Activities

Countless Year-Round Activities in Barnard, Quechee, Woodstock and Beyond!

Here's just a glimpse of what our part of central Vermont offers. We're always happy to assist you plan activities during your stay. For information or reservations please contact us 802-234-6704.


OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

dot Eco tourism adventures: Individually arranged tours by The Fan House-- includes personalized snowshoe treks through the Chateauguay wilderness area.

dot Silver Lake State Park: Only a three minute walk from our front door. Enjoy swimming, fishing, boating or just relaxing lake-side.

dot Appalachian Trail: Hike or walk the famous Appalachian Trail. There's a lovely 1.5-2 hour walk just a few miles down the road from the Fan House.

dot On-Road/Off-Road Biking: Great trails in four directions out of Barnard. Our favorite scenic route is a 14-mile circle to and from the Fan House. Bike Rentals are available from Biscuit Hill Bike Shop in nearby Woodstock.

dot Hot Air Ballooning: Balloons Over New England launches from nearby Quechee, Vermont. Perfect if you're looking for a unique adventure, or perhaps something to add to your romantic getaway.

dot Quechee Gorge State Park: An amazing 180-foot-deep, mile-long chasm lined with an easy walking trail. Quechee Vermont is a short drive from the Fan House.

dot Killington Resort: Four season resort offering skiing, snowboarding, golf, mountain biking and more.

dot Okemo Resort: Adventure for any season. Skiing & snowboarding, mountain biking, Summer concerts, hiking and golf.

dot Suicide Six: 23 Trails of skiing and snowboarding ranging from beginning to expert.

dot Ice Skating: Indoor skating at the Union Arena in Woodstock Vermont.

dot Horse Drawn Sleigh Rides: Offered by Shelburne Farms every weekend throughout the Winter months.

dot Visit the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park.


TO YOUR HEALTH

dot Bikram Yoga of Pittsfield: Classes offered 5:30 Monday-Thursday 9:00am Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Call 1-866-677-4288.


MUSEUMS

dot The Vermont Institute of National Science: The VINS Nature Center is located in Quechee Gorge. Among other exciting programs, it is considered New England's leading raptor center.

dot Porter Music Box Museum & Gift Shop: An exquisite and amazing collection of music boxes. Located in nearby Randolph, VT.

dot Hood Museum of Art: Dartmouth, NH. More than 65,000 objects in the collection. Art from ancient cultures, America, Europe, Africa, Papua New Guinea, and many other regions of the world. Modern and contemporary works.

dot Billings Farm & Museum


SHOPPING & ANTIQUES

dot Simon Pearce: Watch the art of glassblowing and visit the famous retail store. In nearby Quechee.

dot ShackletonThomas: Visit the pottery & furniture workshops and Workshop Store in Bridgewater, Vermont. The Showroom is in Woodstock.


RESTAURANTS

dot The Barnard Inn: World-class dining at just up the road. Read the Barnard Inn review featured in the Boston Globe.


CULTURAL EVENTS

dot Pentangle Council of the Arts: Located in Woodstock. Movie Theatre, live theatrical, music and dance performances, more.

dot Chandler Music Hall: Legendary music hall with first class performing and visual arts.



August Walk


The forest fringed, and a seethe of rain.
Indian pipes prod white, crooked fingers up through mulch,
boletus and inky caps glutton in the dank.
Lichen glues coral to moist granite.
We follow cleft hoof prints
of a bull moose, you striding ahead, I lagging,
you reading woods lore - ice-stripped bark, deer-nibble,
last winter's flurry, matted fisher-cat spoor; I distracted,
musing. The soil springs at our tread, moss banks
bristle with spores. Rain light shivers down
The felled giant sugar maple has broken out
in boles: baroque, all bulging eyes,
beaks, foreheads, claws, diseased
and dark as a mahogany Roman choir stall.
Off the moose path now, it's an old farm you seek:
rock piles from last century's sheepfolds,
inward-lapsing cellar hole;
a tumble where the chimney stood;
at the threshold, by the granite door slab,
a cluster of weed-choked lilies sprouted from lilies
the farm wife planted before the Civil War.
The road is a soft cesarean scar in tufted grass,
each rain-glossed leaf emits a stab of green.
Somewhere here survives the idea of home.

By permission of the author Rosanna Warren
and W. W. Norton from the book Departure.


Trip Advisor.com offers guest reviews of the Fan House


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The Fan House in Barnard Vermont
The Fan House in Barnard Vermont