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A Recommended Drive: Vermont

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The 18-mile stretch of Route 108 that connects Stowe and Jeffersonville via Smugglers' Notch is a destination in itself, as well as a way to get from one town to another during the spring, summer, and fall. It starts out looking like any other easily negotiable Vermont road. But after it courses past the resort-area businesses that trail north out of Stowe and leaves behind the ski area, it's easy to see why no plow dares make the passage in winter.

Steep slopes crowd close once you reach Mount Mansfield State Forest, and Route 108 narrows to a blacktop corkscrew of a road with a 16 percent grade. On the Stowe side, there's access to the resort's gondola and auto road to Mount Mansfield's summit, along with picnic and camping spots.

Near the crest of the notch, where the dark walls of Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak loom above the road, you can pull over and hike to Sterling Pond, the highest pond on the Long Trail. Here it is never fully daylight, especially beneath the 1,000-foot rise that lofts to the stark rock formation called Elephant's Head.

Did smugglers really use this route more than two centuries ago to secretly transport supplies to the Canadian-based British army? If not, they should have: it's not only the most direct way through the northern Green Mountains, but it's also crammed with rocky nooks and crannies.

Vistas broaden after you navigate the sharp summit turns, and the road straightens on the way down past Smugglers' Notch ski resort and into Jeffersonville. Now you're in northern Vermont, where things are just a bit more rustic, and even a sizable ski area isn't beset by bistros and boutiques. Take time to relax before you make that drive back to the other side of the notch.

Stone Hill Inn

Your hosts are Hap and Amy Jordan. (Both are restaurant professionals; Amy is a former restaurant owner and hotel concierge.) Encouraged by guests, they recently published a cookbook with more than 120 favorite recipes from the inn. Every room features a king-size bed, flat screen TV with DVD/VCR, and a two-sided fireplace opening to both bedroom and bathroom, with two-person Jacuzzi. Enjoy spectacular summer gardens, winter snowshoeing, and tobogganing. There's a pond on the property. [DETAILS]

Trattoria La Festa

[DETAILS]

TopNotch Resort & Spa

AAA Four Diamond Luxury resort with beautiful mountain views. 68 guestrooms and suites plus 40 resort homes. 35,000 square-foot spa with 30 treatment rooms. Indoor and Outdoor pool and Jacuzzi (heated year round). Complete renovation in 2006, including a new restaurant, featuring Vermont organic products, Norma's Restaurant. [DETAILS]