Swimming in the Stowe Area

After a day of adventuring in Stowe, a plunge in one of the local swimming holes, a visit to the Waterbury Reservoir or dipping your feet in the West Branch River afterward will feel great.

Innumerable mountain streams meander through the Green Mountains, serving up a Vermont-style swimming experience and a unique kind of solitude. Stowe offers a host of spots. Some are a cinch to find: a walk up the Stowe Recreation Path to a spot on the West Branch River, or the well-known Foster’s swimming hole. Still others find their own, and like a good fisherman, don’t ask them how to get there until the relationship is well cemented. The best swimming hole is clearly one you find yourself, perhaps by parking your car near the bottom of a moderately-sized stream and working your way upstream.

There are also five significant lakes in the area each offering a slightly different swimming experience. Public beaches are at Lake Eden, Lake Elmore and Caspian Lake. Waterbury Reservoir, south of Stowe, has been temporarily drained for dam repairs. The 635-acre Green River Reservoir, north of Stowe, is a beautiful water body with various rock outcroppings and a rope swing into the water for those who search for it.

A group of locals got together to create a non-profit, community pool that is affordable and accessible to families and guests in the Stowe area. Vermonters know you can fit a lot into a barn, and in our case, we were able to include a competition-sized swimming pool with diving board, a toddler and child swimming pool with water-slide, and a complete weight and cardiovascular training circuit. Small town life has its advantages, but a facility like this isn't usually one of them.