As if driving through the Middlebury Gap on Vermont Route 125 wasn’t already a glorious experience, just east of the town of Ripton you’ll find the Robert Frost Interpretive Trail. This charming wayside is a must for poetry lovers.

About a half dozen of American poet Robert Frost’s poems are printed on signs at points along the trail. You’ll find a poem about birches near a stand of birch, or a poem about mowing near an open field. And don’t forget one of the most famous poems of all time, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Frost’s poetry is steeped in natural imagery, and reading them in this setting really brings them to life. 

Frost summered nearby at Homer Noble Farm for 23 years, and walked these very woods himself. Just up the road is the Breadloaf Campus of Middlebury College, where he taught until his death in 1963.

The trail is an easy 1.2-mile walk with no elevation gain that crosses Beaver Pond and the south Branch of the Middlebury River. It’s maintained by the United States Department of Agriculture, and the first 3/10s of a mile are accessible and suitable for wheelchairs.