New England summer season journey locations that amplify the journey

A huge strawberry moon paying homage to the flying bicycle scene in Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial hangs low within the sky, lighting our method. And simply beneath the floor, we’re being handled to a spectacular underwater fireworks show — the blue-green bioluminescence of a bloom of plankton often called dinoflagellates and a smack of comb jellies, each species glowing in agitation every time we stab our paddles within the sea.

This is moonlight kayaking, a panoramic journey that redefines serenity, at the least till some bizarre yipping onshore — Is {that a} fox? A coyote? Sasquatch? — raises the hairs on our forearms.

But there’s security in numbers, so contemplate, as I did, a guided two-hour full moon expertise with The Kayak Centre, nestled on the shores of the bay (70 Brown Street, North Kingstown, 401-295-4400; $55). Its watercraft are geared up with Coast Guard-compliant white navigation lights and aren’t allowed out in heavy wind, rain, or thunderstorms.

On shore, historic Wickford Village boasts one of many Northeast’s largest collections of intact 18th-century properties. In 2025, HGTV named Wickford’s downtown amongst America’s most charming, and USA Today ranked it No. 2 on its 2024 readers alternative checklist of finest historic small cities. Kayakers and anybody accompanying them can get pleasure from its many cute retailers and eating places.

Night paddling is finest when the moon is full, and that solely happens as soon as a month, so that you’ll must decide to a date prematurely. Groups are welcome, and single and double kayaks can be found to accommodate a whole household or a band of as much as 18 colleagues or associates.

Co-owner Matt Bosgraaf, who additionally runs sundown excursions for these leery of paddling in quasi-darkness, offers life jackets and kayaking instruction if wanted. His professional ideas: Wear artificial clothes — by no means cotton, which may chill you as soon as it’s moist — and bug repellent for muggy late summer season nights. And don’t neglect a digicam for that bioluminescence. “It’s cool when you put your paddle in the water and suddenly it swirls with colors,” he says.

Want to do that elsewhere? L.L.Bean presents full-moon kayaking in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, from May to October (888-552-3261; $69.95), whereas Paddle Boston’s moonlight tour pushes off from Newton and is 2 hours of peace on the Charles River (617-965-5110; $64).

-William J. Kole

I used to be at dwelling on a July night, brushing my younger son’s enamel, once I acquired the textual content.

“Hot air balloon situation happening on our driveway!” It was my sister-in-law, who lives subsequent door.

My spouse and I regarded out the window. A balloon was hovering mere ft over our pond, and a chase automobile was lumbering up the driveway we share with my in-laws, searching for permission to land. I grabbed our son, then 2, and ran barefoot by a hayfield to get a more in-depth look, simply because the balloon touched down on the gravel.

This was a shock even for our nook of northwest Vermont, the place scorching air balloons are a frequent sight at dawn and sunset on summer season days. Tours can be found for intrepid vacationers and locals in search of a distinct perspective on the scenic Champlain Valley. Elsewhere within the state, the Quechee Balloon Festival, this 12 months on June 19-21, has crammed the skies for greater than 45 years.

As quickly as I’d seen it from my window, I’d acknowledged the maroon-and-tan balloon, that includes the brand of the close by Essex Resort & Spa. When I drew nearer, I noticed the pilot, a fortysomething man in a polo shirt and shorts, his arms raised as he launched air from the balloon. It couldn’t be him, I assumed. What are the chances?

Six years earlier, once I took a job at a Vermont newspaper and was advised to write down about an unconventional out of doors exercise, I booked a visit and volunteered to take a flight with Above

Reality Air Balloon Rides in Essex Junction (70 Essex Way, 802-373-4007; beginning at $395 for adults, $345 per accompanied youngster over 8). I used to be placing myself in good arms: The proprietor, Jeff Snyder, has piloted folks over Vermont’s Champlain Valley for near 25 years, usually in his trademark polo and shorts.

I picked up my then-girlfriend (now spouse) after work, advised her I had a shock, and headed for Essex.

For these flying for the primary time, the important thing to ballooning is flexibility. You might not know till simply earlier than your scheduled experience whether or not the climate will enable for a takeoff — and also you actually received’t know the place you’ll land. Passengers must be ready for the warmth and noise of the burners, which sometimes blast overhead to fill the balloon above you.

Once you are taking flight, there’s nothing fairly prefer it. As you soar above the treetops, you progress with the wind, leading to a stunning stillness and serenity in contrast to another type of aviation.

For greater than an hour, we floated above fields and forests, village facilities, and suburban sprawl, whereas Snyder cracked jokes and pulled a lever to ignite the burners. On one aspect of our suspended wicker basket, the Adirondack High Peaks rose above Lake Champlain. On the opposite, the backbone of the Green Mountains stretched into the space.

“The variety of the Vermont landscape is second to none,” Snyder says. “If you want to see exotic wildlife, go to the Serengeti. If you want to see beautiful scenery, come to the Champlain Valley.”

Snyder would know. Outside of Vermont’s ballooning season, which runs from late May by late October, he’s labored as a wrestling referee, checked tickets at a ski slope, and delivered home-heating oil. But final winter, Snyder spent two months in Tanzania, piloting balloons for a tour firm over the Serengeti National Park.

“There were definitely landings I aborted because a male lion was sitting off to the right,” he says.

There are few such perils in Vermont. Perhaps the closest factor is the occasional grumpy landowner none too happy when Snyder touches down on their property. He tries to ask permission whereas touchdown and all the time brings a bottle of champagne for his host.

“I find a little respect goes a long way,” he says.

Snyder not too long ago changed his fleet of baskets, which vary in measurement from small (4 to 5 folks) to giant (11 to fifteen), and now embody doorways, making them extra accessible. In addition to straightforward excursions, the corporate presents non-public charters for occasions reminiscent of weddings, proposals, and memorial providers.

Snyder advises out-of-town friends to e-book early of their keep as a result of as many as half of his flights are canceled for weather-related causes. When a flight can’t go ahead, he tries to accommodate friends on the following flight.

“If it’s safe, we’ll fly you,” he says.

When Snyder touched down on our driveway that July night, my spouse and I reintroduced ourselves and reminded him of our flight. As it turned out, we knew certainly one of his passengers, too. Vermont is usually a small world like that.

We joined Snyder and the passengers for a champagne toast, and every of our members of the family took turns within the basket. We watched the crew deflate the balloon and cargo it right into a trailer. We didn’t need our friends to go away.

Now, once I see a balloon within the distance on a summer season night, part of me needs I used to be flying in it, and part of me needs it will contact down close by. Perhaps the winds will blow this manner once more.

-Paul Heintz

In winter, Bousquet Mountain in Pittsfield buzzes with skiers and snowboarders carving their method down its trails. Standing at its base on a quiet July morning, nonetheless, I lookup and see it as the beginning of a protracted, sloping Berkshires highland referred to as Yokun Ridge — and the embarkation level for my first strolling vacation in New England.

While strolling holidays are nonetheless taking root throughout the United States, they’re a well-liked option to trip in different elements of the world (suppose Spain’s Camino de Santiago or the path round Canada’s Prince Edward Island). The concept: strolling from village to village, staying in B&Bs, and, in lots of instances, having another person drive your baggage. It’s backpacking with out the gear and with showers and nice eating places.

My model is a 10-mile journey on the cross-country path opened in 2021 referred to as The High Road. The brainchild of the Berkshire Natural Resources Council, a nonprofit group that manages conservation land throughout the area, it’s an as-yet-unfinished constellation of previous and freshly-cut trails, clicked into one strolling route “connecting towns to towns, and towns to trails.”

“The High Road was very much inspired by long-distance walking routes like the Camino de Santiago and other ‘walking holiday’ networks in Europe, though is also distinctly different,” says Deanna Smith, who manages the route for the council. “We envision The High Road as a series of approachable, connected routes that bring people through landscapes, communities, and places of interest in the Berkshires.”

The arrival of The High Road got here as extra Americans picked up long-distance strolling in the course of the pandemic. It was a welcome addition to New England, the place the best-known strolling vacation could be the Vermont Inn to Inn Walking Tour, an all-inclusive journey between 4 inns, with free baggage transportation. The High Road is presently a one- to two-night affair, however will get longer because it provides sections over the approaching years, finally spanning the Berkshires’ backbone.

For me, which means selecting up the path at Bousquet and following a delicate path alongside the ridge and thru the adjoining forest till I attain the flowery campus of the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge (the tip of The High Road’s first phase). From there, it’s a 1.5-mile stroll into Lenox Village, the place a room at a boutique resort with plush beds might be ready for me. The following day, I’ll both take a bus again to Pittsfield, or, if I’ve extra gasoline in my tank, return on foot.

At first, it looks like a mammoth enterprise. Because this strolling vacation is a brief one, I’m carrying a backpack with snacks and a change of garments, and my quads are bracing for the burn.

But the fatigue I’m anticipating by no means comes. The High Road takes its candy time ascending the leafy haunches of Bousquet on a newly-cut part of path that results in Mahanna Cobble Vista — an overlook with a uncommon view of completely undeveloped Berkshire land. The path is spacious and groomed sufficient that I don’t should hold my eyes glued to the bottom for boot-snagging rocks or roots, and as I proceed onto the extra stage highlands of Yokun Ridge, the grass and moss make for softer terrain.

All this enables for some severe thoughts wandering. As I stroll by a winding hallway of spruce conifers, my ideas vary from I must carry my dad again right here, to Maybe I ought to ask her out for actual.

After spending a day within the nation and your consciousness — the essence of a strolling vacation, actually — it may be a shock to step again into the conveniences of a village reminiscent of Lenox, which I do within the afternoon. Everything has a zing of newness, from pulling off my socks and strolling on the hardwood ground of my resort room, to tearing right into a piping-hot margherita at Pizzeria Boema, as a sundown flares by the treetops (84 Main Street, 413-881-4936).

As I benefit from the pizza, I resolve I’ll skip the bus again tomorrow and stroll as a substitute. My route will begin on the labyrinthine trails of Mass Audubon’s Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary earlier than re-joining The High Road on high of Lenox Mountain, then a remaining push to Pittsfield.

As the nightfall settles in, I think about coming again to The High Road as extra of its segments open, making an extended strolling vacation attainable. One day, if it will definitely makes it that far, I may get to North Adams or Great Barrington.

Or perhaps I’ll attempt the inn-to-inn tour in Vermont, in spring earlier than the summer season crowds arrive. A strolling vacation can occur wherever, any time. But some seasons are extra enchanting than others. And some roads can take you increased.

-Miles Howard

On a sunny April afternoon, I’m standing on the fringe of a forest in rural Guilford, Vermont, making ready to hike a muddy path on a mission that’s each thrilling and a little bit nerve-racking: harvesting wild meals.

Although I’ve lengthy been a meals fanatic, I’ve by no means been courageous sufficient to eat vegetation that haven’t been cultivated by farmers. Foraging is part of life for a lot of Vermonters, and I’ve all the time been curious to see the way it feels to hook up with nature on this method. But when anybody has tried to feed me even a (very protected) hen of the woods mushroom, I smile and push it round my plate earlier than dumping it within the compost bin.

Why? Because dying by mushrooms is actual. But there’s just one method by concern, so: Into the woods!

Since foraging actually will be harmful, I’ve enlisted the assistance of Jessica Dolan, an environmental anthropologist, ethnobotanist, and Indigenous research scholar. In brief, she’s about the most effective information I may ask for. Dolan has requested a buddy if we will forage on their property.

“Wild harvesting is a livelihood and a matter of food security for many Vermonters,” Dolan says. “Because of this, not many people take visitors out on foraging walks.” Furthermore, “Many lands are private, and public lands, such as state parks, have strict foraging regulations.” I really feel fortunate to have discovered Dolan.

Despite the caveat, guided foraging alternatives are plentiful in Vermont within the spring and summer season, if you realize the place to look. These embody a wild greens and mushrooms stroll hosted by the Vermont Institute of Natural Science in Quechee on May 24 ($48); and people provided by the Vermont Mycological Society (membership, beginning at $15, required). The state has a different local weather that produces all kinds of mushrooms, greens, berries, and nuts, providing many alternatives to collect seasonal meals all year long with the assistance of a educated information.

Soon, we’re tromping into tough, sun-dappled woods with our basket, clippers, and shovel. “Never take the first or only plant of a species” in a given location, Dolan instructs, “and if the plant community is big enough, only harvest a few for personal consumption.” (There are exceptions, she provides, reminiscent of invasive vegetation which can be edible.)

After a couple of minutes, we spot patches of vibrant emerald ramps rising from the crunchy brown leaves. My coronary heart leaps on the probability to collect them myself. I often purchase my ramps, which style like candy leeks with a garlicky edge, at farmers markets.

But it isn’t to be this time. These haven’t grown tall sufficient to reap. April remains to be a little bit early within the season for foraging, however quickly, areas like these may even be rife with fiddlehead ferns, wild onions, knotweed, and violets. Summer will carry elderberries, lamb’s-quarter, black raspberries, sumac, and a lot extra. This is only a sampling; Dolan has counted greater than 100 edible species in Southern Vermont.

Eventually, Dolan and I go away Guilford and head for a path close to downtown Brattleboro. As we search, we meet a wild harvester on a motorcycle who slows down to speak to us, and one other on foot. Foragers are sometimes a pleasant lot. We inform the walker we’re in search of knotweed, which Dolan says tastes like rhubarb.

We don’t discover a lot to reap right here, both, however I be taught one thing from Dolan round each bend. “Watch out for lookalikes!” she warns at one level, explaining that many toxic vegetation mimic the look of their edible brethren. I additionally need Dolan’s recipe for “nettlerampakopita,” her model of spanakopita utilizing nettles and ramps.

Armed with the information Dolan has imparted, I head again to the Guilford web site every week later — sufficient time, I hope, for these ramps to have ripened for harvesting. This time, I’m accompanied by the property proprietor, an skilled forager herself.

Not solely are the ramps prepared, so are dandelions (the roots, leaves, and blossoms are all edible) in addition to stinging nettles. Suddenly feeling a child-like sense of surprise, I linger and decide child nettles as enthusiastically as if I had been on an Easter egg hunt.

Back dwelling, I make vegan ramp pesto and a sausage and white bean soup with the spinach-like stinging nettles and bitter dandelion greens, each blanched.

There’s a particular satisfaction that comes together with cooking meals you’ve harvested your self, and I really feel this as I style my forest-to-table dishes. But there’s a lot to be taught from folks reminiscent of Dolan, about ethics, group requirements, and environmental impacts — to not point out, security. Foraging isn’t for newbies to attempt on their very own.

Still, I’m prepared for my subsequent foraging stroll. Until additional discover, although? Only with a information.

-Betsy Block

The alarm clock goes off simply after 4 a.m., and my teenager solely shoos me away twice earlier than I usher the 4 of us out the door of the Greenville, Maine, inn we’re staying in, and into the ink-dark predawn. Outside, the define of Moosehead Lake isn’t but seen, however these are the best circumstances for our day’s mission: to identify at the least one moose within the wild.

We’ve organized to satisfy Aiden McIver, whose S&L Guide Service leads moose safaris, in addition to fishing and looking journeys, within the space proper exterior the inn, and he’s there with thermos of espresso and blueberry muffins (207-271-8803; $400 for 2 folks, $25 for every further particular person). We pile into McIver’s Tacoma, sleepy however keen to start out our journey.

As a lifelong Mainer, I understand how thrilling it may be to see certainly one of these animals in its habitat, even when it’s been a pair many years since I’ve noticed one. There’s that rush of surprise that may solely be felt in nature, one thing I need to share with my youngsters — and the northern Maine woods is the proper spot.

McIver, a sixth-generation resident of Greenville and — like his grandfather and nice grandfather earlier than him — a Registered Maine Guide, tells us moose don’t tolerate warmth nicely, so summer season excursions are typically accomplished at first gentle or final. Twenty minutes into our experience, simply as our environment begin to emerge, we spot a moose on the aspect of the street earlier than it slips into the woods. (This is type of a bonus sighting, as we’re nonetheless en path to a few of McIver’s favourite backcountry spots. Still, my youngsters and husband buzz with pleasure.)

With fog lifting off the wetlands, our second moose seems on the fringe of Lazy Tom Bog, a serene waterway and well-liked moose hang around. Because of their measurement and lengthy legs, these creatures usually come throughout as clumsy (in the event you’ve ever seen one operating, it’s each terrifying and awkward), however at this second, I’m mesmerized by how majestic the animal appears towards the backdrop of Big Spencer Mountain.

We proceed to bump alongside backroads, heading deeper into elements of the Maine woods that remind me what true wilderness appears and looks like. (For these in search of a extra lively expertise, McIver additionally leads safaris by canoe.) Even although different outfitters additionally run excursions within the space, we really feel alone with the wildlife this morning.

Our final sighting is my favourite: a moose standing belly-deep in a small swamp, its darkish physique a stark distinction to the inexperienced panorama. We watch from exterior the automobile as she repeatedly dunks her head into the water, pulling up vegetation, pausing in between bites to go searching. I didn’t know watching a moose eat breakfast may carry a lot pleasure.

McIver tells us the report for moose sightings in a single tour is 12.

We didn’t fairly make that, however, as we head again to city, my youngsters are nonetheless speaking in regards to the ones we did see — proof that the early morning wake-up was value it.

-Erinne Magee

William J. Kole is a frequent contributor to the Globe Magazine. Miles Howard is a Boston-based writer, journalist, and the founding father of Walking City Trails. Betsy Block is a Boston-based author. She will be discovered on-line at betsyblock.com. Erinne Magee is a Maine-based author and writer of When the Birch Peels and This Is Camp: Poems and Stories About Maine’s Most Celebrated Getaway. Send feedback to [email protected].

Paul Heintz will be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @paulheintz.