Woodstock, Vermont

Woodstock is a green ringed by restored Georgian, Federal and Greek Revival houses, with a covered bridge over the Ottauquechee in the middle of the village. The estate above the town, given to the nation in 1992 by Mary French Rockefeller and Laurance Rockefeller, is now Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, and its subject is unusual: the history of conservation and land stewardship, tracing the line from George Perkins Marsh, born here, whose 1864 book Man and Nature first argued in America that human damage to land was measurable and reversible. Billings Farm across the road is a working dairy and museum.

What you'll find

• A green ringed by restored houses - Georgian, Federal and Greek Revival.
• A covered bridge in the village - over the Ottauquechee.
• The conservation history park - Vermont's only national park.
• Billings Farm - a working dairy and farm museum.

When to go

May to October; late September for foliage. Half a day.

Before you go

Foliage season fills the village and the roads completely. The mansion is by guided tour, seasonal. Prices in the village are high. Winter closes much of the park.

Nearby

Quechee Gorge is east; Killington is west.

Key facts