Things to Do at Hubbard Park

Hubbard Park sprawls across 194 acres of forested hillside just above downtown Montpelier, and it does something rare for a city park, it feels wild. Trails climb through hemlock and sugar maple, the mixed northern hardwood forest that turns molten orange and crimson by early October. The crunch underfoot shifts with the seasons. Air here runs a few degrees cooler than the statehouse lawn below. After rain, the resinous smell of pine sharpens. The park's defining landmark is the stone observation tower near the summit, a 54-foot fieldstone structure built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. You climb a tight interior spiral, cold granite echoing every footfall, and emerge to a view that captures the gold dome of the Vermont State House, the Winooski River valley, and on clear days the white spine of the Worcester Range to the north. This is how compact Vermont's capital is, the whole downtown fits in one frame. What makes Hubbard work is the layering: dog walkers and joggers on lower carriage roads, families sledding the open meadow by the Old Shelter in winter, cross-country skiers tracking upper loops, and the occasional moose sighting locals mention with a shrug. It happens often enough not to be notable.

Hubbard Park sits directly above downtown Montpelier, and the easiest approach is on foot, it's a ten-minute uphill walk from the Vermont State House via Court Street and Hubbard Park Drive. Drivers can follow Hubbard Park Drive up to the small parking areas near the Old Shelter and New Shelter. Parking is free but limited, and the upper lots fill on fall weekends. There's no public transit directly into the park. But Green Mountain Transit runs buses through downtown Montpelier, leaving you a short uphill walk to the main entrances. In winter the upper park road is gated, so you'll park lower and walk or ski in.