Smugglers' Notch State Park

Smugglers' Notch State Park lies near Stowe in Vermont's Green Mountains at the narrow pass between Mount Mansfield and nearby peaks. The notch earned its name after the Embargo Act of 1807, when Vermonters used its rugged trails and caves to move goods and livestock from Canada despite trade restrictions; that traffic waned during the War of 1812. The pass later aided fugitive slaves traveling to Canada on the Underground Railroad and again became linked to illicit trade during Prohibition after the road was improved for automobiles in 1922. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936, the park now offers year-round recreation amid terrain long shaped by secrecy and passage.

Cambridge, Vermont · United States