Short answer
Good places to paint plein air in Vermont include Knight Point and South Hero, Lake Champlain Islands, Vergennes Falls and Otter Creek Basin, Quechee Gorge, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, Sand Bar State Park, Lake Champlain, Middlebury Falls and Marble Works, Mount Philo State Park Overlook and Stowe Community Church. PleinScout lists 50 spots in Vermont, each with parking, shade, restrooms and when the light is best. Always check current hours, fees and rules before you go.
These are places painters set up in Vermont, grouped by subject. Each one notes the things that decide whether a session works: where to park, whether there's shade, a restroom nearby, and when the light is best. The full map, with directions and spots added by local painters, is in the free PleinScout app.
Coast, beaches and harbors
Sand Bar State Park, Lake Champlain
One of Vermont's finest sand beaches on shallow Lake Champlain, with broad water and mountain horizons. Open beach and big-sky lake subjects.
Milton · Best light: golden hour · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · State park day-use fee in season. · Easy
Knight Point and South Hero, Lake Champlain Islands
A gentle island shoreline park amid the Champlain Islands, with coves and sweeping cross-lake mountain views. Calm-water and big-horizon subjects.
North Hero · Best light: sunset · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · State park day-use fee. · Easy
Lakes, rivers and waterfalls
Brattleboro and the West River / Retreat Meadows
A wide, calm wetland and river backwater near Brattleboro favored by birds and paddlers. Atmospheric marsh, water, and soft-hill subjects.
Brattleboro · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Burlington Waterfront, Lake Champlain
Vermont's signature lakefront, with sweeping water views toward the Adirondacks and renowned sunsets. Easy, atmospheric subjects with boats and big sky.
Burlington · Best light: sunset · Parking: paid · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Paid lots and metered parking along the waterfront. · Easy
Chittenden Reservoir and Mountain Top, Killington area
A quiet mountain reservoir backed by high Green Mountain peaks, offering still reflections and forested shores. Grand mountain-and-water vistas with few crowds.
Chittenden · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: no · Free · Moderate
Danville / Joe's Pond Area
Quintessential Northeast Kingdom country with open farms and the wooded basins of Joe's Pond. Pastoral and quiet-water subjects off the beaten path.
Danville · Best light: afternoon · Parking: street · Shade: some · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Willey's Store and Greensboro / Caspian Lake
A serene Northeast Kingdom lake and the beloved Willey's Store anchor a quintessential rural village. Calm lake views and country-store character.
Greensboro · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Free · Easy
Texas Falls
A pretty chain of cascades carving through a shaded rocky gorge, with footbridges for varied vantages. Classic moving-water and rock subjects in deep forest.
Hancock · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Moderate
Lye Brook Falls
One of Vermont's tallest waterfalls, a tall ribbon cascade reached by a substantial forest hike. A rewarding remote subject for painters willing to carry gear in.
Manchester · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: no · Free · Challenging
Middlebury Falls and Marble Works
An urban waterfall where Otter Creek drops past historic marble mill buildings in the heart of a college town. Industrial-historic architecture paired with moving water.
Middlebury · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Free · Easy
Lake Memphremagog at Newport
A long glacial lake reaching into Quebec, framed by the small city of Newport and surrounding hills. Expansive water vistas at the top of the Northeast Kingdom.
Newport · Best light: sunset · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Hapgood Pond and Surroundings, Green Mountain National Forest
A serene wooded pond in the Green Mountain National Forest offering still-water reflections and quiet forest edges. Peaceful, low-crowd plein air.
Peru · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Small day-use recreation fee in season. · Easy
Bingham Falls
A series of sculpted cascades and clear pools in a wooded gorge along the road to Smugglers' Notch. Intimate water, rock, and reflection studies.
Stowe · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: no · Free · Moderate
Moss Glen Falls (Stowe)
A dramatic tiered cascade plunging through a mossy rock chasm near Stowe. Vertical water-and-rock composition in a lush ravine.
Stowe · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: no · Free · Moderate
Vergennes Falls and Otter Creek Basin
A broad waterfall on Otter Creek at the edge of Vermont's smallest city, with mill-era architecture and a viewing footbridge. Combines moving water and historic structures.
Vergennes · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Free · Easy
Lake Willoughby (South Beach)
A striking glacial lake hemmed by towering cliffs, often called Vermont's Lucerne, deep in the Northeast Kingdom. Dramatic mountain-and-water compositions.
Westmore · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Mountains, canyons and overlooks
Battery Park Overlook
An elevated city park with commanding sunset views over Lake Champlain to the mountains. Classic water-and-sky vistas from a comfortable, accessible spot.
Burlington · Best light: sunset · Parking: street · Shade: some · Free · Easy
Mount Philo State Park Overlook
A small mountain with an outsized view over the patchwork Champlain Valley to the lake and Adirondacks. One of the best accessible panoramic overlooks in the state.
Charlotte · Best light: sunset · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · State park day-use fee; drive or hike to the summit. · Easy
Cornwall / Champlain Valley Dairy Farms
Quintessential Champlain Valley dairy landscape of red barns and open fields beneath distant mountains. Classic agricultural and big-sky plein air.
Cornwall · Best light: golden hour · Parking: street · Shade: none · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Vermont Route 100 Granville Gulf Reserve
A wild forested gulf along scenic Route 100 with a roadside cascade and walls of hardwood foliage. Immersive forest and waterfall subjects.
Granville · Best light: morning · Parking: street · Shade: lots · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Camel's Hump from Huntington / Duxbury Valley
Vermont's iconic undeveloped double-summit peak rising above valley farmland and forest. A bold, instantly recognizable mountain subject from valley vantages.
Huntington · Best light: golden hour · Parking: street · Shade: none · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Quechee Gorge
A dramatic 165-foot granite gorge cut by the Ottauquechee River, best painted from the historic steel bridge or trails along the rim. The most-visited natural attraction in the state.
Quechee · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Moderate
Mount Mansfield from Stowe Hollow / Pleasant Valley
Vermont's tallest mountain looming over open valley farmland, ideal for grand mountain landscapes. Distant peak with foreground fields and barns.
Stowe · Best light: golden hour · Parking: street · Shade: none · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Smugglers' Notch
A dramatic high mountain pass squeezed between sheer cliffs and giant boulders on a hairpin road. Powerful rock-and-forest subjects with vertical drama.
Stowe · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Moderate
Sugarbush / Lincoln Gap Road Overlook
One of Vermont's highest paved gap roads, offering layered mountain panoramas over the Mad River Valley. Dramatic ridgeline subjects with mountain light.
Warren · Best light: afternoon · Parking: street · Shade: some · Restrooms: no · Free · Moderate
Towns, historic sites and gardens
Bennington Battle Monument
Vermont's tallest structure, a soaring stone obelisk above a historic colonial village and church. Bold vertical monument and classic New England green.
Bennington · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Old First Church and Burying Ground
A refined early-1800s white church and steeple beside a storied colonial burying ground. A textbook New England church subject with quiet grounds.
Bennington · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Lower Cabot / Cabot Creamery Country
Quiet dairy-country village and rolling farm hills synonymous with Vermont cheese. Pastoral barns, pastures, and a tidy white village to paint.
Cabot · Best light: afternoon · Parking: street · Shade: some · Free · Easy
East Corinth Village
A picture-perfect small white village with a steeple framed by hills, so classically Vermont it has served as a movie set. Quiet, paintable architecture and rolling backdrops.
East Corinth · Best light: afternoon · Parking: street · Shade: some · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Grafton Village
A beautifully restored historic village frozen in the 1800s, with white buildings, a covered bridge, and quiet streets. Endless classic Vermont village subjects.
Grafton · Best light: afternoon · Parking: street · Shade: lots · Free · Easy
Hubbardton Battlefield
The site of the only Revolutionary War battle fought in Vermont, now quiet rolling meadows with sweeping mountain views. Spacious pastoral and big-sky subjects.
Hubbardton · Best light: golden hour · Parking: lot · Shade: none · Restrooms: yes · Small fee for the visitor center; grounds generally accessible. · Easy
Equinox Mountain / Manchester Village Common
An elegant historic village of marble sidewalks and white-columned architecture beneath Mount Equinox. Refined village and mountain subjects.
Manchester · Best light: afternoon · Parking: street · Shade: lots · Free · Easy
Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home
Robert Todd Lincoln's elegant estate with formal gardens perched above a broad mountain valley. Combines architecture, gardens, and grand views.
Manchester · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Admission to the estate and gardens. · Easy
Pulp Mill Covered Bridge
A historic double-barreled covered bridge spanning Otter Creek, among the oldest covered bridges in the United States. Distinctive architecture over reflective water.
Middlebury · Best light: morning · Parking: street · Shade: some · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Montgomery Covered Bridges
A small far-northern town famous for its cluster of historic covered bridges spanning the Trout River. Multiple classic bridge-and-river subjects in one area.
Montgomery · Best light: afternoon · Parking: street · Shade: some · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Vermont State House
A handsome gold-domed capitol set against a forested hill in the nation's smallest capital city. Striking architecture with a natural backdrop.
Montpelier · Best light: morning · Parking: street · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Free · Easy
Newfane Village Common
A perfectly composed Vermont common with a white courthouse, churches, and shade trees in southern Vermont. One of the state's most classic village greens.
Newfane · Best light: morning · Parking: street · Shade: lots · Free · Easy
Peacham Village
A classic hilltop Northeast Kingdom village with a white-steepled church and panoramic farmland views, a fall foliage favorite. Iconic village-and-landscape subjects.
Peacham · Best light: golden hour · Parking: street · Shade: some · Free · Easy
Plymouth Notch Historic Village
An exceptionally intact 19th-century hill village preserved as the Coolidge homestead, surrounded by working pastures. A complete time-capsule of rural Vermont architecture.
Plymouth · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Admission to the historic site buildings; village roads viewable. · Easy
Jenne Farm
An iconic hillside farmstead with classic Vermont barns and pastures, drawing photographers and painters from around the world each autumn. Work strictly from the public road.
Reading · Best light: morning · Parking: none · Shade: none · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Shelburne Farms
A magnificent landscaped farm estate on Lake Champlain with grand barns and Olmsted-designed pastoral views. Endless agricultural and lakeside subjects.
Shelburne · Best light: golden hour · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Admission to walk the property; nonprofit working farm. · Easy
Shelburne Museum Round Barn and Grounds
An open-air collection of relocated Vermont architecture including a round barn, covered bridge, and lake steamboat. A concentrated trove of historic subjects on landscaped grounds.
Shelburne · Best light: afternoon · Parking: lot · Shade: some · Restrooms: yes · Museum admission required to access the grounds. · Easy
Emily's Bridge (Gold Brook Covered Bridge)
A small, atmospheric covered bridge over a brook in a wooded Stowe hollow, steeped in local ghost legend. An intimate bridge-and-brook subject.
Stowe · Best light: morning · Parking: street · Shade: lots · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Stowe Community Church
The quintessential white Vermont church steeple rising above Stowe's Main Street, one of the most iconic painting subjects in the state. Best with mountains and changing seasons behind.
Stowe · Best light: morning · Parking: street · Shade: some · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Waits River Church and Village
A tiny village where a white church and barns sit beneath a sweeping patchwork hillside, a beloved foliage-season subject. The archetypal Vermont church-and-hills scene.
Waits River · Best light: golden hour · Parking: street · Shade: some · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Warren Village and Warren Covered Bridge
A charming Mad River Valley village with a covered bridge spanning rocky cascades beside a classic general store. Intimate water-and-architecture scenes.
Warren · Best light: afternoon · Parking: street · Shade: some · Free · Easy
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
Vermont's only national park, with a historic mansion, gardens, and carriage roads winding through Mount Tom's conservation forest. Varied subjects from formal gardens to woodland overlooks.
Woodstock · Best light: morning · Parking: lot · Shade: lots · Restrooms: yes · Free · Moderate
Middle Covered Bridge
A picturesque town-lattice covered bridge spanning the Ottauquechee in the center of Woodstock, paintable from riverbanks and the green. Combines bridge, water, and village.
Woodstock · Best light: afternoon · Parking: street · Shade: some · Free · Easy
Sleepy Hollow Farm
A storybook Vermont farmstead framed by a winding lane of maples, one of the most photographed rural scenes in New England. Respect the private property and stay on the roadside.
Woodstock · Best light: morning · Parking: none · Shade: some · Restrooms: no · Free · Easy
Woodstock Village Green
The heart of one of America's prettiest villages, an oval green surrounded by elegant historic architecture and church steeples. Easy subjects in every direction.
Woodstock · Best light: golden hour · Parking: street · Shade: lots · Free · Easy
Run a plein air group or sketch chapter in Vermont? Get it listed free, with a link to your page.
Find more spots in Vermont
Painters add new spots to PleinScout every week, with photos, parking and the light. Get the free app to see them on the map, or find a paint-out near you.
Hours, fees and rules change. Always check with the park or venue before you go.