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Merck Forest, Vermont, USA.

Julie Moline sees the forest for the trees in Vermont and discovers four kinds of maple syrup…

Much of Vermont has the dreamlike feel of a movie set—impossibly beautiful vistas and landscapes, lavish estates set far back on manicured lawns, white clapboard churches anchoring pristine village greens.  Drive through Dorset (home of a well-regarded summer playhouse) or Manchester (home to the posh Equinox Resort) and you’ll feel like an extra.

A few miles away, in Rupert, is a different sort of quintessentially Vermontish beauty, best appreciated on foot—Merck Forest & Farmland Center.  There, in the foothills of the Green Mountains, is 3,000-acre nature preserve, land that was once three contiguous farms that, thanks to a generous benefactor (no relation to the pharmaceutical company), have been allowed to revert back to forest—all but 200 acres anyway, which are used for sustainable farming—and are open to the public every day of the year.  If you’re in the mood for a hike, there are several trails of varying lengths and intensities.  In winter, you can cross-country ski or snowshoe.  You can reserve one of several cabins, too, if you want to overnight and are game for getting there on your own steam.  The cabins come with wood-burning stoves (and wood), bunks and outhouses; all you need to do is bring in food, cooking gear and a sleeping bag.

Not that ambitious? Some of the trails are easy enough to do in flip-flops—a ramble in the stillness of maple and birch woods, where the understory is ferns, moss and woodland plants, and where you’ll see all sorts of wildlife within five minutes of parking the car. You’ll meander past the occasional meadow and cornfield, ford a creek, happen upon a pond or ancient stone foundation. There also are demonstration gardens, and, if you’re in the mood for learning, the occasional sheepdog trial or lecture on forestry and renewable energy .

In summer, a farmer’s market sells organic produce grown on the premises, along with pastured lamb and pork, free-range eggs and wool spun from the preserve’s flock of sheep.  At any time, go inside the visitors center and set up a flight of maple syrup samples. Four grades, all different colors, with surprisingly different tastes, all produced from Merck sugar maples.  A bottle is a fabulous gift, but trust me: you won’t want to give it away once you get home.

For details and directions: www.merckforest.org.

Photo courtesy of Merck Forest & Farmland Center.

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