Twice a day the balloons rise from Vermont's
Village Green near Quechee's Simon Pierce
Glass Works and float off towards the
Ottauquechee River and the chasm called the
Quechee Gorge.   
The pilots know the winds as they ascend and
descend to catch the air currents that course
through the valley.  Moving silently, the
balloon settles down on the river's surface and
hovers as you gasp to see water creep into the
wicker basket towards your shoes.         
Suddenly a throaty howl with a tongue of blue
flame ends your baptism as the expanding air
lifts the balloon from the water and takes you
soaring over the treetops only to settle down
again between vermilion hillsides and into the
Quechee Gorge.
You lift again and soar high above the farms of
Woodstock and then into a field rimmed by
sugar maples to meet the chase team as it
arrives for the traditional Champaign toast.
October brings the changing of the leaves to Woodstock.
From the Village Green beside the river, balloons fly
passengers all season down the river and into the
Quechee Gorge.  Morning flights usually follow the river
southeast then fly up over route 4 and descend into the
mile-long water-cut canyon billed locally as Vermont's
Grand Canyon.  Morning flights fly above the Gorge giving
passengers a great view.  Afternoon flights will follow the
river through farm country and over the ski mountain to the
northwest.  
Colonial Woodstock with a population of 3,500 spends
fall decked out in harvest time splendor with pumpkins
and chrysanthemums lining the sidewalks in a village
center that anchors farm country of rolling hills.  Still
supplying milk, cheese, and Maple syrup to nearby cities,
the region will as often host  crafts artists, equine
eventing, mock fox hunts, and elegant shops.  
Antique covered bridges and postcard-like farms attract
artists and photographers, others come for the golf,
tennis, and museums     
Equestrian events attract horse owners to Woodstock.  
May and July see the Green Mountain Horse
Association's Hunter Jumper shows in South Woodstock
and weekends bring equestrian events.      
The end of August brings the Annual Scottish Festival with
bagpipe music, Scottish fiddles, Celtic harp, and Scottish
dancing along with sheep herding dogs and a road race
that requires the wearing of kilts.
The villagers have preserved the old houses and three
covered bridges, two date to the mid 1800s.
North Rim
View

The Billings Farm Museum built in 1878 still
operates as a dairy while celebrating the farm life
once so integral to Vermont life.  
The Raptor Center of the Vermont Institute of
Natural Science rescues and rehabilitates birds,
particularly hawks and eagles.  They have two Bald
Eagles, two Golden Eagles and many hawks and
owls that came to them too damaged for release to
the wild.
In Quechee Gorge Village  an old diner is one of
only three of its type left in the country and shares
space with the Vermont Toy and Train Museum
displaying toys, dolls, and lunch boxes dating from
the 40s
The Simon Pierce Glassworks gives you a
close-up look at the skills of glass artisans and
potters creating artworks for sale in the
showrooms.  The building was once a
water-powered mill with an electric generator within
a sluice channel which  architects saved for viewing
when they remodeled the old building in the 70s.  
While dining at the Glassworks you overlook a
waterfall and a covered bridge and might just see a
balloon lift off from the green and glide by as it
follows the river.
The rolling hills and cleared fields make for such
great hot air balloon country that Woodstock hosts
the annual
Quechee Balloon Festival in mid June
bringing live music to the green, craft shows and a
host of micro-brews strutting their wares.  Vermont
farm country presents few wires, no tall buildings,
and lots of room to land.  Morning flights are the
best but during the summer the riders will have to
be ready by 6 am.
Although the changing of the leaves is as fickle as
the winds that push balloons through the valley,
usually the foliage season ends by the fourth week
in October. Balloons fly year-round but the rush of
visitors tapers in November as Vermont settles in
for a long snowy winter.
Quechee Vermont's Balloons  make the classic
Autumn Vermont farm scene something different. Hot air
balloons soar over the golden Maples lining the road to
the red barn while Jersey cows munch lush grass in the
meadow.
Vacationers glide 200 feet above the hills and meadows
in a wicker basket hung from a multi-colored envelope of
heated air.  
Quechee's balloons take visitors above Vermont's
foliage and bring excitement to an old theme as they sail
over Woodstock's crimson hills and covered bridges
making autumn in Vermont something special.  
Quechee Vermont Balloons
Woodstock Vermont
Applebutter Inn, one of the Benchmark Inns of the Woodstock area.   Link to  AppleButter Inn
Pilot Darrek Daoust
secures the balloon
after a flight
Quechee Vermont, Balloons in Woodstock
Woodstock Vermont:  with Balloon rides, covered bridges, and working farm museums, Woodstock
has many attractions to keep a vacationer busy.
Quechee Vermont
Balloons in Woodstock
Getting to Woodstock: Travelling by air,  the nearest international airport is Boston's Logan Airport (BOS)
where you can rent a car for the trip north. Follow Route 93 North as it goes through the city of Boston
towards Manchester, NH. North of Manchester pick up Route 89 north to Lebanon NH and White River
Junction Vermont. Then take Rout 4 to Woodstock, VT  
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