselves banded together into a cooperative and bought the place. Snowboards aren’t allowed, and nobody there is apologizing for it.
Ten years later, in 1958, Sugarbush opened in Warren on Christmas Day, and it took a different road: bigger, more modern, with more lifts, more terrain, and a lodge-and-village feel that draws weekend skiers from across the Northeast. Our full guide to Sugarbush Resort covers how it skis and where to base yourself.
Here’s our opinion, since you asked. If you only get one ski day in the valley and you want to understand why people here are so loyal, spend it at Mad River Glen. If you want groomed runs, a warm lodge, and a lift line that moves, go to Sugarbush. And if you have a weekend, do both, which is the best argument for staying in the valley at all.
Two Villages, a Mile of Vermont Between Them
Waitsfield is the valley’s working center, with a Main Street of restaurants, shops, and old buildings, and a covered bridge worth walking out onto. The Great Eddy Covered Bridge dates to 1833, which makes it one of the oldest in Vermont, and it still carries cars across the Mad River. A covered walkway was added on one side in 1940, and the bridge stood through the flooding of Hurricane Irene in 2011. Come on a Saturday in the warm months and the farmers market on the Mad River Green gives you a reason to linger. Our Waitsfield guide has the longer walk.
Warren, a few miles south, is quieter and more tucked into the hills, with a village feel that makes you lower your voice without being asked. It is also where Sugarbush sits, so the village carries both a ski-town pulse in winter and a very different rhythm once the snow melts. Our Warren guide takes you through it.
Between the Snow Seasons
Summer and fall in the valley are a different place entirely, and for many people a better one. Walkers and cyclists can cover the valley floor on the Mad River Path network, the farm stands open, the river slows, and the villages go back to belonging to the people who live in them. Fall brings the foliage, and the roads that lead into the valley, including both gaps, become part of the show. Be aware that Lincoln Gap closes to cars in winter, so check conditions before you plan a route over it, and see our guides to Appalachian Gap and Lincoln Gap before you go.
Scenic Drives and Mountain Passes
The Mad River Valley is connected to the Champlain Valley through several dramatic mountain roads.
Travelers often reach the valley by crossing:
• Appalachian Gap
• Lincoln Gap
These steep, winding drives reveal the dramatic geography of the Green Mountains and make the journey into the valley part of the experience itself.
Visit Our Appalachian Gap Travel Guide
Visit Our Lincoln Gap Travel Guid
When to Come
Winter is for skiing and for the fire afterward. Spring is mud season, quiet and honest, and a good time to find a room without a fight. Summer is hiking, cycling, and cold river water on a hot afternoon. Fall is the season that rewards you for driving over the mountain in the first place. Whenever you come, book ahead for ski weekends and peak foliage, and see our Where to Stay in Vermont guide for the lodging picture.
The Mad River Valley is the heart of our Green Mountains guide. If you’re building a longer trip, pair it with our scenic drives guide or look at Vermont’s farmers markets for what’s growing along the way.
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