Lake Willoughby

Dramatic glacial lake flanked by cliffs

Lake Willoughby is Vermont's most dramatic lake — a long, narrow body of water carved by glaciers between Mount Pisgah to the east and Mount Hor to the west. The cliffs on both sides drop almost vertically into water that reaches depths of over 90 metres, making it one of the deepest lakes in New England.

The water is exceptionally clear and cold, and the swimming at the two public beaches (one at the north end, one at the south) is excellent in summer. The south beach, closer to the cliffs, tends to be quieter. From the water you get the full effect of the mountains rising directly from the lake — a scale that photographs rarely capture properly.

things to do sight
A story
Lake Willoughby sits in a glacially carved gap between two mountains, its orientation so precise that the view from the north shore looks straight down the lake to a perfectly framed notch in the hills beyond. Early settlers compared the approach to the Swiss Alps, and promoters of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom still use that comparison — which, for once, is not entirely exaggerated.