A Noah Kahan-Inspired Vermont Trip: 7 Things to Do Besides Visiting His Family Home
Noah Kahan has become synonymous with Vermont, thanks to music that pulls almost entirely from the place where he grew up. His 2022 album Stick Season turned the state into a character, and his April 2026 follow-up The Great Divide doubles down on that hometown lens.
Kahan was raised in Strafford, Vermont, a town near the New Hampshire border with a population of just 1,094 at the 2020 census. He went to school across the state line in New Hampshire, another setting that shows up throughout his songwriting.
That intimacy has come at a cost. As his fame has grown, fans have started turning up in Strafford — and Kahan has asked them, plainly, to stop. He has spoken publicly about people visiting his family’s home, and he wrote about the strangeness of seeing his town become merch on the song “Porchlight.”
“I come from this place that’s so special to me and I felt like I’d sullied that somehow by singing about it and by making merch with my town on it,” he told the BBC. “I felt like I no longer had that place as a refuge … so the song is all of my biggest fears said back to me.”
So if you want a Noah Kahan-flavored Vermont weekend, skip the pilgrimage to his family’s doorstep. Here are seven very Vermont things to do instead — the kind of trip the songs are actually about.
1. Order a Creemee (Yes, That’s the Right Word)
If a Vermont menu lists a “creemee,” that’s soft serve — but creamier, thanks to a higher butterfat content. “While some say it came from a regional adaptation of the French word ‘crème,’ others credit it to the higher butterfat content that makes Vermont soft serve so delightfully creamy,” according to Hello Burlington VT.
A maple creemee in summer is the move. Try Palmer Lane Maple in Jericho, The Sweet Spot’s lakeside window along the Burlington Bike Path or Offbeat Creemee in Essex, which serves plant-based versions at its new Essex Experience location.
2. Go Brewery-Gopping In Burlington
Vermont is small, but it punches well above its weight on beer. The state ranks first in the country for breweries per capita, according to Travel US News.
In Burlington alone, you can hit Foam Brewers, Zero Gravity, Burlington Beer Company, Switchback Brewing Co. and Four Quarters without much of a walk between them.
3. Visit a Maple Syrup Farm
If Vermont is known for two things, it’s Noah Kahan and maple syrup. A working sugar farm is worth the detour. A few options:
- Sugartree Maple Farm in Williston
- Sugarbush Farm in Woodstock
- Baird Farm Maple Syrup in North Chittenden
4. Pick a Green Mountain Hike
Kahan’s lyrics keep returning to the landscape itself, and the hiking is genuinely spectacular. A few trails to put on the list:
- Bald Mountain in Westmore
- Stowe Pinnacle in Stowe
- Sterling Pond in Cambridge
- Camel’s Hump (West Side) in Huntington
- Mount Tom and the Pogue in Woodstock
5. Get Out on the Water
In summer, the lakes do most of the work for you. Lake Champlain is large enough to fool you into thinking Vermont is coastal — there are beaches along its edges, and you can rent a canoe or a motorboat almost anywhere on the waterfront.
Farther afield, Lake Willoughby sits in the Northeast Kingdom and Spruce Lake anchors the southern part of the state. Vermont is also full of swimming holes tucked at the end of short nature walks. A reliable starting point: swimmingholes.org/vt.html.
6. Eat Farm-to-Table
Vermont takes its local farms seriously, and the restaurant scene reflects it. A few menus worth planning a meal around:
- Hen of the Wood in Burlington
- Doc Ponds in Stowe
- Starry Night Cafe in Ferrisburgh
There are dozens more — most towns of any size will have at least one place sourcing from a farm down the road.
7. Ski (If You’re Going In the Winter)
A “Stick Season” trip in actual stick season — late fall, before the snow — is one mood. A full-on Vermont winter is another. If you’re visiting between December and March, build the weekend around a mountain. Stowe, Sugarbush, Jay Peak and Mount Snow each have their own personalities, from Jay’s deep-snow reputation in the north to Mount Snow’s accessibility from the south.
The whole point of a Kahan-inspired trip is the texture — the small town, the cold air, the maple, the lake, the long drive. You can get all of it without ever turning down his street.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
